IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecturer: Towards Zero-Touch 6G Networks - RIS, AI-Native Intelligence, and Proactive Wireless Decision Making

Join us for an insightful IEEE Communications Society Distinguished Lecture presented by Dr. Lina Mohjazi (Associate Professor at the James Watt School of Engineering and IEEE ComSoc DL 2026-2027). Abstract The vision of 6G extends far beyond enhanced connectivity, aiming to enable fully autonomous, intelligent, and adaptive wireless ecosystems capable of supporting mission-critical services, immersive applications, and massive machine-type communications. Achieving this vision requires a paradigm shift from conventional reactive network operation toward zero-touch networks that can sense, learn, reason, and make decisions with minimal human intervention. This lecture explores the convergence of sensing, communication, and intelligence as the foundation of future zero-touch 6G networks. It highlights how distributed intelligence, AI-native architectures, and real-time environmental awareness can transform wireless systems into proactive and self-optimizing infrastructures. Key Topics Covered: Proactive Network Management: Emerging techniques for proactive mobility, handover management, and intelligent IoT data collection. Distributed & Scalable AI: Federated learning frameworks enabling privacy-preserving network intelligence across distributed environments. Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS): Harnessing programmable wireless environments to dynamically adapt propagation conditions for improved coverage, reliability, and energy efficiency. Practical & Sustainable Deployment: Critical considerations around scalability, sustainability, trustworthiness, and real-world implementation challenges in next-generation systems. By bridging advances in AI, sensing, and wireless communications, this lecture presents a holistic perspective on the evolution toward autonomous 6G ecosystems and outlines key research directions shaping the future of intelligent connectivity.