UofG set to play key role in UN’s ITU focus group on AI Native Networks
Published: 29 January 2025
The University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science is playing a key role in a new United Nations International Telecommunication Union focus group which aims to harness the power of AI to improve the design and performance of communications networks.
The University of Glasgow’s School of Computing Science is playing a key role in a new United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) focus group which aims to harness the power of AI to improve the design and performance of communications networks.
Glasgow's Dr Paul Harvey was instrumental in setting up the new focus group and since has taken on the role of vice-chair of the UN’s Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence Native for Telecommunication Networks (FG-AINN), which met for the first time in November.
Over the next year, Dr Harvey and colleagues from industry, academia, and member states around the world will the collaborate to explore how artificial intelligence can transition from an 'add-on' to a native part of the network. Embedding artificial intelligence in telecommunications technologies is expected to help strengthen network resilience and improve performance.
Dr Harvey previously served as working group co-chair of the UN’s ITU-T Focus Group on Autonomous Networks (FG AN), established in 2020, which published a set of international standards in early 2024 to help support the creation of telecoms networks which can operate with minimal human intervention. A notable outcome was the global standard ITU-T Y.3061 titled “Autonomous Networks - Architecture framework”.
Expanding the collaborations to AI Native Networks, FG-AINN, chaired by Buse Bilgin of Turkcell, aims to bring together experts and leading practitioners to deliver a series of technical documents and recommendations defining AI-native networking concepts, use cases, and architectural frameworks.
This work will help establish how telecommunications networks can be fundamentally redesigned to take full advantage of AI capabilities while addressing crucial considerations around data storage, privacy protection, and resource allocation. The recommendations the group develop are expected to help prepare the telecoms networks of the future for the data-intensive requirements of 6G communications standards.
The group will operate through four distinct work groups:
- Terminology and gap analysis to understand existing standards and propose definitions of key concepts
- Use case development to identify requirements for future AI-native networks
- Architecture framework development to determine implementation approaches
- Community outreach and proof-of-concept development through "build-a-thon" events
Dr Harvey said: “This new focus group represents an important step forward in how we think about AI in telecommunications. Instead of thinking about how AI can be overlaid on existing network structures, we're looking at how to build networks where AI is woven into their very fabric, enabling more efficient, adaptable, and autonomous operations.”
“Customers of telecoms networks care about the quality of their service where they are, and how much it costs. Bringing more automation or autonomy to the network can reduce the operating costs while increasing the service provision. In future AI-native networks, the power of AI technology can be brought into use across the network to solve problems as they happen or even before they can cause disruption, helping to improve stability and reducing operating costs.”
Dr Harvey’s work with FG-AINN is supported by funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)’s Impact Acceleration Account.
First published: 29 January 2025