6G for People, the Environment and Society

The Open6GHub is a network of excellence in which 47 research groups from 11 universities and six research institutes pool their expertise to develop new communication concepts for 6G.

Communication systems are the central nervous system of a digital economy and society. Helping define and appropriately implement the complex standardization and security requirements for core components and critical systems in future communication networks is an essential prerequisite for digital and technological sovereignty. Germany must play a decisive role in shaping the technological foundations of 6G to be at the forefront of international research already underway. Strengthening networking and cooperation between all relevant players is particularly important.  

The project aims to contribute to the global 6G harmonization and standardization process, with particular consideration of social priorities and common European values. The researchers focus on application scenarios in smart cities, networked factories, rural areas, and agriculture. The project pursues several technical-scientific objectives for implementation. These include, for instance, the resilience and reliability of 6G as the backbone of a highly networked society and leveraging the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize networks for sustainability, energy efficiency, and resource conservation. Research is also concentrating on new, higher frequency ranges and the use of context information generated on the network side for sensing and localization services, as well as "integrated 3D networking" – for example, utilizing satellites to enhance 6G coverage.

The Open6GHub is part of the 6G initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.