Narcís Cardona, researcher at the iTEAM Research Institute of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Director of the 6G Joint Innovation Centre and Vice President of the one6G Association, took part as a speaker at the 5G FORUM held in Seville, where he shared his vision on the future of next-generation mobile communications and Spain’s positioning in the global 6G race.
During his presentation, titled “Spain at the forefront of 6G technology”, Cardona addressed the opportunities and challenges surrounding the development of 6G at a moment when the international ecosystem is beginning to define the technological and strategic foundations of the next generation of connectivity.
He also highlighted the importance of putting value on Spain’s strong telecommunications talent base, noting that a long-term national strategy could enable the country to lead in several areas of the sector, including 6G. He emphasized that recent investments in 5G and 6G-related projects have generated significant human capital and R&D infrastructure, which could be effectively leveraged if coordinated under a shared roadmap. In this sense, he described IMPACT6G as an initial, albeit modest, step towards capitalizing Spain’s “telecom talent ecosystem” and strengthening its position in Europe.
He also emphasized the importance of collaboration among stakeholders to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness in the global telecommunications arena. “It is not enough to compete among ourselves; we need to build joint capabilities and present ourselves externally as a strong ecosystem,” he stated.
The IMPACT network is composed of i2CAT, Gradiant, the University of Murcia, and iTEAM, and is developed under the project RED2024‑153933‑E, funded by MCIU/AEI (DOI: 10.13039/501100011033).