Technology Roadmap Working Group: Focus Areas and Priorities

November 7, 2025

Amitava Ghosh, Doug Castor, Francesco Pica, and Jaydee Griffith

—Developing and maintaining a lifecycle roadmap for 6G that extends from research to market readiness.

After five years of capturing and refining North America’s vision and key technology for the 6G roadmap, the Next G Alliance has refreshed its working group structure. Our new Technology Roadmap Working Group (TRWG) is optimized toward driving long-term technology development, advancing pre-standardization efforts, and charting the path for future 6G evolution. We are continuing to develop a deeper understanding of critical 6G areas such as integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) as well as technologies for vertical industries, while exploring the roadmap through talks with industry and academia.

Throughout 2025, our focus areas have included ISAC, engagement with vertical industries, and collaboration with regional alliances. Recently, the group published Channel Measurements and Modeling for Joint/Integrated Communication and Sensing, as well as 7–24 GHz Communication Channels, Phase II. This report expands earlier work with new measurements of 7–24 GHz communication channels and sensing models that incorporate both target objects and environmental contexts. A follow-up white paper, Integrated Sensing and Communications Readiness Report, reviews recent advancements in ISAC technology, expanding on foundational research from academia and industry. It highlights key ISAC use cases and deployment scenarios, network topologies, link budget considerations for different environments, and options for sensing waveforms. Also analyzed are existing ISAC proof-of-concept systems that have been demonstrated at various industry and research forums.

In February 2025, the Working Group organized a workshop on cellular connectivity for vertical industries, with a focus on agriculture, public safety, and utilities. This event addressed business needs, challenges, and future technology requirements through presentations, panel discussions, and vertical-specific breakout sessions. In addition, the Group led discussions on 6G topics, including extreme MIMO, non-terrestrial networks (NTN), vertical use cases, and broader 6G applications. at joint workshops with regional alliances such as the Korean 6G Forum and Japan’s 6G-focused organization XGMF.

Looking forward, TRWG’s activities will center on four priorities:

Technology dissemination
Pre-standardization research sharing
Testbeds and trials
Collaboration with regional alliances

To support these goals, we have been inviting leading academics and scientists to deliver lectures on cutting-edge topics such as Digital Twins, ISAC, and emerging areas including semantic communications. TRWG will also explore various technology topics of common interest, including novel modulation schemes, extreme MIMO, sub-THz spectrum, post-quantum cryptography, satellite communication, and advanced AI/ML methods.

Next steps include deepening research into vertical applications in coordination with the Marketing Applications Working Group and the Spectrum Working Group. We will continue to strengthen global collaboration through workshops, joint strategy papers, and potential proof-of-concept projects. TRWG also plans to engage closely with U.S. government agencies such as NTIA, NIST, and FCC — both to provide expert input on technology topics and to identify funding opportunities for future proofs of concept.

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About the Authors

Amitava Ghosh

Chair at Technology Roadmap Working Group

Amitabha (Amitava) Ghosh (F’15) is a Nokia Fellow and works at Nokia Standards and Strategy. He joined Motorola in 1990 after receiving his Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from Southern Methodist University, Dallas. Since joining Motorola he worked on multiple wireless technologies starting from IS-95, cdma-2000, 1xEV-DV/1XTREME, 1xEV-DO, UMTS, HSPA, 802.16e/WiMAX and 3GPP LTE. He has 60 issued patents, has written multiple book chapters and has authored numerous external and internal technical papers. He is currently working on 5G Evolution and 6G technologies. Recently, he was elected chair of the Next G Alliance (an US 6G initiative) National Roadmap Working Group. His research interests are in the area of digital communications, signal processing and wireless communications. He is the recipient of 2016 IEEE Stephen O. Rice and 2017 Neal Shephard prize, member of IEEE Access editorial board and co-author of the book titled “Essentials of LTE and LTE-A”.

Doug Castor

Vice Chair at Technology Roadmap Working Group

Doug Castor is Senior Director of Future Wireless Research and Innovation at InterDigital’s Philadelphia area office, where he leads the incubation and development of emerging technologies for wireless systems. Since joining InterDigital in 2000, he has led teams in both product development and research innovations for 3G through 6G cellular and other wireless technologies. Prior to joining InterDigital, Doug held Communication Engineer positions at General Electric, Lockheed Martin, and General Atronics. He holds over 25 granted U.S. patents. Doug earned a BSEE from the Pennsylvania State University (1992) and MSEE degree from the University of Pennsylvania (1995). Doug is an initiator and leader for the annual 6G Symposium which resulted in over 1000 online active participants in its debut in 2020. He currently holds board positions at NYU Wireless (Industry Board), and Northeastern University’s Wireless Internet of Things (Industry Board). Doug is a Vice Chair of ATIS’s Next G Alliance 6G National Roadmap Working Group, and editor of the first Roadmap Report.

Francesco Pica

Vice Chair at Technology Roadmap Working Group

Francesco is a Director at Qualcomm, working within the Standards and Industry Organizations group (QSIO). He has around 25 years of experience in the Telecom and Cellular industry, from 2G+ to 6G, spanning several areas and roles, from design to standardization, testing and market promotion. After graduating in 1998, with a master’s degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Rome (Italy), he was involved in SW development of UE-CN protocols (for an OEM vendor), then moved to work for an MNO, responsible for RFI/RFQ and strategic NW planning. Francesco joined Qualcomm in 2003 and worked a few years for the Engineering Services Group, leading NW testing and optimization projects as well as delivering Training classes to internal and external customers on 3G and 4G technologies. Afterwards, he was involved in various Standards & Industry organizations and activities, for 4G and 5G, across 3GPP, ITU-R, and ATIS. Within 3GPP, Francesco initially led the Qualcomm HSPA activities in RAN, then moved to SA, leading the QC SA1 standards team during 4G, 5G and 6G standardization (Rel-14 onward). In ITU-R, he followed and actively contributed to the IMT-2020 process and standardization (within WP5D), as well the IMT-2020 activities for Satellites (WP4B). Currently he is coordinating Qualcomm efforts in ITU-R and 3GPP SA1/RAN on 6G Requirements and technical performance evaluation.

Jaydee Griffith

Technical Lead at Technology Roadmap Working Group

Jaydee Griffith is the Managing Director of ATIS’ Next G Alliance. Prior to joining ATIS, Griffith was Chief Technologist for the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, the $1.5B federal grant program to advance open, interoperable, and innovative radio access network solutions for 5G and beyond. He also provides technical expertise in the development U.S. Government telecom policy relating to 5G technology and open/interoperable networks. He frequently engages with international partners on the importance of open/interoperable networks, network security, and trusted telecom supply chains. Prior to his role in the NTIA policy offices, Jaydee was with the NTIA Institute for Telecommunication Sciences where his work focused primarily on 5G system architecture standards and testing and led the buildout of the ITS Communications Research and Innovation Network (CRAIN), NTIA’s laboratory for testing communications networks for 5G and beyond. He has worked previously on issues related to the Internet of Things, Smart Agriculture, and V2X, representing NTIA and USDOT at various international connected vehicle events. Jaydee has received both a Department of Commerce Silver Medal (2015) and a Bronze Medal (2020). He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.