The 6G4Society initiative has focused specifically on investigating the social dimensions of the 6G technology environment. More specifically, 6G4Society examined the way 6G development interacts with societal needs, ethical considerations, and sustainability objectives, addressing the central question of how 6G development can be guided to ensure meaningful social and environmental contributions. This Operational Brief is built upon, and draws from, the direct and participatory observational experience of 6G4Society within the SNS JU project and expert community. The cultural framework and the consolidated practices where innovation unfolds – including existing economic models, consolidated innovation practices, and governance arrangements – constitute its primary objects of observation and critical analysis. Its purpose is to clarify what cultural, governance and methodological conditions are truly conducive to research and innovation practices that are sustainable under the economic, environmental, and social dimensions. It does so by providing guidance on how driving values, societal impact, social acceptance, and sustainability should be explored, identified, interpreted, and operationalised across research and innovation processes, especially in early-stage and low-TRL 6G development. In relation to the set of 6G4Society Operational Briefs, this Operational Brief addresses a different and complementary level of action. While the Operational Briefs on Privacy, Inclusion, and Technological Sovereignty translate defined societal priorities into specific technical solutions or operational choices for industry, the present brief elaborates on the overarching governance and methodological non-technical practices through which such solutions and choices are conceived and shaped. Doing this, it establishes the conceptual, organisational, and cultural foundations to ensure that any vertical operational measures – such as those we propose on privacy, inclusion, and technological sovereignty – are not applied in isolation or as compliance-driven add-ons, and unfold consistently and in alignment with European policy objectives and with Responsible Research and Innovation principles. In this sense, the present brief functions as an enabling and orientation tool, supporting industry and research actors in embedding societal values into decision-making and design processes, impact exploration and assessment practices, sustainability, and value creation strategies. Against this backdrop, this Operational Brief elaborates on this central question: How does a limited integration of social dimensions during innovation narrow the institutional and operational framing of sustainability, and to what extent does this hinder the achievement of a truly holistic sustainability? Risks identified relate to values alignment, awareness about societal implications, and the overall approach to sustainability. Operational recommendations are proposed around three main topics: Values; Impact; Sustainability. They revolve around the following aspects: the need to make social desirability a transformative driver within the technological process; the need of specialised competences to manage the complex relationship between values and technology, so as to meaningfully reflect social values that count in the innovation process; approaches to proactively anticipate, assess, and guide the broader societal impacts of future network technologies; aspects worth to be investigated from an ethical and sociological point of view in the context of immersive communication environments; the need to comprehensively interpret environmental and social sustainability in research and innovation processes; the transition towards sustainability as an integral value and strategic driver within innovation processes.
CyberSocial Lab. (Mon,) studied this question.