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Welcome Message from the General Chair

Welcome Message from the General Chair


It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the 2019 edition of IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC 2019), under the high patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco. The conference will take place in the imperial city of Marrakech, from April 15th to 19th.

This edition is special for various reasons. It is the first time that the conference is held in Africa, and it will not only promote the culture of research and development in Morocco, but will also advocate for collaboration, education, and innovation in the region. This edition is timely as Morocco and the African region are evolving and the governments are implementing reforms that encourage scientific research and innovation. In this vein, we are confident that this edition will advance the state of knowledge on wireless communications in the region, and will highlight its technological potential.

The vision of WCNC 2019 is summarized in its main theme "Touch through Wireless", which will be substantiated by:

  • Providing students from MENA region and beyond with the opportunity to meet with academic researchers and professors coming from world-class universities.
  • Setting up a fruitful environment for research collaborations among local and international researchers, as well as business opportunities among IT industry stakeholders.
  • Promoting education and expanding access to the rich program of the conference. In this regard, IEEE ComSoc has allocated a budget that is solely used for providing travel grants local as well as international students to attend the conference. In addition, we are also organizing a one-day school on communications at the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), hosting a panoply of presentations on the latest advancements in the field.

Furthermore, WCNC 2019 will host two special events. The first one will be exclusively allocated to beyond 5G mobile systems, namely 6G. This event will be organized by Finland's 6G Flagship Program, reporting on the first 6G Wireless Summit that took place between 24 and 26 March 2019 in the exotic city of Levi, Lapland, Finland. I am personally involved in this program and am very happy that the flagship directors have kindly agreed to organize such a session at WCNC 2019 in Marrakech. The second special event will be dedicated to encourage and support women and young professionals in communications and networking engineering. It will be composed by professionals from different backgrounds and countries, bringing rich perspectives from the Industry, Academia and public organizations.

In addition, the technical program of the conference is extremely rich, consisting of high quality technical sessions, a dozen of industrial panels gathering prominent leaders from industry, and tutorials covering the latest topics in wireless communications and networking. The conference will also feature six keynote speeches by world-renowned speakers from academia and industry:

  • Dr. Seizo Onoe, President of DOCOMO Technology, Inc. and Chief Technology Architect of NTT DOCOMO, INC, Japan
  • Dr. Jianmin Lu, Executive Director of Huawei Wireless Technology Lab, China
  • Dr. Lauri Oksanen, VP Research and Technology at Nokia Solutions and Networks, Finland
  • Mr. Jin Bains, Head for Satellite and Cellular Connectivity, Facebook, USA
  • Prof. Ali H. Sayed, Dean, School of Engineering, EPFL, Switzerland
  • Prof. Muriel Médard, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

On behalf of IEEE ComSoc and the WCNC Steering Committee, I would like to take this opportunity to extend our thanks and appreciation to the sponsors for their continued support to the conference, and express our sincere gratitude to the members of the organizing committee, technical program committee members, reviewers, volunteers, and IEEE ComSoc staff for their efforts and contributions to the success of the conference.

Last but not least, a special thank you goes to all members of MOSA!C Lab, Aalto University, for their hard work and efforts that made IEEE WCNC 2019 happen.

I sincerely hope that you will find in IEEE WCNC 2019 the inspiration and drive to "Touch through Wireless", and beyond, and I do wish you an excellent stay in the beautiful city of Marrakech.

Tarik Taleb
General Chair
IEEE WCNC 2019