Executive summary of the SG13 meeting

Recommendations consented for Last Call (Recommendation A.8 - AAP)​​

Supplements agreed to  (Recommendation A.13)

​Technical Reports agreed to (Recommendation A.13)

Questionnaires agreed for dissemination

ITU-T Doc. No.	Q/group	Base text	Status	Title
Questionnaire	5/13	TD171/PLEN	New	Use of coordination of networking and computing by Developing Countries
Questionnaire	5/13	TD172/PLEN	New	Improving Energy Efficiency in Developing Countries
Questionnaire	5/13	TD220-R1/PLEN	New	Use cases of Converged IMT 2020 and beyond networks, and broadcasting network technologies for developing countries​

Each of the questionnaires, listed above, accepts replies until 31 October 2026.

Important decisions apart of Recommendations, deliverables

Appointment
Mr Alojz Hudobivnik (Slovenia) was appointed as convenor of the Next Study Period (NSP) ad-hoc.

WTSA-24 decisions implementation and preparations to the WTSA-28
Continuing implementing WTSA-24 Resolution 92 (IMT) SG13 created a new work item in the work programme of Q21/13 with the next revision of Supplement 59 “IMT-2020 and Beyond standardization roadmap". This is an annual update and a snapshot of the online version of the IMT2020 and Beyond roadmap, maintained by the JCA-IMT2020/IMT2030.

Regarding the WTSA-24 Action 8, SG13 received from SG20 and reviewed the communication on the proposed trust standardization work distribution between the SGs 13, 17 and 20 (liaison statement in TD167/PLEN). SG13 prepared, approved and dispatched the reply as found in TD219/PLEN, Annex 15).

Through the activities of its Correspondence Group on SG13 future direction (CG-SG13ftr) SG13 started preparations for the next study period from review of its mandate (complying with the directions from TSAG in TD164/PLEN, assessed its lead SG roles and the lead SG concept in general. Report of meeting of this group captures the essence of discussions (TD303/GEN).​​

Focus Groups
Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence Native for Telecommunication Networks (FG-AINN) 
FG-AINN reported its activities and results of the last two meetings in TD168/PLEN. The meeting noted the FG-AINN progress to date, workplan status, outreach, promotion activities and establishment of the communication channels with new initiatives, as well ad a copyright release received from 3GPP MCC.

Also, the meeting considered establishment of the new work items, based on the FG Deliverables, as was asked by the FG in its progress report. Those are
- Technical Report - Proof-of-Concept activities, TD473/WP1, and
- Technical Specification - Use cases for AI native telecommunication networks, TD474/WP1 

The decision of the meeting was to set up the draft new Technical Reports ITU-T YSTR.PoC-AINN “AI Native Network Proof of Concepts", TD561/WP1, and ITU-T YSTR.UC-AINN "Use cases for AI native telecommunication networks", TD560/WP1, in the work programme of Q20/13.

Proposal for the new Focus Group on Quantum Entangled Network (FG-QEN)
Following the idea of the new Focus Group in quantum network area, emerged from the discussions at the February Q16/13 meeting, and further elaborated at the interim rapporteur group meetings of Q16/13 in April and May, SG13 received the contributions C886 “Support for the establishment of the proposed Focus Group on Quantum Entangled Network (FG QEN), based on the agreed Terms of Reference" from Republic of Korea, ETRI, KAIST, KT Corporation, LG Uplus and Soonchunhyang University and C860 “Proposed new ITU Focus Group on Quantum Enhanced Networks" from UK. Both contributions were presented at the opening plenary of the SG13. USA expressed the opposition to the creation of the new Focus Group. An ad-hoc, led by the SG13 chair, Mr Kazunori Tanikawa, was set up to continue discussions on the new FG creation to address concerns, raised in the plenary and in C860 (parent group), and opposition. Ad-hoc met on 29 June 2026. Report is available in TD301/GEN. At the meeting the chair shared the results of the TSAG WP2 chair and SG chairs review and their feedback on this new group establishment (depicted in TD300/GEN). Many concerns were expresses by them and SG15 chair expressed opposition to the new group creation. As a result of the meeting, the new focus group was not established, proponents were invited to address the concerns, expressed at the meeting, if resubmission of proposal is envisaged at the future meetings. The pending new FG creation new work item Y.QN-LM "Quantum network - layered model" (Q16/13) was agreed to be launched. ​

Coordination activities

JCA-IMT2020/IMT2030
The regular JCA-IMT2020/IMT2030 meeting took place on 24 June 2026 alongside this SG13 meeting. It was chaired by the JCA-IMT2020/IMT2030 chair, Ms Ying Cheng (China Unicom, China) with the support of the JCA-IMT2020/IMT2030 vice-chair, Mr Nanxiang Shi (China Mobile, China).

As custom, the meeting agreed on a big number of new Recommendations, Supplements and technical specifications to be included into its ongoing project IMT-2020 and beyond roadmap.

Presentation on “ITU-R Update: IMT-2030 (6G) and WRC" was delivered by the ITU-R SG5 Counsellor, Mr Uwe Loewenstein, to 17 delegates and 5 on-line attendees. Presented material may be found in TD168/GEN.
The next JCA-IMT2020/IMT2030 meeting will take place on 24 February 2027 in Geneva alongside the SG13 meeting.

New work items coordination
Since March 2023 SG13 has been convening the new work items coordination sessions, the approach to assess the proposals for the new work in their entirety. In summer 2026 SG13 had two sessions (24 and 25 June 2026) for exchanging the opinions on the new work proposed for starting at this meeting. The agenda was crafted by the SG13 chair, Mr Kazunori Tanikawa (NICT, Japan), who convened the meeting. The report may be found in TD297/GEN.​

TSAG requests
In reply to the request from TSAG “LS/i/r on Follow-up on the development of ITU-T Standards Success Stories (reply to SG13-LS148)" (TD170/PLEN), SG13 updated its previous submission mainly by adding the references to the publicly available international announcements of successful implementations of SG13 Recommendations. A reply liaison statement to TSAG may be found in TD175-R1/PLEN.

SG13 reviewed the request from TSAG in liaison statement TD164/PLEN “LS/i on lead study group concept and coordination mechanisms", discussed the lead SG concept understanding, prepared and agreed the communication back to TSAG, found in TD176/PLEN.

With regards to the improved format of the Recommendation check list, shared by TSAG in the liaison statement TD163/PLEN, SG13 adjusted the check list to its needs and tried it at this meeting.

Ad-hoc and correspondence group activities

Correspondence Group on SG13 future direction (CG-SG13ftr) held its second meeting during this SG13 meeting, on 26 and 30 June. Main topic addressed was the lead SG concept and lead SG13 roles. Report is available in TD303/GEN.

Correspondence Group on cloud computing coordination (CG-CC)
Correspondence Group on cloud computing coordination (CG-CC) convened its first meeting on 26 June 2026 in Geneva, alongside the SG13 meeting. It reviewed the cloud computing related activities of SG13, received comments on the proposed Q8/17 Terms of Reference and agreed the plan for the next meeting: to continued coordination on cloud computing and to review the relevance of ITU-T SG21 documents to cloud computing.

A liaison statement to SGs 17 and 21 with invitation to the second and third meetings of CG-CC was developed and agreed by the meeting and SG13 (TD215/PLEN, Annex 15).
Next meeting of the CG-CC will be held virtually on 12 October 2026, 12:00–14:00 (Geneva time).
For more details refer to the WP2/13 report in TD214/PLEN.

Creation of the Next Study Period Ad-hoc
As custom in the middle of the study period, the next study period ad-hoc was established to start preparations for WTSA-2028. Alojz Hudobivnik (Slovenia) will lead the discussions. Ad-hoc welcomes contributions to the February 2027 SG13 meeting.

Bridging Standardization Gap (BSG)
The SG13 Regional Group for Africa (SG13RG-AFR) convened its regular (annual) meeting in Livingstone, Zambia, 14-15 May 2026 at the kind invitation of Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) . Meeting participants reviewed and approved the SG13RG-AFR meeting report (Livingstone, Zambia, 14-15 May 2026) in TD157/PLEN, and noted with interest the outcomes of associated Regional Workshop for Africa ITU Workshop on Telecommunication Quality of Service, Quality of Experience and Future Networks of 12 – 13 May 2026 that took place at the same venue. Regional group meeting was co-located with the SG12RG-AFR.

Presenting the report of that meeting at the SG13 plenary, the SG13RG-AFR chair, Ms Rim Belhassine-Cherif (Tunisia Telecom), highlighted, in particular, the new questionnaire on Non-Radio Challenges Affecting Network Service Delivery and Operations in Africa, the group launched at the Livingstone meeting, and invited responses by 11 December 2026.

Next meeting of the SG13RG-AFR is envisaged in 2027, date and place to be confirmed. The meeting may be preceded by the workshop. Hosts are welcome to identify themselves in order to give an opportunity for the SG13RG-AFR to meet in person.

The SG13 Regional Group for Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Transcaucasia (SG13RG-EECAT) hasn't met since the last SG13 meeting.

The Bridging the Standardization Gap (BSG) and newcomer training on Contributions virtual session was offered by TSB to the SG13 delegates on 26 May 2026. Session was open to every SG13 participant and was followed by 10 participants. Presented material may be found in TD265/GEN and recoding may be replayed here.
Another BSG training session gathered participants on 25 June 2026 alongside this SG13 meeting.

Outreach

Information session
A regular newcomer session presentation was delivered by the SG13 Mentor, Mr Alojz Hudobivnik, on 23 June 2026. This session attracted 11 live and 23 remote participants. Presented material is available from TD273/GEN.

Workshop
Joint ETSI ISG NFV and SG13 Workshop "AI-Enabled Network Evolution: Cloud Native & AI Innovation for Telco Future", that took place in the morning of 24 June 2026, is a second in a series of SG13 and ETSI NFV joint events on cloud comping and AI native networks. It has 6 presentations followed by the roundtable discussions. In focus were
 - the integration of AI and telecom cloud/NFV based on the latest technological trends on telecom cloud architecture, network function orchestration, cloud-native and AI-native evolution and
 - exploring standardization progress and industrial practices of AI-driven network transformation.

First Edition took place in July 2025 in Geneva and contributed to mutual understanding the particularities of the work in each group and how two organizations may complement each other.

SG13RG-AFR convened the ITU Workshop on Telecommunication Quality of Service, Quality of Experience and Future Networks on 12 and 13 May 2026 in Livingstone, Zambia.

Questionnaires
Q5/13 finalized the work on the three new questionnaires to support the work on Supplements Y.Sup.CNC-Use-Cases “Use cases for supporting coordination of networking and computing (CNC) for Developing Countries", Y.Sup.IMT2020-EE “IMT-2020 network enhancements to improve energy efficiency in Developing Countries" and technical report TR.UC-CNB “Use cases of converged IMT-2020 and beyond networks, and broadcasting network technologies for developing countries":
 - Questionnaire on use of CNC concept by developing countries, TD171/PLEN
 - Questionnaire on experience for improving energy efficiency in developing countries, TD172/PLEN
 - Questionnaire on use cases of converged IMT-2020 and beyond networks, and broadcasting network technologies for developing countries, TD220-R1/PLEN

Primarily designated to the developing countries, each questionnaire however welcomes reply from any interested member before 31 October 2026.

Roadmaps
SG13​ agreed for publication

• Supplement 108 to Y.3200-series (Y.Sup.fmsc-roadmap) "Fixed, mobile and satellite convergence - Standardization roadmap", TD201/PLEN

It advanced its work on 

• Supplement Y.sup.trust-roadmap "Standardization roadmap on trustworthy networking and services for study period 2025", TD621/WP4, target for October 2028 
  
• Supplement Y.sup.QENS-roadmap "Standardization roadmap on quantum enhanced networking and services for study period 2025", TD612/WP4 , target for December 2028 
  

Contributed to the Metaverse Standardization Roadmap, maintained by JCA-MV – communication in TD426/WP3 and started the work on new

• ​​​​Edition 6 of Supplement 59 to ITU-T Y.3100-series "IMT-2020 and beyond standardization roadmap"​
  

Terminology​
SG13 agreed for publication

• Technical report ITU-T YSTR.IMT2030-terms "IMT-2030 networks - Considerations on terms and definitions", TD209/PLEN

initiated the new work items

• Y.terms-AIAN "Terms and definitions related to AI agents in future networks", TD558/WP1
• Y.IMT2030-Terms “IMT-2030 networks – Terms and definitions", TD565/WP1

and continued discussions on agentic AI definition (TD298/GEN).​

Work programme updates

Left-over from the previous meeting
Proposed in October-November 2025 new work item Y.QKDN-OTN-fr “Framework for integration of quantum key distribution network and optical transport network" was differed to the next SG13 meeting in no timely response from SG15 to SG13 liaison statement.

New Work
Contributions brought 55 proposals to initiate the new work. One new work item proposal was withdrawn by the author. The meeting generated 54 new work items, drafted in the form of a new Recommendation (41), revised Recommendation (2), Supplement (3), technical report (8), and one proposal was put in the living list of Q5/13.

One new work item, Y.QKDNi-das-req “Quantum key distribution network interworking - Requirements for dependability assurance" was relocated from Q6/13 to Q16/13. So, in total this meeting agreed to the initiation of 54 new work items (TD223/PLEN).

Discontinued work
Four work items were discontinued (Q20/13: YSTR-AN-gaps and YSTR-AN-PoC; Q5/13: YSTR.SME-FRAMEWORK and Y.Sup.Y.AIEE-GN).

N​ew in this meeting

• Proposal for a new FG on quantum network
• Workshop with ETSI on cloud and AI
• Two new Deliverables from FG-AINN and subsequent creation of two new work items
• IMT-2030 talk by ITU-R SG5 Counsellor as part of JCA-IMT2020/IMT2030 meeting
• Started preparation for WTSA-2028
• Second short-style SG13 meeting and first in this format to take place at ITU headquaters
• Experinced the new format for Recommendation check list per liaison statement from TSAG TD163/PLEN
• Used MyMeetings 6.0
• Captioning at the closing plenary 
  

Future plans
​An important number of interim activities were agreed to (TD222/PLEN). This includes the plans for the joint session of Q2/13, Q20/13, Q21/13, Q22/13 on AI agent on 19 January 2027.
14^th SG13RG-AFR meeting is exploring the possibility to have a physical meeting in Africa in 2027.
The 26^th JCA-IMT2020/IMT2030 meeting will take place on 24 February 2027 in Geneva alongside the SG13 meeting.
Correspondence groups will continue their activities to pursue their mandates.

Next meetings
SG13 meeting will be convened on 19 October 2026 in order to approve, determine, give consent to the following draft Recommendations and agree on the Supplements and technical report as listed below:

W​P1/13:

• Y.Benchframe-GenAI, Benchmarking Framework for Generative AI in telecommunication networks, Q20/13
• Y.FMSC-SE, Fixed, mobile and satellite convergence - Service enhancements for IMT-2020 networks and beyond, Q23/13
• Y.Sup.59, IMT-2020 and beyond standardization roadmap, Q21/13

WP2/13:

• Y.cdb-reqts, Big data - Functional requirements of data broker for collaboration among data brokers, Q17/13
• Y.mraas-frame, Cloud computing - Management framework for robotic modules in RaaS, Q19/13
  
• Y.sup.cni, Cloud Computing - Technical considerations of network infrastructure, Q17/13

​WP3/13:

• Y.WALNC, Functional requirements for the controller of wide area lossless network in next generation network evolution (NGNe) to support AI applications, Q2/13
• Y.NGNe-NCI-arch, Functional architecture of NGN evolution for supporting network and cloud interworking, Q2/13
• Y.NGNe-IBN-arch, Functional architecture of NGN evolution by adoption of intent-based network, Q2/13
• Y.DTN-NPNsp, Digital twin network - Functional requirements and architecture of service platform for public network integrated non-public network, Q22

WP4/13:

• Y.sbo, Service model for business district operation based on IMT-2020 networks and beyond, Q1/13
  
• Y.sfm, Service model for network based fine dust risk measurement analysis, Q1/13
• Y.3839, Quantum key distribution networks - Framework of cryptographic application registration, Q6/13
  
• Y.det-qos-intwk-wan, Requirements and framework of deterministic QoS interworking mechanism in wide area network for IMT-2020 and beyond, Q6/13
  
• Y.qos-sre-rf, Requirements and framework for service rates estimation with packet metadata for stateless admission control, Q6/13
• Y.det-rdcs-fa, Functional architecture for QoS assurance of deterministic communication for remote device control services over IMT-2020 and beyond, Q6/13
• Y.IMT-2020-qos-reqs-sa, Quality of service assurance requirements and framework for smart agriculture supported by IMT-2020 and beyond, Q6/13
• Y.QKDN-QodrQ, Quantum key distribution networks - Quantitative objectives for delay-related QoS parameters, Q6/13
• Y.DLT.trust.IMT, Requirements for DLT-enabled trustworthy network management in IMT-2020 and beyond, Q16/13
• Y.QKND-nq-cmo, Integration of quantum key distribution network and user network supporting end-to-end modern cryptography services - Control, management, and orchestration, Q16/13
• Y.Sup.NGNe-Use-Cases, Use cases of Next Generation Network evolution in Developing Countries, Q5/13
• Y.Sup.QN-arch, Technical considerations of quantum network architecture, Q16/13
• YSTR.QoS-AIGC, QoS assurance considerations of AIGC model training in artificial intelligent computing center, Q6/13
  

Listed above tentative approval/determination/consent/agreement plan, as prepared at the June-July SG13 meeting, may be found in TD304/GEN. It depends on the progress at the preceding individual rapporteur group meetings held through July to October 2026.

Next SG13 meeting will take place in Geneva on 19 October 2026 as a one-day decision making meeting. 
Subsequent note: The meeting format was reconsidered and changed to fully virtual meeting, refer to Corrigendum 1 to TSB Collective-letter 6 (dated 23 July 2026).

Future SG13 meeting is planned in Geneva for 23 February – 4 March 2027. Short format meeting again to contribute to meeting efficiency mainstream.