6G Resilience: The Foundation of Future Connectivity
Thursday, 5 June 2025, 14:00 – 15:30, room Earth Hall A (level 2)
Organizer
- Matti Latva-aho (Univ. Oulu, FI)
Motivation and Background
Our future society will be defined by digitalization, hyper-connectivity, and a global data-driven economy. Sixth-generation (6G) and beyond-6G wireless networks will not just enable faster speeds—they will be the backbone of a world where wireless connectivity is as critical as electricity and water. These networks will seamlessly bridge the digital and physical worlds, integrating into every aspect of life and industry. But with this deep reliance comes an undeniable risk: what happens when they fail?
The harsh reality is that past wireless generations—despite their impressive advancements—have treated resilience as an afterthought. The 3GPP standards have historically focused on performance, capacity, and efficiency while largely ignoring the fundamental need for resilience. As we move toward 6G, we cannot afford to repeat this mistake. Connectivity disruptions—whether caused by cyberattacks, natural disasters, electricity grid failures, planned outages, or failures inherent to wireless propagation—will have catastrophic consequences if resilience is not a core design principle from day one.
6G must be different. Beyond providing near-instant, virtually unlimited connectivity, it must be built with resilience at its core—designed to withstand and recover from disruptions at every level. Achieving this vision is not just a technical challenge; it is a necessity. We need groundbreaking innovations in network architectures, AI-driven self-healing systems, and proactive security mechanisms to ensure that 6G can stand up to the challenges ahead.
This panel will bring together leading experts from academia and industry to confront this challenge head-on. Panelists from major research programs in Europe, the USA, and Japan will discuss the critical innovations and enablers that will define the future of resilient 6G networks. The question is no longer whether resilience should be a priority—but rather, how will we ensure it?
Questions
- Technology: What fundamental changes in network architecture are required to ensure resilience in 6G compared to previous generations? What new redundancy mechanisms can 6G introduce to ensure seamless failover during network outages?
- Interdependencies of critical infrastructures: Given that 6G will integrate deeply with energy grids, healthcare, and industrial automation, how can we ensure cross-sector resilience when a failure in one system could cascade across multiple domains? How can 6G networks remain operational during power grid failures or extreme weather events, especially in critical infrastructure applications?
- Softwarization: How can we secure 6G networks, particularly with the increasing adoption of Open RAN and software-defined networking, which introduce new vulnerabilities e.g. via new supply chains or cloud based architecture?
- Standards and regulation: Should resilience be mandated in 6G standardization efforts (e.g., within 3GPP, ITU, and ETSI), and how can regulatory bodies enforce such requirements? Should governments mandate minimum resilience requirements for 6G networks, and if so, how should compliance be incentivized or enforced?
- Business considerations: Is there a business case for resilience in 6G, or will it always be seen as an additional cost with limited short-term returns? Will resilience become a key differentiator for mobile operators in the 6G era, and how can they market it as a competitive advantage?
Participants
- Chair: Matti Latva-aho (Director for 6G Flagship, FI)
- David Lund (President of Public Safety Communication Europe, BE)
- Mikko Uusitalo (Nokia Bell Labs Finland Site Lead, FI)
- Akihiro NAKAO (Co-Chair of XGMF, JP)
- Hannu Nikurautio (Director NATO DIANA 6G Test Center, FI)
- Tommy Svensson (Professor at Chalmers Univ. of Technology, SE)
Matti Latva-aho
Matti Latva-aho (IEEE Fellow) is a distinguished expert in wireless communications, holding M.Sc., Lic.Tech., and Dr.Tech. (Hons.) degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Oulu, Finland, awarded in 1992, 1996, and 1998, respectively. From 1992 to 1993, he worked as a Research Engineer at Nokia Mobile Phones in Oulu, before joining the Centre for Wireless Communications (CWC) at the University of Oulu. Prof. Latva-aho served as the Director of CWC from 1998 to 2006 and later as Head of the Department of Communication Engineering until August 2014. Currently, he is a Professor of Wireless Communications at the University of Oulu and serves as the Director of the National 6G Flagship Programme. He is also a Global Fellow at The University of Tokyo, reflecting his international recognition in the field. With an extensive portfolio of over 600 conference and journal publications, Prof. Latva-aho has significantly advanced the field of wireless communications. His contributions were recognized in 2015 when he received the prestigious Nokia Foundation Award for his groundbreaking research in mobile communications.
David Lund
David Lund is currently President of Public Safety Communication Europe and coordinates the EUCCS Preparation (BroadEU.net) programme, a partnership of 15+ EU governments/agencies supporting the technological development towards the EU Critical Communication System, EUCCS; a mission critical mobile broadband system for Public Safety response. He was also coordinator of the BroadMap and BroadWay projects that lead to the European Commission policy priority to establish EUCCS by 2030.
David is also Board Member of the 6G Infrastructure Association (6G-IA) since March 2021, contributing to the continued innovation in Smart Networks and Services (SNS-JU).
Mikko Uusitalo
Mikko Uusitalo is Head of Research Department Radio Systems Research Finland at Nokia Bell Labs and Nokia Bell Labs Finland Site Lead. Mikko is the Chair of the Board of the Nokia Foundation. Mikko is leading the European 6G Flagship project Hexa-X-II and was leading Hexa-X. He obtained a M.Sc. (Eng.) and Dr.Tech. in 1993 and 1997 and a B.Sc. (Economics) in 2003, all from predecessors of Aalto University. Mikko has been at Nokia since 2000 with various roles, including Principal Researcher and Head of International Cooperation at Nokia Research. Mikko is a founding member of the CELTIC EUREKA and WWRF, the latter one he chaired for 2004-2006. Mikko is a WWRF Fellow. Mikko has been nominated among Nokia top inventors six times, Mikko’s H-index is 40+ and i10-index 100+. Mikko has more than 230 granted patents. In 2020 Mikko received the Cross of Merit of the Order of White Rose from the President of Finland. Mikko has and has had numerous board and advisory positions in many important groups in the industry, academia or government side.
Akihiro Nakao
Professor Akihiro Nakao is a distinguished faculty member at the University of Tokyo, specializing in computer networks and next-generation cyber infrastructure. He earned degrees from the University of Tokyo and later pursued advanced studies at Princeton University, obtaining a Master of Science (2001) and a Ph.D. in Computer Science (2005). Before returning to academia, he worked at IBM’s research labs in Japan and the U.S. from 1994 to 2005.
Since joining the University of Tokyo in 2005, he has advanced to full Professor, focusing on future internet architectures, network virtualization, network security, in-network processing, and distributed systems. He also holds leadership roles, including Vice Dean of the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, Special Advisor to the University President, and Director of the Collaborative Research Institute for Next-Generation Cyber Infrastructure. He is President of IEICE’s Communication Society, and Co-Chairperson of XGMF (XG Mobile Promotion Forum). His contributions have earned him notable awards, such as the NTT Docomo Mobile Science Award (2017) and the IEICE Accomplishment Award (2020).
Hannu Nikurautio
Hannu Nikurautio’s career in business and technology spans several decades across multiple industries and global markets, including Finland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, China, the United States, India, and Poland. His extensive experience in leading global business development, product innovation, and R&D programs has driven impactful advancements in wireless communications, from 2G to 5G, Open RAN, cloudification, and beyond. Throughout his career, Mr. Nikurautio has held executive and senior leadership positions, making substantial contributions to the evolution of mission-critical and resilient networks. He has actively shaped next-generation communication technologies, collaborating with major industry players such as Nokia and FLEX, and influencing global technology and business strategies.
Since November 2023, Mr. Nikurautio has served as Research Director at the University of Oulu’s 6G Flagship, leading the Security & Defence vertical and the 6G Technology Center, which is closely integrated with the NATO DIANA programme. In this role, he drives cutting-edge research related activities on resilient-by-design 6G networks, focusing on secure, robust, and high-performance communication solutions for defense and critical infrastructure applications. His work supports resilient connectivity in extreme environments, including Arctic conditions, ensuring secure and uninterrupted wireless services in the face of cybersecurity threats, natural disasters, and other disruptions.
Tommy Svensson
Tommy Svensson is Full Professor in Communication Systems at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, leading Wireless Systems research on air interface and wireless backhaul networking technologies for future wireless systems. He received a Ph.D. in Information theory from Chalmers in 2003, and he has worked at Ericsson AB with core networks, radio access networks, and microwave transmission systems. He has been involved in top European and international research towards 4G, 5G and currently 6G on physical layer algorithms, multiple access, resource allocation, cooperative/ context-aided/ secure communications, mm-wave/ sub-THz communications, C-V2X, JCAS, satellite networks, sustainable & resilience design, and end-to-end architecture. He is currently board member of the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS).
