HKUST Co-hosts IEEE Hong Kong 6G Wireless Summit 2025

Co-hosted by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), the IEEE Hong Kong 6G Wireless Summit (IEEE HK6GWS 2025) successfully concluded on September 12, 2025. The event convened nearly 300 global visionaries from academia, industry, and government to chart the course for next-generation wireless innovation. This third annual summit solidified the city's position as a nexus for 6G advancement, fueled by groundbreaking dialogues on standardization, infrastructure, and the transformative integration of 6G with emerging sectors like the Low-Altitude Economy (LAE).

This summit, organized by the Hong Kong 6G AoE Research Center (6G@HK) and the IEEE Communications Society, focused on 6G advancements, standardization efforts, and implementation strategies. It featured an impressive lineup of internationally recognized speakers and panelists including representatives from Huawei, China Telecom, and leading global universities like the University of California San Diego and University College London. This gathering of thought leaders provided exceptional depth and breadth of perspective on the future of 6G technologies which helped guide current and future decisions on the use and implementation of these transformative technologies. 

In the opening session of the summit, Prof. Harry SHUM, Chairman of HKUST Council, a renowned AI expert and former Executive Vice President of Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Research Group, outlined a transformative future powered by the convergence of 6G networks and LAE. His talk, titled "Exploring the Low Altitude Airspace: From Natural Resource to Economic Engine" forecasted that the rapid rise of LAE— an integrated economic model driven by flight activities in low-altitude airspace—will bring drastic shifts to industries such as logistics, agriculture, and public services. He highlighted advanced navigation technologies like visual-inertial odometry and large-scale scene mapping, which enable safe, high-density operations in congested urban airspaces, and emphasized the need for smart digital management platforms,such as SILAS OS, to ensure effective airspace integration and real-time operational safety.

Prof. Shum concluded that the LAE is poised to become a major urban economic engine, capable of supporting up to one million flights daily per city. Achieving this vision will require seamless integration of advanced navigation technologies, resilient digital and physical infrastructure, harmonized global regulatory frameworks, and intelligent multi-platform airspace management systems such as SILAS OS. This future promises safer, more efficient, and sustainable urban air mobility, but depends critically on continued innovation, global regulatory alignment, and responsive meteorological integration.

Prof. Khaled B. LETAIEF, HKUST New Bright Professor of Engineering and Chair Professor of the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, IEEE Fellow, and Project Coordinator of 6G@HK, also served as the General Chair of the organizing committee for the IEEE HK6GWS 2025. He stated that Hong Kong is well-positioned to drive 6G innovation through a coordinated research and development strategy that combines academic research, industrial partnerships, and talent development. Backed by substantial funding from the Research Grants Council and a collaborative ecosystem of leading universities and industry partners, the Hong Kong 6G AoE Research Center (6G@HK) aims to establish Hong Kong as a global hub for next-generation wireless access and connectivity.

IEEE HK6GWS 2025 receives primary support from Hong Kong 6G AoE (6G@HK), a 6G research center, which is funded by the Research Grants Council’s Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme under the coordination of Prof. Letaief.

More details are available on the event website:https://hk6gws2025.ieee-hk6gws.org/.