Abstract: The telecommunications industry has evolved around milestones, with each new generation of mobile networks emerging roughly every ten years. Some of these generations have represented major technological breakthroughs—such as widespread mobility with 2G, or high-speed mobile data with 4G (and the associated rise of smartphones)—while others, like 3G and 5G, have not marked a clear breakthrough but rather performance improvements and preparation for future disruptions. The Sustainable 6G Chair, led by CentraleSupélec within the Signals and Systems Laboratory, advocates for a 6G generation—expected around 2030—that will be driven by a sustainability breakthrough, as opposed to a purely technological one. In this presentation, we will explore the requirements for 6G in terms of energy sobriety and carbon impact, but also resilience, digital inclusion, and support for a sustainable economy. We will then outline a possible evolutionary path, starting from today’s 5G and leading toward a sustainable 6G—provided that the industry embraces these goals and that users adapt their digital behaviors accordingly.
Biography: Salah Eddine EL AYOUBI received the M.S. degree in telecommunications from the National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse, France, in 2001, and the Ph.D. and Habilitation degrees from the University of Paris VI (Sorbonne Université), in 2004 and 2009, respectively. From 2004 to 2013, he was with Orange Labs, France, as a researcher. He joined CentraleSupélec in January 2018, where he is now a full professor. He leads the ILOCOS research team at L2S-CNRS and holds the Sustainable 6G chair funded by Orange. His research interests include modeling, performance evaluation, and optimization of mobile networks, with the primary target of achieving network energy sobriety and sustainability.