UNITY-6G Partners: HES-SO

HES-SO Valais-Wallis (Haute École Spécialisée de Suisse occidentale Valais) is a leading university of applied sciences in Switzerland, established in 1998 and operating as an autonomous institution since 2015. It comprises nine degree programs and seven research institutes, serving around 2,300 students across four main schools. The institution is recognized for its strong connections with local industries and its focus on digitalization, energy, and eHealth, contributing significantly to both the economic and social development of the Valais region.

The Institute of Informatics at HES-SO Valais-Wallis specializes in software engineering, business process digitalization, and digital transformation. With about 100 researchers and IT specialists, the institute is closely integrated with the university’s Bachelor’s and Master’s programs. Its research focuses on areas such as eHealth and personalized medicine, sustainable energy and mobility management, digital services, and Industry 5.0 innovations—including artificial intelligence, augmented/virtual reality, IoT, and data/media innovation. The institute actively collaborates with industry partners and participates in national and European projects, aiming to enhance business competitiveness and improve everyday life through high-value applied research.

What is your organization’s role in the project? What unique contribution does it bring to the project/consortium?

HES-SO’s role in UNITY-6G centers on advancing the sustainability and energy efficiency of future 6G networks. The institution is responsible for defining sustainability targets—including energy efficiency and environmental impact—and for designing interfaces that enable the exchange of metrics relevant to these goals. HES-SO also contributes to the development of architectural elements for model distribution and distributed model training.

In the area of network development, HES-SO models energy consumption for both hardware and software components, as well as in-network energy generation and storage. It also designs models for smart grid behavior in response to network consumption, and works on integrating RAN management with microgrid demand-response mechanisms.

A unique contribution from HES-SO is its leadership in sustainable algorithm design, particularly through AI-enabled resource management and proactive load balancing coordinated with smart grids. The institution develops distributed AI techniques to optimize resource usage, minimize the energy consumption of machine learning processes, and enable serverless distributed machine learning for semantic communications in IoT scenarios. HES-SO is also involved in implementing and optimizing services for load balancing, intelligence distribution, and distributed machine learning training—with energy efficiency as a primary objective. Finally, HES-SO plays a key role in the integration and comprehensive assessment of the developed components, evaluating their impact on energy-efficient network management and ensuring the project delivers on its sustainability goals.

Why is participation in UNITY-6G important for your organization?

Participation in UNITY-6G is important for HES-SO Valais-Wallis because it enables the institution to contribute to the development of next-generation, energy-efficient, and sustainable network infrastructures. By collaborating with leading European partners, HES-SO gains access to cutting-edge research in AI-native 6G architectures and advanced network technologies. This involvement strengthens its expertise in digital transformation and supports its mission to drive innovation that addresses real-world challenges—such as environmental sustainability and resilient connectivity. Additionally, the project aligns with European priorities for technological leadership and offers opportunities to influence future global standards in telecommunications.