The governments of the United States, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Sweden and the United Kingdom agree on these shared principles for the research and development of 6G wireless communication systems; and recognize that by working together we can support open, free, global, interoperable, reliable, resilient and secure connectivity. We believe this is an indispensable contribution to building a more inclusive, sustainable, secure and peaceful future for all, and we call on other governments, organizations and stakeholders to join us in supporting and upholding these principles. Collaboration and unity are key to solving pressing challenges in the development of 6G, and we hereby declare our intention to adopt relevant policies to this end in our countries, encourage the adoption of such policies in third countries, and advance research and the development and standardization of 6G networks that comply with the following shared principles:
1. Reliable technology that protects national security
- 6G technologies supported by secure and resilient technology as part of a broader secure and trusted communications ecosystem, facilitating the ability of participating governments and partners to protect national security.
2. Security, resilience and privacy protection
- 6G technologies developed by organizations that have systematic approaches to cybersecurity, including through the use of standards, interfaces and technical specifications; approaches such as security by design, capable of guaranteeing the availability of essential services; and systems designed to fail safely and recover quickly.
- 6G technologies that are reliable, resilient, secure and protect people's privacy.
- 6G technologies and architectures that provide a high level of security in communication networks, including mitigating potential risks posed by greater network complexity or larger attack surfaces.
3. Establishment of global and inclusive standards and international collaborations led by the industry
- 6G technologies that are based on global standards, interfaces and technical specifications that are developed through open, transparent, impartial and consensus-based decision-making processes.
- 6G technologies that are based on global standards that respect intellectual property rights, that promote sustainability, accessibility, inclusive participation, interoperability, competitiveness, openness and security.
4. Cooperation to enable open and interoperable innovation
- 6G technologies using technical standards in line with the principles established under the industry-led, global and inclusive standard-setting principle and interfaces and international collaborations to enable seamless interoperability between products from different vendors, including software and hardware.
- 6G technologies that recognize the importance of international cooperation in promoting open, secure, resilient, inclusive and interoperable networks, such as open radio access networks, and a secure, resilient, inclusive and sustainable 6G ecosystem.
- 6G technologies that benefit from joint research, development and testing and that leverage innovative technologies such as virtualization, software-defined networking and artificial intelligence.
5. Affordability, sustainability and global connectivity
- 6G technologies that enable energy-efficient deployments and operations, improving both environmental sustainability, equipment repairability and recyclability, and the affordability necessary to support social sustainability.
- 6G technologies that can be accessed through mechanisms such as economies of scale, enabled by standardization and a competitive environment, and capable of closing digital gaps, providing reliable coverage and a constant quality of experience, minimizing the disparity in the service levels wherever possible while enabling innovative use cases.
- 6G technologies that contribute to empowering other industries and sectors to reduce their environmental impacts by promoting digital transformation.
- 6G technologies that are widely available and accessible to developing countries.
- 6G technologies that leverage non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), such as satellites and high altitude platform stations (HAPS).
6. Spectrum and manufacturing
- 6G technologies that have secure and resilient supply chains.
- 6G technologies that promote a globally competitive market along the ICT value chain and in all elements of the computing and connectivity continuum, with multiple software and hardware providers.
- 6G technologies that could make use of new spectrum allocations or spectrum already allocated for wireless services.
- 6G technologies that use spectrum efficiently and incorporate spectrum sharing mechanisms by design to coexist with existing service providers.
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