CONFIRMED KEYNOTES

Halim Yanikomeroglu

Chancellor's professor at Carleton University, Ottawa

Halim Yanikomeroglu is a Chancellor’s Professor at Carleton University and the Founding Director of the Carleton Non-Terrestrial Networks Lab. He has made significant contributions to multiple generations of mobile networks (4G/5G/6G), as well as to drone and satellite networks. He co-leads the Non-Terrestrial Networks for Accelerating Canada's Ubiquitous Connectivity and Digital Future (NTN-CAN) project, the largest initiative of its kind in Canada, with a budget of $13.5 million supported by the federal government and other partners. Dr. Yanikomeroglu is a Fellow of several scholarly societies. He has co-authored 800 peer-reviewed publications and holds 43 granted patents with impactful technology transfer. Several of his former trainees have become professors in Canada and around the world. He has received numerous awards recognizing his visionary research and leadership. He holds a PhD degree from the University of Toronto.

Keynote Title:

The Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) Revolution:

Opportunities, Risks, and the Future of Global Connectivity

Abstract

Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) represent an emerging paradigm that integrates terrestrial (4G, 5G, and future 6G), aerial (uncrewed aerial vehicles, UAVs), near-space/stratospheric (high-altitude platform stations, HAPS), and space-based (satellite) assets into a unified infrastructure for communications, computing, sensing, and intelligence. Beyond ultra-high-speed connectivity, NTN is expected to support a wide range of applications, including sensing, imaging, artificial intelligence, distributed data centers, positioning, navigation, timing (PNT), and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). The vision is a three-dimensional, multi-purpose network of networks that provides ubiquitous, resilient, secure, reliable, sustainable, and cost-effective services worldwide.

The NTN paradigm will be not only transformative but also disruptive. Like any disruptive technology, it will create both winners and losers. As NTN reshapes the global digital landscape, governments, industry, academia, and civil society must work together to ensure that its benefits are broadly shared. The implications extend beyond economic growth and technological innovation to issues of digital sovereignty, security, resilience, and equitable access. The future of NTN is not predetermined. With foresight, collaboration, and strategic investment, stakeholders can help shape an ecosystem that is innovative, competitive, inclusive, and sustainable.

In this talk, we will take a forward-looking tour of the future of connectivity, where the boundaries among operators, vendors, cloud providers, satellite platforms, AI infrastructure, and even domestic and global players are increasingly blurred. As the NTN ecosystem evolves, maintaining a competitive and inclusive marketplace will be critical. Equally important will be safeguarding sovereignty, strategic autonomy, and resilience in an increasingly interconnected and globally integrated digital infrastructure. A global ecosystem dominated by a small number of powerful players may limit innovation, competition, and the broader societal benefits that NTN has the potential to deliver.

Xianbin Wang

Distinguished University Professor at Western University, Canada

Dr. Xianbin Wang is a Distinguished University Professor and a Tier-1 Canada Research Chair in Trusted Communications and Computing at Western University, Canada. His current research interests include 5G/6G technologies, communications security, physical AI and networked systems. He has over 800 highly cited journals and conference papers, in addition to over 30 granted and pending patents and several standard contributions.

Dr. Wang is a Fellow of IEEE, a Fellow of Royal Society of Canada, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada. He has received many prestigious awards and recognitions, including the IEEE Canada R. A. Fessenden Award, Canada Research Chair, Engineering Research Excellence Award at Western University, Canadian Federal Government Public Service Award, Ontario Early Researcher Award, and 12 Best Paper Awards. He is currently a member of the Senate, Senate Committee on Academic Policy and Senate Committee on University Planning at Western. He has been involved in many flagship conferences, including ICC, GLOBECOM, VTC, PIMRC, WCNC, CCECE, and ICNC, in different roles, such as General Chair, TPC Chair, Symposium Chair, Tutorial Instructor, Track Chair, Session Chair, and Keynote Speaker. He has served as the Editor-in-Chief, Associate EiC, area editor, associate editor and guest editor for over ten journals. He was nominated as an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer multiple times by different IEEE technical societies. He has served on the Fellow Committees of IEEE and IEEE Communications Society. He was the Chair of the IEEE ComSoc Signal Processing and Computing for Communications (SPCC) Technical Committee and the Central Area Chair of IEEE Canada.

Keynote Title:

Beyond Connectivity: Toward Intelligence- and Trust-Native 6G Networks for Value Realization

Abstract

The rapid evolution of wireless technologies, together with their ongoing convergence with AI and vertical applications, is profoundly reshaping future industries. To effectively support diverse and dynamic applications, future 6G networks must evolve beyond connectivity by intelligently enabling beyond communication services and trusted collaboration for value realization. This presentation begins by examining the fundamental challenges in 6G. A novel AI- and trust-native 6G architectural paradigm is introduced to achieve diverse operation goals of complex networked systems. A multi-dimensional multiple access (MDMA) mechanism is introduced as a heterogeneous service provisioning platform that intelligently coordinates multi-dimensional radio resources for value-oriented service provisioning. This talk will also explore the critical aspects of trusted machine collaboration in 6G-enabled networked systems. Furthermore, key enabling technologies and mathematical frameworks for task-specific trust evaluation, trusted collaborator selection, and effective task completion will be presented.

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