On behalf of the ICC 2017 Technical Program Committee, we are pleased to welcome you to the 2017 edition of the IEEE International Conference on Communications (IEEE ICC 2017), in Paris, France.

13 years after a previous edition was held in Paris, ICC returns to the City of Lights, one of the world's greatest and most glamorous cities. No matter how familiar you believe you might already be with the French capital, there is always a thousand reasons to return and something new to discover each time. The city is bustling with new cafes, new restaurants, new museums, and is a global magnet for artists and intellectuals of all kinds, but also for ICT start-up entrepreneurs.

Themed "Bridging People, Communities, and Cultures", the 2017 Paris edition of the conference hints at the deep reaching impact of communication systems in everyday life, much beyond the technology and business arenas.

ICC 2017 brings together academics, industry experts, and education leaders from all over the world to discuss an incredibly wide array of topics, ranging from 5G and Beyond 5G, Internet of (Every)Thing, Smart Grids, and Software Defined Networks to Green Communication Networks, to name a few.

The Technical Program of IEEE ICC 2017 consists of 13 Technical Symposia, including an 11-track SAC Symposium, featuring emerging areas of applications for communications, such as for example molecular biology. The conference also features 12 full-day and 6 half-day Workshops as well as 24 half-day Tutorials, which address the most significant topics within communications, internet applications and fundamentals. Note that these were selected from 65 tutorial proposals and 36 workshop proposals. Tutorials and Workshops will be presented on Sunday and Thursday.

We received a total of 3,074 paper submissions for the main conference alone, out of which 1,172 papers have been accepted for presentation and publication in the Conference Proceedings, yielding an acceptance rate of 38%. Every paper went through a rigorous review process, in which each paper received at least three expert reviews.

The submitting authors originate from 75 countries from all parts of the globe with the Asia-Pacific Region ranking first with 44.7%. The Europe, Middle-East and Africa (EMEA) Region comes second with 35.6%, and North America third with 17.6%, the rest being from Latin America.

70% of the Technical Symposia papers will be presented in Oral Session (OS) rooms according to the traditional lecture style, while 30% of papers will be presented under the newer and attractive Interactive Session (IS) style on large LCD screens, giving the presenters the opportunity to interact and discuss freely with attendees. We stress here that the IS vs. OS classification bears no relation to paper quality, but is purely based on topic cohesion in a given session.

Our warmest thanks go to our Organization Committee colleagues, including the Tutorials Program Co-Chairs, the Workshops Program Co-Chairs, the Publication Chair, the Student Travel Grant Chair, the Symposium and Track Co-Chairs, the Technical Program Committee members, the paper reviewers for their invaluable work in shaping the Technical Program, and not the least all the authors who kindly submitted their papers to IEEE ICC 2017.

In summary, no doubt you will appreciate the unique combination of a cutting-edge technical program with the wonderful experience of Paris street life. Enjoy meetings with your friends and colleagues as well as impromptu discussions with locals! We look forward to seeing everyone in Paris!

Technical Program Chairs David Gesbert, Merouane Debbah, and Abdelhamid Mellouk