PUBLISHER: IDATE | PRODUCT CODE: 1874957
PUBLISHER: IDATE | PRODUCT CODE: 1874957
6G and Societal Impact
The rollout of 6G is poised to mark a major technological breakthrough. Beyond enhanced network performance, 6G carries a broader ambition: to become a strategic infrastructure supporting digital, social, and environmental transitions.
Across the globe, public and industrial initiatives are converging around high-value societal use cases such as connected healthcare, collaborative robotics, immersive education, sustainable cities, public safety, and environmental management.
Given these challenges, 6G cannot be assessed solely through traditional technical metrics. New Key Value Indicators (KVIs) are emerging to measure its real societal impact, inform public policy, enhance accountability, and guide investment decisions.
This report offers a cross-cutting analysis of use cases, associated values, and shared evaluation frameworks, placing societal purpose at the heart of technological design.
Table of Contents
1. Executive summary
2. Introduction
- 2.1. The evolution of mobile technology
- 2.2. The current limitations of 5G
- 2.3. 6G towards a sustainable, intelligent and inclusive network
- 2.4. Designing 6G with the public interest in mind
- 2.5. Specific features of the technology
3. The value framework
- 3.1. The Sustainable Development Goals: a reference framework
- 3.2. International cooperation for technology development
- 3.3. Global consensus from the outset
- 3.4. Measuring impact with Key Value Indicators (KVI)
- 3.5. Measuring impact with social and societal value indicators
- 3.6. Social impact integrated into governance and regulatory frameworks
4. Use cases for 6G
- 4.1. Use cases driving 6G
- 4.2. Use cases rooted in international priorities
- 4.3. Concrete examples of 6G use cases
- Collaborative robots
- Immersive experiences
- Digital twins
- Trusted environments
- Universal coverage
- Physical perception
- Environmental monitoring
5. Conclusion 31
