What you should know about the 5G Broadband Conference

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) sponsors more than 1,900 conferences and events each year all over the world, curating cutting-edge content in technical fields. Every fall, IEEE sponsors a 5G broadband conference—the IEEE 5G World Forum. This conference will bring together representatives from industry, academia, and research to share their insights and discuss advances in 5G as well as address challenges in 5G deployment.

Theme for the IEEE 5G World Forum

The theme for this global 5G event is “5G and Beyond: A Comprehensive Look at Future Networks.” The conference will bring together contributors who have been cultivating 5G technology and applications for the benefit of society. And it will emphasize novel architectures that support not only traditional mobile broadband technology but also vertical industry.

Background on 5G

Fifth-generation cellular wireless, or 5G, is the result of new, smarter ways of using the frequencies that allow mobile communication over airwaves. And despite all the hype surrounding it, 5G technology is a big deal. It will revolutionize internet communication and telecommunication for people around the globe.

While 4G was faster and more responsive than previous generations of wireless technology, 5G takes data transmission a notable step further. It has faster connection times and lower latency. It also supports more connectivity in terms of the number of physical devices connected to a network. As such, it will be a foundational technology for the next wave of advances involving, for example, the Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous cars, remote surgery, drones, virtual reality, sustainable development, and smart cities.

Currently, we are on the cusp of 5G deployment. It will be more widely available over the next two to three years. Because of this, global events like the IEEE 5G World Forum are a vital resource for leaders in the field of wireless technology.

Organizers and leaders of the IEEE 5G World Forum

A committee of over ninety members from the international community is organizing the 5G World Forum. This committee includes representatives from universities, private industry, and governmental organizations who will take part in the planning and execution of the event. Also contributing to organizing the conference are IEEE Future Networks, which is dedicated to supporting current and future 5G deployment, and the IEEE Bangalore Section, which is one of the most dynamic IEEE sections across the globe with over 8,600 members.

Two advising collaborators are the conference’s knowledge partners: the Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India—which develops, promotes, and standardizes India-specific information and communication technology requirements and solutions—and IEEE Entrepreneurship, IEEE’s engineering-driven start-up community.

Patrons of the IEEE 5G World Forum

With the virtual environment of this year’s international conference, patrons and exhibitors will receive extra exposure time through online tools, and IEEE expects a few thousand online attendees. This will be an enthusiastic and engaged audience of key decision-makers involved in 5G and future network generations.

Patronage and exhibitor packages are available at multiple levels with different benefits. Current patrons at each of the top levels include the following:

Diamond: WavePro
Platinum: Anritsu, Cisco
Gold: Qualcomm, IEEE Standards Association, Intel, Ciena
Silver: COMSNETS, Polaris Networks, Airbus, Renesas, Indiana 5G Zone

Guest speakers at the 5G World Forum

Conference organizer IEEE Future Networks is sponsoring the International Network Generations Roadmap (INGR) to address the challenges of 5G deployment while also considering the evolution of future technologies still in development. This working group fosters a culture of collaboration and encourages new experts to get involved.

Keynote speakers at the 5G World Forum

The variety of keynote speakers at the 5G World Forum will highlight IEEE Future Networks’s emphasis on community collaboration. The keynote speakers for the event are as follows:

Gerhard Fettweis, the Vodafone chair professor at the Technische Universität Dresden
Chih-Lin I, the chief scientist of wireless technologies at China Mobile
Thyaga Nandagopal, a deputy division director at the National Science Foundation
Wanshi Chen, a principal engineer and manager at Qualcomm and the current chair of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) radio layer 1 (RAN1) working group
Monisha Ghosh, the chief technology officer for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and a research professor at the University of Chicago
Bilel Jamoussi, the chief of the study groups department at the International Telecommunication Union Standardization Bureau in Geneva, Switzerland
Sudhir Kayamkulangara, principal engineer at Cisco in India
Vipin Pande, cheif product marketing manager of conformance at Anritsu in United Kingdom
Rong-Chung Liu, founder of WavePro as the first EM test company in Taiwan
Chung-Huan Li, chief technology officer at WavePro in Taiwan
Sumedha Limaye, senior director of engineering at Intel Corporation in India
Robert S. Fish, president of IEEE Standards Association and professor at Princenton University department of computer science
Adrian Scrase, chief technology officer at ETSI in France
Benoit Pelletier, head of ENCQOR 5G and director of business development at Ciena in Canada
Karim Chaari, regional sales manager at Airbus Defence and Space, Secure Land Communications division, for MENAI (Middle East, North Africa & India) region
Radha Krishna Ganti, associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India

Demonstrations and other sessions at the 5G World Forum

Conference organizer IEEE Future Networks values educational opportunities for its membership through classes, webinars, online communities, and conferences like the 5G World Forum. The scope of all these educational events includes the business of 5G, 5G enabling technologies and standards, 5G spectrum and regulation, future network advancements, and more.

Tech conferences are a worthwhile professional development and networking opportunity. Even if you have not attended a conference before, you are welcome at the 5G World Forum and should consider taking advantage of the opportunities to learn and boost your career at this event.

2020 Worldwide 5G Industry Fora special session

The 5G World Forum’s special sessions, for example, provide great learning opportunities. One of these special sessions is the 2020 Worldwide 5G Industry Fora. The theme of this session is “5G Trends and Collaborations: Regional Visions, Verticals, and Interregional Cooperation Activities.” Leading global 5G industry associations and partnerships will participate in this session to share their visions and collaborate regarding 5G deployment and potential performance

Entrepreneurship and Innovations Forum 2020

While the 5G Industry Fora special session focuses on industry leaders in wireless technology, the Entrepreneurship and Innovations Forum (EIF) promotes the involvement of young businesses and the entrepreneur community and provides a platform for them to share their innovations. Attendees will participate in in-depth discussions on 5G deployment and evolution, particularly related to how 5G will improve with time as technology matures.

5G topical/vertical tracks

The 5G World Forum will also feature nine 5G topical/vertical tracks:

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: This track will examine how the simulation of human intelligence in machines and machine learning can transform 5G into a scalable real-time, data-driven network.
5G E-Health: This track will identify how e-health can leverage the unique advantages of the 5G network.
Vertical Test Beds—Designs, Implementation Experiences, Obstacles, and the Role of Open Source: This track will introduce the challenges that 5G aims to solve regarding spectrum demand and the convergence of different wireless communication services. In addition, the track will look at the applicability of certain open source projects in 5G.
Security and Privacy: This track will bring together stakeholders to join efforts in embedding security and privacy requirements in the evolving 5G architecture. 5G is positioned to improve much of our critical infrastructures, emergency networks, and industrial and automation networks.
5G and Smart Cities Interplay—Will 5G Make Smart Cities a Common Reality? This track’s goal is to provide a platform for communication and collaboration between industry, government, and research on the state of the art in smart cities and 5G.
5G Mission Critical Solutions for Public Protection and Disaster Relief—Public Safety, First Responders, and Beyond during the COVID-19 Pandemic: This track will examine how essential workers have used 5G capabilities to create solutions for stakeholder agencies during the pandemic.
5G Technology that Fuels Massive IoT Growth: This track will consider how 5G provides a platform enabling the IoT to become a core part of our lifestyle and economy.
Standards and Deployment: This track will address standardization issues in three sessions. Session one will focus on standardization issues in 5G deployment. Session two will focus on “beyond 5G” standardization topics. And the third session will focus on the standardization of vertical industries with 5G and beyond.
The Role of Satellites for 5G and Beyond: This track will focus on key challenges and advances in satellite systems and communication, which are likely to play a significant role in 5G.
Dialogues between 5G and Vertical Domains: This track will bring specialists from different verticals to expose a more profound vision of the area to the 5G community.

Contributions for the IEEE 5G World Forum

The deadline for submissions for the IEEE 5G World Forum has passed. However, you can still read about the call for papers, which sought contributions on how to nurture and cultivate 5G technologies and applications for the benefit of society.

Topics of technical papers for the 5G World Forum

Within this general call for conference contributions, conference organizers solicited innovative, high-quality technical papers on specific topics such as the following:

5G technologies, application, and services
5G and the IoT
5G security and privacy
5G trials, experimental results, and deployment scenarios
5G hardware and tests/measurements

Other contributions to the 5G World Forum

The 5G World Forum also sought contributions for interactive workshops and special sessions involving a mix of paper presentations and panels. Prospective organizers submitted proposals that included the title and a brief description of their planned workshop or special session as well as the intended format and participants.

Contributors were also able to submit proposals for tutorials and demonstrations to present new innovations and educate conference participants on practical works of interest related to 5G. For information on the contributions that conference organizers selected, be sure to check out the 5G World Forum program. The full program of scheduled events for the conference will be available soon.

Submissions for future IEEE events

Additionally, consider checking out the IEEE conferences website for a current listing of upcoming events and calls for contributions. Even if you have never considered a paper submission or session proposal before, you can become familiar with the process now so you feel confident to take this next step to participate in an IEEE event on a deeper level soon.

Sponsor the IEEE 5G World Forum

Even though the deadline for paper and proposal submissions for the 5G World Forum conference has passed, there are still available sponsorship opportunities. You can position your company above the competition through live or prerecorded presentations and engage potential customers through online sessions and exhibitor/patron virtual rooms.

How to participate in the IEEE 5G World Forum

If you are planning on attending the IEEE 5G World Forum, it can be helpful to spend some time preparing. With a game plan in place, you can be sure you get the most out of any technology conference you attend.

Because of the switch to a virtual format, the conference has reduced registration fees. A single registration includes access to all parts of the conference on the interactive virtual platform, where participants will be able to ask questions of speakers, take part in discussion groups, meet with sponsors, and more.

Interested in learning more about technology roadmaps? IEEE Roadmaps provides guidance and structure to support technical roadmap development and activities. Joining this initiative will provide you the opportunity to discuss common challenges and objectives while continuing progress towards your roadmap goals. Connect with other industry, academia, and governmental experts providing this critical resource for the advancement of technology.