WASHINGTON – Today, ATIS' Next G Alliance announces the launch of its technical work program and the formation of the key working groups that will fulfill its mission to drive North American leadership for 6G and beyond. Leadership is being announced for the National 6G Roadmap, Green G, Technology and Spectrum working groups, with additional working groups to be launched in the coming weeks.

The National 6G Roadmap Working Group acts as a coordination point across all other working groups. It is chaired by Fellow and Head of Radio Interface Group with Nokia Amitava Ghosh.

"The primary goal of the National 6G Roadmap Working Group is to drive communications technology innovation through developing and maintaining a North American 6G vision, lifecycle roadmap and timeframe," Ghosh noted. "Nokia is a founding member of the Next G Alliance, and as chair of the National 6G Roadmap WG, I look forward to collaborating with our industry partners on this vital initiative."

Taking a holistic view of the 6G marketplace and the broader environment, the National 6G Roadmap will establish the North American vision for 6G and beyond. Geared toward the eventual commercialization of 6G, it will address the full lifecycle of research, standardization, development, manufacturing and market readiness with a built-in focus on the sustainability and the societal drivers that will shape future wireless technologies. Vice chairs are Lead Solution Architect at AT&T Marc Grant and Senior Director of Research and Innovation for 6G Projects at InterDigital Doug Castor.

Recognizing that reducing energy consumption and fostering sustainability is ever growing in importance, the Green G Working Group is identifying how to minimize the environmental impact of future generations of wireless technology. The group is chaired by Distinguished Technologist with HPE Marie-Paule Odini. Vice chairs are Director of 5G Policy and External Engagements at Microsoft Micaela Giuhat and Cognitive Edge Research Scientist, Advanced Technologies Team, Service Provider & Cloud at VMware Colleen Josephson.

"HPE is committed to minimizing our industry's environmental footprint with circular economy initiatives and is driving innovation in sustainable solutions that will reduce telecom environmental impact, contributing to North American leadership in 6G," said Odini.

Working Groups have also been established in the following areas to address critical aspects of the Next G journey. Leadership is being announced for the following groups as it becomes available.

Technology – Defining the specific technologies needed to fulfill the vision set forth in the National 6G Roadmap. The chair of the Technology Working Group is Senior Director, Technology in Wireless Research & Development at Qualcomm Eddy (Hwan-Joon) Kwon.

Applications – Identifying the leading vertical applications that will leverage network infrastructure in the Next G environment.

Spectrum – Exploring new paradigms for spectrum access, management and sharing. This work will also look at opportunities for global spectrum harmonization, technology coexistence and greater spectrum efficiency. The chair of the Spectrum Working Group is Head of 5G/xG Engagement at MITRE Andrew Thiessen.

Societal/Economic Drivers – Identifying and characterizing the social and economic drivers that are central to the 6G vision — and how they will drive change and progress and impact the 6G marketplace globally.

"With the launch of the technical work program, the Next G Alliance takes an important step in fulfilling its mission," said ATIS President and CEO Susan Miller. "Aligning industry and academia around a holistic 6G vision for the next decade will be central to North American leadership and success domestically and across the global 6G marketplace."

ATIS