Call for Papers

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While 5G is being deployed around the world, work has already begun on defining vision and requirements for 6G. 6G is expected to be more transformative than 5G and influence societies and economies across the globe. While previous generations of cellular communications technologies have primarily focused on consumers and enterprises, 6G aims to achieve broader goals of making significant progress toward Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) recently defined 6G capabilities and usage scenarios. The ITU-defined 6G usage scenarios include immersive communication, AI and communication, Hyper Reliable and Low Latency Communication, Ubiquitous Connectivity, Massive Communication, and Integrated Sensing and Communication. Furthermore, all these usage scenarios have common overarching aspects of sustainability, connecting the unconnected, security and resilience, and ubiquitous intelligence. This Special Issue (SI) focuses on sustainability aspects of 6G. Sustainability pertains to 6G communication systems themselves as well as the influence of 6G on helping other industries become sustainable.

We seek original completed and unpublished work not currently under review by any other journal/magazine/conference. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Goals and associated quantitative or qualitative requirements for societal benefits and sustainability.
• Target applications/services that help accelerate achieving societal and sustainability goals.
• Key system architecture considerations suitable for benefits to society and sustainability.
• Energy harvesting considerations and technologies to facilitate sustainability.
• Impact of energy harvesting on the device ecosystem (e.g., smartphones, IoT devices, and AR/VR/XR devices).
• How energy harvesting can influence designs of the 6G network.
• How continuous energy supply can be achieved while maximizing the potential of energy harvesting for 6G communication systems.
• Radio interface features that can play a critical role in achieving sustainability.
• Radio network attributes to help realize societal benefits.
• How 6G can act as an enabler of sustainability for various industries or verticals.
• Device enhancements that can contribute to sustainability.
• Device attributes and capabilities that can help achieve societal goals.
• Performance metrics that can be used to quantify societal benefits.
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for quantifying sustainability within a 6G system encompassing device, radio network, core network, services network, transport networks, and cloud networks.
• Performance metrics that can be used to quantify the influence of 6G on various verticals or industries.

Submission Guidelines

Manuscripts should conform to the standard format as indicated in the Information for Authors section of the Manuscript Submission Guidelines. Please, check these guidelines carefully before submitting since submissions not complying with them will be administratively rejected without review.

All manuscripts to be considered for publication must be submitted by the deadline through IEEE Submission Portal. Select the “Advancing Societal and Sustainability Goals in 6G” topic from the drop-down menu of Topic/Series titles. Please observe the dates specified here below noting that there will be no extension of submission deadline.

Important Dates

Manuscript Submission Deadline: 30 November 2025 (Deadline Extended)
Initial Decision: 1 February 2026
Revised Manuscript Due: 1 March 2026
Final Decision: 1 April 2026
Final Manuscript Due: 15 April 2026
Publication Date: June 2026

Guest Editors

Eric Burger (Lead Guest Editor)
Virginia Tech, USA

Akihiro Nakao
Tokyo University, Japan

Radhakrishna Ganti
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)- Madras, India

Alexandros Kaloxylo
6G-IA, Europe