It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC’2014), the 23^rd edition in the series.  We have no doubt that once again, this conference will be a most enjoyable and memorable event.

The host city, Bologna, has always been an important urban centre, first under the Etruscans and the Celts, then under the Romans, then again in the Middle Ages (for one century it was the fifth largest European city based on population).  Home to the oldest university in the western world, the Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, founded in 1088, Bologna hosts about 100,000 students who enrich the social and cultural life of the city.  Famous for its towers and lengthy porticoes, Bologna has a well-preserved historical centre and is the capital of its region, Emilia-Romagna, one of the richest and more productive in Italy, where many important mechanical, automotive electronic and nutritional industries have their headquarters.  Modern Telecommunications have their roots in Bologna, as Guglielmo Marconi more than one hundred years ago tested successfully for the first time ever the reception of radio waves in his villa, a few kilometres outside the city borders.

“Picture taken by Carlo Salieri - from Associazione Succede solo a Bologna”

As we are entering into the new Horizon 2020 era, EuCNC is a very timely event to further strengthen European research and innovation in the strategic domain of future communication and ICT services infrastructures.  The future ubiquitous, ultra-high bandwidth infrastructure, also known as 5G, will be the focus of EuCNC’2014.  5G will be the first instance of a truly converged infrastructure, integrating IT and Networks resources, and where wired and wireless communications will be undistinguishable.  European Telecommunications Research Constituency plays a crucial role in successfully developing 5G technologies, and in making Europe the leader in the field.  This is a must to ensure a sustainable economy, to improve quality of life and jobs of European Citizens, and to successfully compete in a global digital economy.  These efforts will also pave the way towards the “softwarisation” of networks and ICT architectures, thus boosting the creation and development of new ecosystems in emerging areas, such as the Internet of Things (IoT).  On these issues, prominent initiatives are being initiated worldwide, and the programme assembled for this conference will provide valuable insights into the global research and innovation avenues.  The conference will showcase European funded research at the leading edge of these global developments.

As usual, sessions, workshops, exhibitions and posters as well as an exciting social program will allow you to have a memorable stay.

We wish you a very fruitful and enjoyable EUCNC’2014.  Welcome to Bologna!

Mario Campolargo and Antonio Manzalini

(Conference General Co-Chairs)