Rethinking Resilience in 6G Design: The Missing Link for Mission-Critical Applications

As the race to define 6G intensifies, the focus has overwhelmingly centered on maximizing efficiency-whether in cost, spectral utilization, or energy consumption. Yet, resilience and security, the cornerstone attributes for deploying 6G in mission-critical industries such as energy, defense, and healthcare, have been conspicuously absent from the design discourse. This oversight, rooted in legacy approaches to cellular communication, risks undermining 6G's ability to meet the uncompromising demands of applications where reliability and adaptability are non-negotiable. In this keynote, I will redefine resilience in the context of next-generation wireless networks, distinguishing it from related concepts such as robustness and reliability, while highlighting how security is inherently embedded within resilience. I will explore the tension between efficiency, complexity, and resilience, revealing how the relentless pursuit of superior performance has led to overly intricate designs that inadvertently compromise the ability to withstand disruptions. By identifying the structural and systemic traits that characterize truly resilient networks, I will offer a roadmap for how 6G design must evolve to integrate resilience as a foundational principle. Finally, I will introduce practical frameworks for quantifying resilience, equipping researchers and engineers with tools to embed this critical attribute into the DNA of 6G systems. This keynote is a call to action-a rallying cry to rethink the priorities driving 6G innovation. By striking a deliberate balance between efficiency, complexity, and resilience, we can ensure that 6G not only delivers on its promise of performance but also becomes a transformative technology capable of thriving in the most demanding, high-stakes environments.