The 6G-LEADER consortium successfully gathered for its 5th General Assembly meeting on July 1–2, 2026, in the beautiful city of Athens, Greece. Hosted by our project partner, Four Dot Infinity (FDI), this physical meeting marked a vital milestone as the project officially hits Month 19 (M19).
The two-day event brought together our interdisciplinary consortium of academic pioneers, industrial leaders, and innovative SMEs to review our initial progress, ensure alignment across all tracks, and strategically chart the course for the next phases of our 6G journey.
Assessing Progress & Looking Ahead to Phase B
With the project crossing into its second half, the primary focus of this General Assembly was to evaluate the technical breakthroughs achieved so far and align on upcoming project deliverables, the upcoming official review meeting, and our first periodic reporting cycle.
During the intensive sessions, each Work Package (WP) leader presented key advancements, addressed technical challenges, and mapped out actionable next steps:
Day 1 kicked off with a comprehensive Technical Project Overview led by the University of Cyprus (UCY) and supported by FDI. This was followed by reviews of WP2 (Requirements & Architecture) , WP3 (ML-empowered 6G PHY) , WP4 (Sustainable 6G RAN) , and WP5 (Goal-oriented Semantics-empowered Networking). The afternoon concluded with strategic updates on impact creation from WP8 and prototype methodology from WP7.
Day 2 shifted focus toward administrative topics with a comprehensive WP1 Project Management update from F6S, covering financial planning and alignment with EC expectations. The technical tracks concluded with a presentation on WP6 (O-RAN extensions) and a holistic review of overall project objectives.
Proof-of-Concept Open Discussions
A highlight of this physical meeting was the collaborative space dedicated to our five concrete Proof-of-Concept (PoC) prototypes. These sessions allowed partners to engage in open, cross-functional engineering discussions to ensure our theoretical innovations seamlessly translate into tangible, real-world testbed trials:
- PoC 1 & 4: Exploring XR-UAV real-time interaction and AirComp Wireless for AI (led by CNIT and FDI).
- PoC 2 & 3: Diving into enhanced mobile broadband for the FR3 band and AI/ML trainable RIC conflict management (led by Massive Beams, Digital Catapult, and Accelleran).
- PoC 5: Validating AI/ML-aided enhanced multiple access with low-EMF fluid antennas (led by UC3M).
As we look forward to the upcoming months, the collaborative spirit generated in Athens will fuel our transition into a high-gear implementation and validation phase. By fostering native AI integration, semantic communication compression, and groundbreaking reconfigurable RF components, 6G-LEADER continues to firmly reinforce European sovereignty and excellence in the global 6G ecosystem.
Thank you to Four Dot Infinity for hosting an exceptional assembly, and to all our partners for their commitment and contributions!
