Munich and Dresden to pool resources in 6G hub

Joining forces to shape the 6G future

6G technology is centered around people and their communications and interactions with machines and virtual worlds. 6G-life will focus in particular on two application areas already being explored in numerous high-profile projects at TUM: Industry 4.0 and digital medicine. Both are key fields of interest of the Munich School of Robotics and Machine Intelligence (MSRM) at TUM, which will play an integral role in the 6G-life project.

The project will address four key topics: Latency (delay – how can we make communications faster?), resilience (How can we make communications more failsafe?), security (how can we protect privacy and defend against attacks?) and sustainability (how can we substantially reduce the high energy consumption of digital communications?). The requirements of 6G will involve technical challenges that can be solved only with new theoretical approaches. Basic research in such areas as information theory will therefore represent an a vital element of 6G-life.

There are increasing concerns in Germany and Europe that digital technologies have become overly dependent on foreign companies. 6G-life will therefore play an active role in shaping the digital transformation. The project will develop key technologies and provide research results to be incorporated into global 6G standards in cooperation with technology companies and network operators.

As with all new technologies, 6G raises important questions for our society. Consequently, the project will incorporate contributions from humanities and social sciences in its research to ensure due consideration of ethical questions and concerns.

6G-life aims to leverage the innovative power of start-ups, with 10 million euros set aside to support young companies. The goal is to create at least 10 new start-ups in the next four years and to provide support for numerous existing ones. TUM is ideally positioned in that regard: Every year TUM spawns around 80 technology-focused spinouts. TUM and UnternehmerTUM, the Center for Innovation and Start-ups, support start-ups with programs specifically geared to the various phases of creating a new business. The TUM Venture Labs, an initiative for research-based start-ups unique throughout Europe, will play a decisive role for 6G-life. The Venture Labs offer entrepreneurs an extensive ecosystem, including technological infrastructure, training, and high-caliber expertise and support from companies and researchers.