Taiwan's ITRI joins EU 6G research project

Taipei, Nov. 14 (CNA) Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) said Tuesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a European Union-funded program to foster 6G research collaboration between the bloc and Taiwanese companies.

The collaboration of 6G-SANDBOX testbeds with Taiwan's telecommunications ecosystem will aim to advance 6G research on topics such as joint communications and sensing (JCaS) and service management and orchestration (SMO), ITRI said in a statement.

Ting Pang-an (丁邦安), general director of ITRI's Information and Communications Research Laboratories, said both sides also plan to extend invitations to universities and additional Taiwanese companies to further develop 5G networks and define 6G standards.

"This MOU will further our ability to work with thought leaders across the globe and jointly run experiments to further advances in wireless communications," 6G-SANDBOX coordinator Michael Dieudonne said.

6G-SANDBOX was launched in January 2023 to create a pan-European testing ground for 6G experimentation, which seeks to deliver fully configurable and manageable end-to-end networks for validating new technologies and 6G research advancements.

The project has received funding from the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking entity which is part of the EU's 95.5 billion euros (US$102 billion) Horizon Europe research and innovation program, according to the European Commission.