Second 6G Summit on Connecting the Unconnected Student and Early-Career Researchers Competition

Category 1: Concept Paper on Connecting the Unconnected

Students and junior scientists are invited to participate in the second edition of the 6G summit on Connecting the Unconnected competition to share their vision and thoughts on global connectivity for 6G and beyond by submitting a concept paper. The paper can be on any theme related to 6G and connecting the unconnected. The submission can be supported by a 3-minute video that can be a personal recording, animation, slide, or poster presentation.

Paper Requirements:

  • The required paper length is 3 pages single column (See Overleaf Template).
  • No more than 2 figures and 5 references should be included.
  • Copyrighted material should only be used upon approval from the copyright holder and appropriately acknowledged. Replicating a figure from any publication where the participant is not a co-author is not allowed.

Video Requirements:

  • The required video language is English. Subtitles in any other language such as Arabic, Chinese, French, Italian, Hindi, Portuguese, Spanish, Urdu, Russian, etc., are permitted and encouraged.
  • Videos should not exceed 3 minutes. Videos exceeding 3 minutes and 30 seconds will not be sent to the review committee.
  • Recommended type: 1080 p or higher.
  • Copyrighted material should only be used upon approval from the copyright holder and appropriately acknowledged.

*********************************************************************************************************************************

Category 2: Marconi Society Student Competition – Data-Driven Analysis of Broadband Connectivity Strategies

Students and junior scientists are invited to submit a paper which focuses on the use of data analytics to help connect more people to a faster Internet. Submissions are welcome on all areas relating to broadband connectivity, such as the following:

  • Quantifying the digital divide (who is not connected and where?)
  • Broadband adoption (e.g. covering both opportunities to encourage adoption, as well as potential barriers)
  • Broadband strategies for connecting the unconnected (covering all technologies such as fixed, cellular, Wi-Fi, satellite etc.)
  • Estimating the costs of different digital connectivity options, particularly for new technologies
  • Environmental impacts of deploying broadband
  • Evaluating broadband regulatory policies to bridge the digital divide

There are many open-source datasets which could be useful, with some prominent examples including:

To provide some inspiration for this topic, the following selected papers are examples of how empirical data analysis can be used to assess broadband strategies:

  • Cavalcante, A., Marquezini, M., Mendes, L., Moreno, C., 2021. 5G for Remote Areas: Challenges, Opportunities and Business Modeling for Brazil. IEEE Access PP, 1–1. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3050742
  • del Portillo, I., Eiskowitz, S., Crawley, E.F., Cameron, B.G., 2021. Connecting the other half: Exploring options for the 50% of the population unconnected to the internet. Telecommunications Policy 45, 102092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2020.102092
  • Mack, E.A., Maciejewski, R., 2015. A profile of visual analytical toolkits for understanding the Spatio-temporal evolution of broadband provision. Telecommunications Policy, New empirical approaches to telecommunications economics: Opportunities and challenges 39, 320–332. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2014.06.011
  • Oughton, E.J., Mathur, J., 2021. Predicting cell phone adoption metrics using machine learning and satellite imagery. Telematics and Informatics 62, 101622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2021.101622
  • Ovando, C., Pérez, J., Moral, A., 2015. LTE techno-economic assessment: The case of rural areas in Spain. Telecommunications Policy, New empirical approaches to telecommunications economics: Opportunities and challenges Mobile phone data and geographic modelling 39, 269–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2014.11.004
  • Wisely, D., Wang, N., Tafazolli, R., 2018. Capacity and costs for 5G networks in dense urban areas. IET Communications 12, 2502–2510. https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-com.2018.5505

The paper should not exceed 3 pages (single-column). Appendices for figures, data and references are recommended and are not included in the maximum page count.

*********************************************************************************************************************************

Eligibility:

Be a part-time or full-time undergraduate or graduate student. Postdocs and early career academics are also eligible to participate in both categories (i.e., received their PhD anytime between January 1st, 2018 and now). Only one submission per participant. Note that it is possible to participate in both categories.

Paper Submission and Deadline:

The paper per each category should be submitted to 6gsummit.competition@gmail.com and a link to the video uploaded to youtube should be provided in the same email. If youtube is not accessible to you, you can upload the video in the same email using DropBox, Google Drive, or WeTransfer.

The deadline for both competition categories is November 4th, 11.59 pm GMT. You will receive a confirmation email within 24 hours of submission.

Review and Committee:

The videos will be reviewed by a committee formed by senior academics and professionals active in the area of “Connecting the Unconnected.” The results will be announced on December 10th, 2021 and the winners will be notified by email.

Awards:

3 winners for each category:

  • First place prize: 700 US $ Amazon Gift Card
  • Second place prize: 350 US $ Amazon Gift Card
  • Third place prize: 200 US $ Amazon Gift Card

The winning submissions will be archived online in the 6G Summit on Connecting the Unconnected proceeding.

Previous Winners in the First Edition (5 Minutes Video Competition):

  • Mohamed Amine Lahmeri
  • Shuping Dang
  • Yassine Hmamouche