US, Sweden Announce Cooperation in Advanced Wireless Tech

The following is the text of a joint statement by the U.S. Department of State and the Kingdom of Sweden Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

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The United States of America and the Kingdom of Sweden,

• Understand wireless communications play a crucial role in our societies and these networks have become a core part of our critical infrastructure;
• Acknowledge requirements for wireless technologies are steadily increasing, highlighting the technical and regulatory requirements for advanced wireless deployments, and the need for continuous advancement;
• Underline the substantial potential for collaboration between our respective governments, academia, private sector, and innovation ecosystems in this field;
• Recall the joint commitment expressed by President Biden and Prime Minister Kristersson to deepen joint research in 6G advanced telecommunications, at their meeting on 5 July 2023;
• Welcome the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, and the Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova) on collaboration in research-intensive areas, including 6G;
• Recognize the focus of R&D and standardization efforts is shifting to advanced 5G, 6G, and beyond;
• Emphasize efforts to address the economic, environmental, and social impacts of wireless networks would benefit from international cooperation, advanced multi-party research, the sharing of best practices, and identification of synergies; and
• Recognize the important value of international cooperation, including with private sector partners, in promoting open and interoperable architectures, such as open radio access networks, and resilient, secure, safe, trustworthy, inclusive, and sustainable 6G, as expressed in the plurilateral Joint Statement Endorsing Principles for 6G: Secure, Open and Resilient by Design as well as the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council 6G Vision.

We intend to advance this agenda by:

1. Identifying synergies and exploring possibilities to create a joint ecosystem for research and development in 6G technology and applications by:

• Making use of new spectrum allocations by future wireless services/technologies and introducing new technologies in existing frequency bands.
• Resolving to encourage global harmonization of frequency bands for 6G and next generations wireless services.
• Embarking on cooperation underpinned by our shared principles of private sector-led international standards, transparency, trust, equity, fair competition, innovation, fair market practices, human centricity, and democratic values.
• Resolving to tackle cross-cutting ICT issues of common interest such as diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, so that every person can participate fully and have equal opportunity to succeed in the global digital economy.
• Resolving to create a joint global approach toward sustainable, competitive, secure, trustworthy technology and supplier neutral 6G technologies.
• Supporting development of, where necessary and appropriate, interfaces and specifications within international standards fora that are open, transparent, impartial, and consensus based.
• Encouraging development of technologies that align with and draw from international standards, including design specifications, that are developed using open, transparent, impartial, and consensus-based processes.
• Exploring possibilities for long-term research collaboration, including potential funding for relevant bilateral research collaboration, in a multitude of areas related to 6G and beyond, including but not limited to, resiliency, security, trust, and privacy; machine learning and AI-enabled technologies; efficient use of communication and computing resources, materials, cybersecurity, edge computing, algorithms, distributed intelligence, and data resources; attaining sustainability; addressing spectrum issues; and encouraging the joint use and establishment of test beds, open architectures, advanced micro-electronics, dynamic spectrum management, optical science, and network and computer science.
• Supporting workforce development and increased diversity in the workforce and industrial base as we build closer partnerships and collaborations with private sector leaders to support security, resilience, competition, and innovation in the critical telecommunications sector as foundational to sustainable success.

2. Supporting pathways to cultivate wireless communications for economic, environmental, and societal impact by:

• Embracing and promoting cooperation in scientific research, standardization, technology development, and innovation to strengthen our economies, deepen our bonds of friendship and understanding, and contribute to global science and technology knowledge.
• Discussing and recognizing the progress of research in 6G communications, which in turn would lead to the identification of overlapping interests and opportunities for future scientific cooperation.
• Promoting avenues to encourage a broad and inclusive 6G ecosystem to facilitate multidisciplinary research for fundamental discoveries and diverse applications, with the potential to help solve shared and global societal challenges.
• Promoting policies and mechanisms for facilitating the open and robust exchange ideas to establish a resilient and skilled workforce for research and technology development, within academia, government, or the private sector.
• Promoting policies and mechanisms for facilitating the use and joint experimentation with large-scale wireless 6G testbeds.
• Promoting the development of 6G technologies that contribute to bridging digital divides and minimizing disparities in service levels to ensure 6G technologies are available and accessible to emerging markets.
• Exploring other potential activities to be decided upon by the participating countries.

We confirm our mutual interest in leveraging, as appropriate, the Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden, signed in Stockholm on the 29th of June 2006, as an operational framework for cooperation outlined by this Joint Statement.

We intend to engage regularly and focus on cooperation in next generation communications, including 6G and beyond, as outlined in this vision for the mutual benefit of the United States of America, the Kingdom of Sweden, and the wider global community.

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