Why 6G
is indispensable

For most people, communication system upgrades are done for efficiency reasons – greater speed, greater effectiveness – which remains a very limited view. What can you tell us about 6G and, ultimately, what needs does this technology meet?

The history of communication systems is inextricably linked to the changing needs of the world. In the beginning, we only had analogue systems. These were the first telephone networks and could only carry voice. But at the time, their added value lay in the fact that they could do so over long distances, which was enough to allow people to stay in touch. Later, digital technologies emerged, making it possible not only to talk, but also to send and receive messages and data. These were the early days of text messages and emails. It was the pioneering era of the internet.

Today, we live in an era of massive connectivity. Communication networks are no longer just for making phone calls or sending emails; they handle a multitude of other tasks. Every time we stream a video or play online games with other people, we are using communication systems. They are omnipresent in our daily lives. They are used to coordinate traffic lights, and smart infrastructure has learned to adapt to traffic jams. They are used in healthcare to connect sensors, and early warning systems have been put in place to respond quickly if a patient's condition deteriorates. Smart energy networks balance electricity consumption, and billions of devices interact continuously and simultaneously.

When you think about it, it's quite impressive. But like everything else, it comes at a cost. We transfer more data today than ever before in history, and we transmit a lot of unnecessary data. All these flows consume enormous amounts of energy. To use an analogy, it's a bit like our communication networks are motorways, but motorways congested with lorries, most of which are carrying half-empty loads.

I then asked myself: what if the next big leap forward wasn't designing faster motorways, but smarter delivery methods? And that's where importance-based communication comes in. Instead of sending all possible data, the new generation of communication systems will have to determine what information is really important to transmit. In telemedicine, for example, sending a complete high-resolution body scan over the network can require enormous bandwidth. Yet often the doctor only needs a small part of the scan, namely the area showing the abnormality. Your smart refrigerator is another example. Today, it can send regular updates on temperature fluctuations to your phone, but tomorrow, with 6G, it will send a message that really interests you: ‘The milk will expire tomorrow.’ This will save energy, avoid unnecessary traffic and, above all, provide information that interests you. The fundamental question, however, remains... why on earth would you buy a smart fridge?

It is important to understand that 6G technology is not just about faster downloads. It is a whole new communication system designed to reduce energy waste while remaining fully aligned with human objectives.

Arguments related to energy efficiency and cost savings are often put forward to justify technical upgrades to digital systems. But how can these aspects be monitored in practice? How can the sustainability of a communication system be measured?

There is no simple answer to this question. We engineers typically use key performance indicators (KPIs) as a dashboard. In communication networks, KPIs are mainly technical. They can include throughput, which measures the number of data bits transmitted per second. We measure latency to see how fast information flows through the system. We also measure reliability to assess how often messages reach their destination without error. These indicators are useful, but in today's world, they do not provide a complete picture, which is why our dashboard needs to change and be enriched with new monitoring indicators. As part of my work, I have incorporated new ones: sustainability, fairness, inclusion, interpretability and explicability.

It is important to include these new key performance indicators in the design and development of the next generation of communication systems, if only because if we do not, we risk overlooking essential elements when monitoring their socio-economic and environmental cost. Take sustainability, for example. Few people realise that every search made with your browser, every video stream or online call consumes a significant amount of electricity and water to enable data centres and communication networks to transport data, and that as demand increases, so does the carbon footprint. By eliminating redundancies, systems that focus on “important” data help reduce energy costs. Instead of streaming every pixel of a video call, only the parts of the image that actually change will be streamed. On a larger scale, this practice could lead to significant energy savings while finally transforming communication networks into frugal entities.

Now let's take the example of equity and inclusion. Billions of people do not have a high-speed internet connection or the latest smartphone. So if communication networks are designed only for those with the best devices, there is a risk of exacerbating inequalities. A better approach is to design networks that can operate in degraded mode. If the connection is weak or the phone is old, the user should still be able to receive important information. Imagine a farmer in a rural area who only has a basic phone. A short message about the next day's weather or crop prices could change his life. This does not require sophisticated mobile technology.

It is equally important to consider the relationship between interpretability and explicability. These two terms are often used interchangeably, but they are not exactly synonymous. Interpretability means that the communication system makes decisions based on a certain logic. Explicability goes a step further and allows the system to establish priorities to justify its actions. For example, a network may classify a health alert as a priority over a software update. Interpretability tells us what happened. Explicability tells us why, in clear terms. Together, they make technology transparent and accountable, and therefore trustworthy. And it is by integrating these new key performance indicators into the design of the next generation of communication systems that we will gradually move into a healthier era of infrastructure.

You are a true technophile, both in your career and in your personal life. What is your vision of technology serving humanity?

Trust is the cornerstone of all technology. Without trust, no one will use a system, no matter how advanced it may be. As communication networks increasingly rely on artificial intelligence to manage their complexity (which data to process first, where to route traffic, how to allocate resources, etc.), it is becoming important to explain how technical decisions are made.

Until recently, AI often functioned as a black box, providing answers but generally lacking transparency about how it reached its conclusions. This is where interpretability, explicability and trust come into play. No decision made by a system is opaque. The system follows a certain logic, and this logic can be understood and explained. Why was this prioritisation carried out in this way? Trust stems from these kinds of questions. Understanding the retroactive steps allows us to trust the solution, and if a network prioritises an emergency alert over an application update, understanding the criteria behind this prioritisation helps us to accept the technical decision.

Greater technical transparency has two major impacts. First, it strengthens collective accountability. If a system makes a mistake, people will be able to trace it and correct it. Second, it promotes inclusion. If only a few experts can understand how AI works, the system prevents most people from grasping the logic behind it. That is not what we should be aiming for. Users, regulators and different communities must be able to engage critically with new communication technologies in order to retain full control over the adjustments that need to be made along the way.

We also have an ethical responsibility. Communication networks largely shape what we see, what we hear and what we share. If they remain opaque and unaccountable, there is a risk that they will amplify prejudice and inequality. On the other hand, transparent communication systems would make it possible to detect and correct these biases. Once people trust these systems, they are more likely to adopt them and use them to improve their daily lives.

Tech4Humanity, technology at the service of humanity, is therefore not just a slogan. For me, its best definition is the design of complex technical systems that people can understand. As trust can never be taken for granted, these systems must operate with complete transparency. Only on this basis will these next-generation communication networks earn the trust of humans. Only on this basis will they become powerful.