Conference: US-UAE Workshop on Next-Generation Spectrum Innovations and Applications

This award supports the United States (US) portion of a binational US-United Arab Emirates (UAE) workshop, held in the UAE in 2026, to define a shared research vision and roadmap for the future of spectrum science and innovation. As usage of the radio spectrum has grown rapidly, driven by new systems and demands for wireless communications, remote sensing, and other capabilities, the limited available spectrum has become increasingly congested. Spectrum management, access, and sharing have become critical challenges with global implications, demanding new approaches that are efficient and secure. Addressing these challenges requires combining expertise across engineering, computing, economics, and policy. This workshop brings together diverse experts, identifies important spectrum research breakthroughs with broad societal benefit, fosters long-term US-UAE partnerships, and positions both nations at the forefront of spectrum innovation. The workshop focuses on three convergent themes. Theme 1: Spectrum Innovation Fundamentals examines advances in dynamic spectrum sharing, efficient coordination, and real-time optimization, with emphasis on algorithmic and theoretical foundations. Integration of artificial intelligence to support autonomous spectrum decision-making is a key component. Theme 2: Applications of Spectrum Innovations explores how emerging spectrum technologies can transform domains such as next-generation wireless networks, satellite communications, radar, and radio astronomy. The theme emphasizes enabling increasingly complex and data-intensive applications. Theme 3: Spectrum Security, Policy, and Economics addresses the socio-technical and governance aspects of spectrum access, including privacy, resilience, and regulations. It investigates how economic and policy frameworks can incentivize innovation while ensuring secure and fair spectrum use. The anticipated outcome of the workshop is a research roadmap that informs US-UAE spectrum research collaborations and helps pave the way towards future spectrum-dependent systems that are more adaptive, secure, and globally interoperable, which will enhance equitable digital access, resilient infrastructure, and scientific discovery. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.