[Apologies if you receive multiple copies of this message]

Call for Papers

=====================================================
2023 IEEE Future Networks World Forum (FNWF’23)
Theme: Imagining the network of the future
13-15 November 2023
Baltimore, MD, USA
https://fnwf2023.ieee.org
https://fnwf2023.ieee.org/symposium/connecting-ununder-connected-future-networks
=====================================================

Financially co-sponsored by
IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, IEEE Circuits and Systems Society, IEEE Communications Society, IEEE Electronics Packaging Society, IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society, IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society, IEEE Reliability Society, IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society, and IEEE Vehicular Technology Society.

The 2023 IEEE Future Networks World Forum (FNWF’23) will continue the path set in 2018 by the IEEE 5G World Forum in bringing together experts from industry, academia, and research to exchange their vision as well as their achieved advances in the continuing evolution of network technology, including 5G, 6G, and other innovative cross-domain breakthroughs. Located in Baltimore, USA, IEEE FNWF’23 seeks contributions on how to nurture and cultivate future network technologies and applications for the benefit of society. Workshop, tutorial, industry forum, and demonstration proposals and original, innovative, and high-quality papers are solicited on the technical topics of Future Networks.

Symposium on Connecting the Un/Under-Connected in Future Network

SCOPE AND MOTIVATION
There are numerous projects and initiatives ongoing around the world, however, these are fragmented and lack the critical mass and coordination to be able to impact the future standards, product development, and cost of deployment otherwise achievable by volume. The workshop aims to bring all those activities together in a single event to discuss the challenges, solutions, and potential for collaboration opportunities while influencing the network service providers, manufacturers and governments around the world to raise the issues to the forefront.

While technologies are available today, they need to be customized and optimized at the systems level to bring down the cost of network in order to be affordable. In addition, the content needs to be relevant and in local languages to be of useful, not to mention the need to offer innovative human-computer interaction (HCI) solutions (that are not text based) so that people who are not literate or digitally savvy can easily use the devices and consume services. Another important requirement is of flexible spectrum allocation regime at the lower range of the spectrum to increase reach and coverage. The use of renewable energy sources will enable deployment in remote areas where there is lack of power grid, or it is intermittent. In short, this workshop will highlight a number of technology gaps that should be addressed in 5G and B5G networks, such that access is affordable and content and services are actually consumed by the target set of users. Technology aside, the need to develop innovative business models is a must so that the solutions are commercially sustainable in the long term. A number of such models, especially designed for the rural population, will be discussed, such as Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE), Freemium (Free + Premium), revenue sharing among the cascade of service providers, subsidized billing by USOF (Universal Service Obligation Funds). Finally, the workshop aims to summarize the state-of-the-art from today to 3 years, 5 years, and 10 years.

TOPICS OF INTEREST
We invite submissions on a wide range of research topics, spanning both theoretical and systems research, including results from industry and academic/industrial collaborations, related but not restricted to the following topics:

Technological Issues
o 3GPP releases and equipment timelines as related to the goals of CTU
o Coverage and power issues
o Backhaul networks terrestrial and non-terrestrial
o Content storage and distribution
o Infrastructure pooling and security
o Network architectures
o Role of IoT and machines in rural and remote communities
o Human-computer interaction
o Authentication, security, and privacy in the context of digitally illiterate users
o Advanced Applications and Services

Different Classes of Services
o QoS and application interfaces commensurate with user capacities
o Economic Factors

Cooperative Business Models
o Novel business models that are affordable - Enablement of vertical industries
o Cost of connectivity
o User ownership
o Micro-operator eco-system
o Legal and Regulatory

Spectrum usage
o Revenue sharing models
o GDPR
o Access to Data
o Data Ownership
o Availability, Reliability, and Liability Deployment issues

Rural / Low-population density areas
o Scalability issues
o Financing issues
o Infrastructure investments
o Coordination and Co-investment
o Institutional facilitation


SYMPOSIUM PAPER SUBMISSION
All papers should be submitted via EDAS, Symposium on Connecting the Un/Under-Connected in Future Networks track. Full instructions on how to submit papers are provided on the IEEE FNWF 2023 website: https://fnwf2023.ieee.org/

EDAS submission link: https://edas.info/newPaper.php?c=30731&track=117037


SYMPOSIUM ORGANIZERS
Sudhir Dixit, Basic Internet Foundation, USA
Ashutosh Dutta, JHU/APL, USA

IMPORTANT DATES
Symposium Paper Submission: 21 July 2023
Symposium Paper Acceptance Notification: 1 September 2023
Camera-Ready Submission: 15 September 2023


More details are provided on the IEEE FNWF 2023 website: https://fnwf2023.ieee.org/information-authors