6G to Take the Digital Divide by Storm: Key Technologies and Trends to Bridge the Gap

Future Internet

Marco Di Felice¹  Federico Montori¹  Giuseppe Araniti²  Chiara Suraci²  Sara Pizzi² 

[1] Department of Computer Science and Engineering (DISI), University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy;Department of Information Engineering, Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy (DIIES), University Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria, 89100 Reggio Calabria, Italy;

关键词: 6G;    digital divide;    NTNs;    AI;    XR;    MEC;   

DOI  :  10.3390/fi14060189

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has shed light on the urgency of bridging the digital divide to guarantee equity in the fruition of different services by all citizens. The inability to access the digital world may be due to a lack of network infrastructure, which we refer to as service-delivery divide, or to the physical conditions, handicaps, age, or digital illiteracy of the citizens, that is mentioned as service-fruition divide. In this paper, we discuss the way how future sixth-generation (6G) systems can remedy actual limitations in the realization of a truly digital world. Hence, we introduce the key technologies for bridging the digital gap and show how they can work in two use cases of particular importance, namely eHealth and education, where digital inequalities have been dramatically augmented by the pandemic. Finally, considerations about the socio-economical impacts of future 6G solutions are drawn.

【 授权许可】

Unknown