About

IEEE Future Networks Steering Committee and Working Groups

IEEE Future Directions launched the IEEE 5G Initiative in December 2016. To better reflect the IEEE contribution to current and future generations of networking, the initiative was re-branded to IEEE Future Networks, with the tagline Enabling 5G and Beyond, in August 2018. In January 2023, Future Networks transitioned out of Future Directions to become the IEEE Future Networks Technical Community, sponsored by a consortium of the nine IEEE societies listed below.

IEEE Future Networks will help pave a clear path through development and deployment of 5G and the great potential it enables, while envisioning the landscape of connectivity and applications beyond 5G. Recognizing that networking is larger than a single technology, standard, organization, or region, IEEE Future Networks is gathering the world’s researchers, scientists, engineers, and policymakers from industry, academia, and governments to solve the challenges and reveal the opportunities associated with current and future networks.

The experts participating in IEEE Future Networks draw upon practical knowledge gained working with previous generations of networking and consider current trends of technology evolution to foresee the meaningful shifts coming our way. Will 5G serve best as a hotspot technology? Or, will the promise of 5G only be imagined after buildout? Is it time to change how we think about telecommunications generations – do we still need discrete generations or are we in an era of continuous change? These and many other technical, business, and policy topics are explored and addressed in the various activities of IEEE Future Networks.

IEEE Future Networks is actively pursuing the following goals:

Providing practical, timely technical and theoretical content in tutorials, webinars, podcasts, original technical articles, and externally published articles.
Establishing a 5G and Beyond Technology Roadmap, which identifies short- (~3 years), mid- (~5 years) and long-term (~10 years) research, innovation, and technology trends in the communications ecosystem for the purpose of maintaining and continually enhancing a living document with a clear set of recommendations.
Organizing and leading technical conferences and workshops, including a World Forum, the first of which was held 9-11 July 2018 in Santa Clara, CA, USA.
In collaboration with IEEE Standards Association, contributing to IEEE standards to address a breadth of networking areas, including wireless, small-cell and machine-to-machine technologies, dynamic spectrum allocation, front-haul and back-haul technologies, IoT, software-defined networking, network-functions virtualization, cloud and fog computing and networking, and more.

IEEE Future Networks is managed by a Steering Committee with activities carried out by a series of Committees enacting the goals of the community. Members of the IEEE Future Networks Technical Community gain access to extensive resources including publications, videos, articles, interviews, webinars, newsletters, workshops, and conferences as well as opportunities to participate in the growth and impact of the Initiative.

IEEE Future Networks calls on the world’s participants in all aspects of current and future connectivity to join together in collaborating to enable the historic transformation promised by 5G and 6G for the benefit of all. Join the IEEE Future Networks Technical Community.

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IEEE Future Networks Sponsoring Societies

Society	Description of Society
	The field of interest of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) encompasses: antennas, including analysis, design, development, measurement, and testing; radiation, propagation, and the interaction of electromagnetic waves with discrete and continuous media; and applications and systems pertinent to antennas, propagation, and sensing.
	The IEEE Circuits and Systems Society (CAS) is the leading organization that promotes the advancement of the theory, analysis, design, tools, and implementation of circuits and systems. The field spans their theoretical foundations, applications, and architectures, as well as circuits and systems implementation of algorithms for signal and information processing.
	The IEEE Communications Society promotes technological innovation and fosters creation and sharing of information among the global technical community. The Society provides services to members for their technical and professional advancement and forums for technical exchanges among professionals in academia, industry, and public institutions.
	The IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology Society (recently renamed the IEEE Electronics Packaging Society) is the leading international forum for scientists and engineers engaged in the research, design and development of revolutionary advances in microsystems packaging and manufacturing. Its objectives are scientific, literary, and educational in character. The Society strives for the advancement of the theory and practice of electrical and electronics engineering and of the allied arts and sciences, and the maintenance of a high professional standing among its members and others and with special attention of such aims within the field of interest of the Society.
	The IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society (ITSS) advances the theoretical, experimental and operational aspects of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies as applied to Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Learn more about ITSS involvement in Future Networks.
	The IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) promotes the advancement of microwave theory and its applications, including RF, microwave, millimeter-wave, and terahertz technologies
	The Reliability Society is a technical Society within the IEEE, the world’s leading association for the advancement of technology. We are a volunteer group of professionals engaged in assuring reliability in the engineering disciplines of hardware, software, and human factors. The RS is focused on the broad aspects of reliability, allowing us to be seen as the IEEE Specialty Engineering organization. We are concerned with attaining and sustaining these design attributes throughout the total life cycle. We have the management, resources, and administrative and technical structures to develop and to provide technical information via publications, training, conferences, and technical library (IEEE Xplore) data to both our members and to the Specialty Engineering community.
	With over 9,000 members around the world, the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society (SSCS) focuses on fabricated integrated circuit designs for all applications using relevant materials and interconnections.
	IEEE Vehicular Technology Society (VTS) covers mobile radio as well as automotive electronics, with a particular focus on transmission technologies. It is also supporting an initiative on connected vehicles. Learn more about IEEE VTS involvement in Future Networks.