“RESTART - RESearch and innovation on future Telecommunications systems and networks, to make Italy more smAR

Climate change, pandemics, the digital divide, social inequalities, as well as the geo political situation and threats to democracy, are some of the unprecedented challenges which are already affecting network evolution (with an increasing demand of rural area connectivity, energy-efficiency, but also openness and trustiness) and for which networks can play a key role in mitigating their detrimental effects. In such a context, Net4Future has the ambition to consider innovative evolutionary paths for networks, which are not limited to technology-pushed solutions enabling innovative digital services, but rather consider society-pull requirements in heterogeneous directions. Starting from methodologies typical of strategic foresight applied to telecommunications networks, the project will analyze a functional end-to-end architecture of future networks, by identifying technological enablers and innovation potential towards different directions: inclusiveness (to connect the unconnected) and sustainability (to contribute to a sustainable utilization of natural resources in different sectors), trustworthiness (to control technology at different user/operator/provider levels), innovative regulation policies (including pricing regulation, competition regulation, privacy and data protection, online dispute resolutions). The project will also offer an experimental toolbox for validating innovative services on beyond-5G networks, and quantifying the service improvements by means of innovative indicators.