The ITU Journal on Future and Evolving Technologies continues exploring how emerging technologies are shaping our digital and sustainable future.
This first edition of 2025 presents a mix of research topics from leading experts in telecommunications and artificial intelligence (AI), including special features on Geospatial AI (GeoAI) for sustainable development alongside papers that delve into next-generation communications and sensing systems.
Mapping progress on sustainable development
At the heart of this edition is Geospatial AI to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. GeoAI represents a powerful intersection of AI and spatial analysis, with the potential to transform how we address complex global challenges — from disaster response to food security and peacebuilding.
The accompanying editorial and the overview on “Exploring GeoAI for Good: A journey through webinars, workshops and global challenges” by leading guest editor Maria Antonia Brovelli, Andrea Manara (ITU) and Rohini Swaminathan (UNICEF) trace the development of the GeoAI community through ITU-hosted events and global collaborations, while summarizing the five papers that follow.
By connecting experts, fostering education and highlighting real-world solutions, the GeoAI Discovery series, GeoAI Education activities, and the GeoAI Challenge aim to pave the way for a more equitable, sustainable and resilient future.
Highlights include:
- SATGPT, a user-friendly AI tool leveraging large language models (LLMs) to generate flood maps using Google Earth Engine, democratizing access to disaster information.
- AI-powered damage assessment and real-time monitoring using satellite imagery, supporting rapid response in hazard-prone regions.
- Machine learning (ML) models applied to conflict susceptibility mapping, offering insights for peace and security interventions.
- AI/ML trends in Earth observation, showcasing how advanced algorithms are helping track climate change, deforestation, and land use.
- A behind-the-scenes look at the 2023 GeoAI Challenge on cropland extent mapping that involved 74 teams from around the world in a competition organized by ITU with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and Zindi, a network for data scientists and AI builders.
Together, these studies illustrate the promise of GeoAI in unlocking new data-driven solutions to drive sustainable development.
New insights into future networks
Beyond GeoAI, the edition features three regular papers addressing the technical frontiers of next-generation networks and communications:
- Initial beam establishment for 6G networks – a novel technique using material sensing to drastically reduce beam alignment time in high-frequency bands.
- Enhanced spectrum sensing for AI-enabled IoT – a new method using Kullback-Leibler Divergence for more accurate spectrum detection under noise uncertainty.
- Service function chaining for mission-critical services – a software-defined architecture for dynamic resource management in urgent, real-time scenarios like wildfire response.
These papers offer a glimpse into how intelligent communications systems are evolving to meet the performance, efficiency, and reliability demands of future digital infrastructure.
Special issues in 2025
Looking ahead, the ITU Journal is preparing three more special issues for publication this year:
- Energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable edge computing and communications for AI
- Privacy and security challenges of generative AI
- AI and machine learning solutions in 5G and future networks – 5th edition (Call for Papers still open! – submission deadline: 20 April 2025
Upcoming Webinar: AI in next G wireless systems
The ITU Journal’s ongoing webinar series brings thought leaders in academia from around the world to explore timely topics in emerging technologies.
The next webinar on the calendar is Open6G: Orchestration, conflict management, and explainability in AI-powered next G wireless systems, with Tommaso Melodia, Northeastern University (US), taking place on 1 April (16:00–17:30 CEST/UTC+2), exploring the challenges and opportunities of orchestrating AI in the complex landscape of future wireless systems.
Explore the full edition
Volume 6, Issue 1 of the ITU Journal brings together scientific insight, technical expertise and practical applications to further highlight how AI, communications, and geospatial technologies are working together to shape a more sustainable and connected world.
Read the full issue here.
Source: https://www.itu.int/hub/2025/03/itu-journal-explores-geoai-innovation-for-the-good-of-humanity/