The 6G-LEADER project reinforced its commitment to the European 6G vision by participating in the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking Steering Board meeting held in Madrid. Hosted by Telefónica, the strategic session gathered leaders from across the SNS ecosystem to review progress and set priorities for the initiative.

Themistoklis Charalambous, the 6G-LEADER Technical Coordinator from the University of Cyprus (UCY), attended, ensuring the project’s technical insights were represented in the key decision-making body.

Strategic Highlights and Leadership

The meeting addressed critical areas concerning the future direction of the SNS programme:

• Leadership Renewal: The Steering Board successfully confirmed the new leadership for the next term, with Mikael Fallgren (SNS CO-OP) elected as the new SB Chair and Anastasius Gavras (OPTI-6G) as the Vice-Chair.
• Programme Growth: An update on the SNS Call 4/5 confirmed exceptional interest, with proposals significantly exceeding expectations, underscoring the dynamic growth of the European 6G research community.
• Working Group Progress: Updates were provided by several key Working Groups, including:
  • Test, Measurement and KPI Validation (TMV) WG, which discussed the evolution of the SNS Metadata Repository System (MRS) to support enhanced data usability.
  • The newly established Sustainability WG, which confirmed its work plan and outreach to projects like 6G-LEADER regarding sustainability-related use cases.

Looking Ahead: Events and Collaboration

Attention turned to maximizing the impact and visibility of the SNS programme:

• Key Events: Preparations are actively underway for strong SNS participation and visibility at major industry gatherings, including MWC’26 and the EuCNC/6G Summit.
• Future Meetings: The SB confirmed the locations for upcoming face-to-face meetings, scheduling them in Porto (January 2026) and Thessaloniki (May 2026), continuing the trend of pan-European collaboration.

6G-LEADER remains focused on contributing to these strategic initiatives, working collaboratively to achieve the shared goals of the SNS Joint Undertaking and drive the successful development of future 6G networks.