Introduction:

The Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) is at the forefront of driving innovation in next-generation communication technologies and services across Europe. At the same time, various national initiatives in Europe are actively advancing 6G technologies and smart services. The SNS JU plays a pivotal role in fostering collaboration between these national initiatives and SNS projects by facilitating the exchange of best practices, research findings, and results.

As highlighted in the recently published SNS R&I Work Programme 2025 (SNS WP 2025), the SNS JU actively encourages the integration of results and experimental platforms from national initiatives into its calls. This approach ensures that Europe remains competitive in the global technology race by effectively pooling expertise and resources across national and EU levels. Furthermore, it supports the EU’s strategic goals of digital sovereignty and technological independence by fostering a cohesive and collaborative research and innovation ecosystem.

In alignment with these goals, and as part of the SNS CSA CO-OP project, 6G-IA is organizing a series of webinars where various national initiatives will showcase their key achievements and share information about their experimental platforms.

The fourth webinar in this series is scheduled to take place on Monday, 30^th June 2025, from 10:30 to 12:00 CEST, featuring an in-depth presentation of the French 6G R&I activities as a part of their national program.

French National Initiative:

France 2030 represents an ambitious national strategy aimed at strengthening the country’s technological and industrial sovereignty by supporting innovation across its most critical sectors. With a forward-looking investment plan, France is positioning itself at the forefront of global transformation in areas such as telecommunications, electronics, cybersecurity, cloud and edge computing, artificial intelligence, biotechnologies, and quantum technologies.

This strategy targets both national resilience and economic competitiveness, addressing major societal challenges such as energy transition, food security, healthcare, sustainable mobility, and digital trust. France 2030 supports the full innovation chain—from fundamental research to industrial deployment—through a range of instruments including the Future Investment Program (PIA), targeted calls for collaborative R&D projects, and the Priority Research and Equipment Programs (PEPRs). A national acceleration strategy dedicated to future network technologies was launched in 2021 and has allowed the funding of R&D 6G projects and the development of R&D programs lead by French universities.

A key component of this strategy involves the creation of open experimental platforms, pilot industrial sites, and testbeds that enable researchers, startups, and industry players to co-develop and validate cutting-edge technologies.

This webinar will provide an overview of France’s strategic vision for innovation in telecoms, with a focus on some of the major experimental initiatives that are helping to shape the technological landscape of tomorrow.

Agenda:

Monday 30 June 2025, from 10:30 to 12:00 CEST

10:30 – 10:40 Welcome & Introduction
Colin Wilcock (Chairman, 6G-IA)

10:40 – 11:00  RF_Net: Radiofrequency test facility network; State-of-the-art testing for advanced hardware devices
Philippe Besnier (Research Director, CNRS)

11:00 – 11:20  SLICES-Fr: The French node of SLICES-RI; access to experimental services in the fields of network protocols, radio technologies and distributed computing
Raymond Knopp  (Professor, Eurecom)

11:20 – 11:40  NGC-AIoT: Specific test-beds for  embedded AI and edge-computing within SLICES-Fr
Philippe Martins (Research Director, IMT)

11:40 – 12:00  Q&A with the audience

Registration Form: