The International Scientific and Technical Conference Prospects of Telecommunications (PT-2026) took place at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in mid-April. Organized by the Educational and Research Institute of Telecommunication Systems, the conference was held for the twentieth time, making this year's event a milestone.
The conference was first launched in 2007, and since 2009 it has also included, as a dedicated section, the International Scientific and Technical Conference for Students and PhD Candidates Prospects for the Development of Information and Telecommunication Technologies and Systems. This year was no exception, with young researchers once again taking an active part in the forum.
The conference was traditionally organized by Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, the Educational and Research Institute of Telecommunication Systems, the Research Institute of Telecommunications, and the international scientific and technical journal Information and Telecommunication Sciences (ISSN 2312-4121).
"Our conference brings together the scientific and practical interests of our partners and regular participants representing 23 leading universities and research institutions working in the fields of information technology and telecommunications across Ukraine, including those based in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, Chernivtsi, and Kropyvnytskyi," said the conference's long-serving Chair, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Scientific Supervisor of the Educational and Research Institute of Telecommunication Systems, Professor Mykhailo Ilchenko, during the opening ceremony. "This year's conference also features researchers from universities in Italy, Moldova, and Sweden."
Because of the ongoing war, the conference was held in a hybrid format. Some participants presented their research findings on campus, while most joined remotely using modern telecommunication technologies. Despite the challenges of wartime, the conference attracted 157 presentations, including 43 prepared by 76 researchers from institutions outside Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. The conference statistics also included 40 presentations delivered by students and PhD candidates within the Prospects for the Development of Information and Telecommunication Technologies and Systems section, where they showcased their research achievements.
"The theme of this conference is exceptionally relevant. It is difficult to overestimate the contribution that this field makes to the security and development of our country. Moreover, the industry's progress is being significantly accelerated by the contemporary challenges that Ukraine has had to confront and overcome," noted the University's Vice-Rector for Research, Professor Serhii Stirenko, in his welcoming address. "At the same time, as we witness the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence alongside telecommunications technologies, we understand that together they have the potential to make a substantial contribution to our country's economy. Scientific research and innovation, which open the way to the future, are what enable us to secure a достойне place among the world's leading technological nations."
At the plenary session, Mykhailo Ilchenko, one of the report's authors, presented a keynote address titled The State, Trends, and Prospects for the Development of Telecommunications 2026, offering a detailed overview of the principal directions in the evolution of telecommunications and communications, as well as the sector's growing adoption of artificial intelligence technologies. As in previous years, the report set the agenda for the conference by outlining the most pressing issues currently being addressed by researchers in Ukraine and abroad. A central theme of the presentation was that information and communication technologies have evolved far beyond their traditional role as tools for data transmission. Today, they constitute a fundamental pillar of the digital economy, driving the development of mobile communications, the Internet of Things, autonomous systems, satellite technologies, and, increasingly, artificial intelligence.
It is worth noting that, according to Professor Ilchenko, his presentation was based on materials from the continuous monitoring and analysis of telecommunications industry trends carried out by the Educational and Research Institute of Telecommunication Systems. Since 2020, the Institute has published the results of this work almost daily in its Telecom News digest on its electronic platforms. One figure alone illustrates the scale of this effort: since the digest was launched, it has featured 2,846 news items.
Returning to the presentation itself, the analysis of the current state of the telecommunications sector and its development trends through 2026 indicates that the industry is undergoing a profound transformation. Today, its evolution is driven not by a single factor but by an entire set of interconnected processes. These include the deployment of 5G technologies, preparations for 6G, the integration of satellite and terrestrial networks, the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, the growing importance of the Internet of Things, the digital transformation of public administration, and the emergence of new communication systems designed to support the security and defense sectors.
The fact that 5G has already moved beyond the demonstration stage to widespread real-world deployment is clearly reflected in global statistics. China leads the way, with more than 1.2 billion mobile subscribers—over 63% of all mobile users—already connected to fifth-generation networks, supported by approximately five million 5G base stations. For Ukraine, this trend is also becoming increasingly significant. Thanks to the country's leading mobile operators, pilot 5G zones have already been launched in Lviv, Kharkiv, and Borodianka. Around the world, major technology companies are using 5G networks to enable remote healthcare services, integrate communications into industrial environments as a platform connecting machines, sensors, and control systems within the Industry 4.0 concept, optimize logistics, warehouses, and transportation hubs, implement smart city solutions, and expand fixed wireless access, among many other applications. These advances are made possible by the exceptionally high data transmission speeds, continuously increasing network capacity, and reliability of fifth-generation networks. At the same time, the next generation—6G—is already on the horizon. It is expected to provide the foundation for a new type of network architecture in which communications, computing, sensing systems, cloud services, and artificial intelligence operate as a single integrated environment. Consequently, today's telecommunications landscape is shaped not only by traditional mobile network operators but also by global technology companies, industrial corporations, satellite operators, artificial intelligence developers, and defense technology clusters, including those in Ukraine. Together, they illustrate the defining trend of our time: telecommunications are no longer merely an engineering discipline but are becoming the fundamental infrastructure of the digital world.
For Ukraine, the current developments in the telecommunications sector have particular strategic importance. "Despite the challenging circumstances, our country is not only adapting to global trends but is also gradually shaping its own directions for the development of the industry. That is why telecommunications should be regarded as one of the key pillars of Ukraine's resilience, security, technological sovereignty, and future development," Mykhailo Ilchenko emphasized in concluding his keynote address.
The priorities identified in the presentation also defined the focus and themes of the conference's technical sessions: Reliability and Efficiency of Information Transmission, Network, Fiber-Optic Technologies and Security, Wireless Technologies and Mobile Communication Systems, Information Technologies in Telecommunications, and Sensor Networks and the Internet of Things. The conference program also featured the exhibition Innovative Developments in Telecommunications and, within the framework of the student conference Prospects for the Development of Information and Telecommunication Technologies and Systems, the seminar Innovation Activities of Students of the Educational and Research Institute of Telecommunication Systems.
There is little point in listing the titles of the papers presented during the technical sessions, as they addressed highly specialized topics focused on solving specific engineering challenges faced by telecommunications equipment developers and overcoming particular technological problems. Researchers interested in these subjects can refer directly to the conference proceedings, which contain the full collection of papers presented at this year's conference.
It is worth noting, however, that according to Mykhailo Ilchenko, the conference participants adopted a resolution identifying 17 papers as being of particular scientific significance and recommending them for priority use in the educational process. In addition, 18 papers were recommended for publication in the international peer-reviewed journal Information and Telecommunication Sciences. Following further revision and expansion, nine papers may also be considered for publication in a collective monograph by the international publisher Springer. Finally, 14 papers were recognized as having strong potential for generating further scientific and practical results and were recommended for submission to national or international research competitions and grant programs.