SUSTAIN Research Group on “Sustainability & the Internet” met for the first time at the IRTF
On Tuesday 18th of March 2025, during the IETF 122 meeting in Bangkok, the Sustainability and the Internet Proposed Research Group – SUSTAIN (SUSTAIN RG) of the IRTF met for the first time.
The goal of the group is to contribute to advancing the Internet as a fundamental part of sustainable and resilient societies and the planet, through conceptual and evidence-based multi-disciplinary research collaboration.
This mission matches very well with the overall goals of the SUSTAIN-6G project and therefore is one key asset for dissemination of the work of the project in standardization. Ali Rezaki (Nokia) is one of the new IRTF research group’s chairs, who is also active in SUSTAIN 6G.
About the SUSTAIN RG
The goal of the SUSTAIN RG is to contribute to the advancement of the Internet as a fundamental part of sustainable and resilient societies and the planet, through conceptual and evidence-based multi-disciplinary research collaboration.
Scope
The Sustainability and the Internet Research Group (SUSTAIN RG) explores long-term research challenges in developing and operating an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable Internet, from a networking perspective. It provides a venue for discussion, collaboration and development of Internet research on sustainability with a critical view on evidence and data, ensuring the trustworthiness of research results and their transparent dissemination. Grounded in the practical operation of the Internet, the RG will work to promote greater exploration of architectural and policy implications relating to sustainability challenges of internetworking, without going into advocacy actions. Recognizing their interconnectedness, the SUSTAIN RG focuses on the Sustainability of the Internet (footprint), while fostering an appreciation of the Internet for Sustainability (handprint). The SUSTAIN RG adopts a multidisciplinary, systems perspective with lifecycle and supply chain considerations, also taking into account the interdependencies between different types of networks as well as different research disciplines.
Membership
Membership in the SUSTAIN is open to all interested parties.
Please find more information here: https://www.irtf.org/sustain.html
About SUSTAIN-6G
SUSTAIN-6G, as a Lighthouse Project within the European Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU), is focused on promoting holistic sustainability in 6G systems by addressing six key objectives. The project aims to understand the 6G technology landscape, create an inventory of state-of-the-art approaches and technologies, and identify sustainability needs and indicators.
It seeks to define and assess sustainability goals, enhance the integration of 6G with vertical use cases (UCs) to reduce environmental impact and develop a Sustainability Management Plan (SMP) for sustainable network operations. Additionally, the project will validate and demonstrate the sustainability of 6G technologies and deliver guidelines and a strategic roadmap for 6G development.
