Report on the Strategic Partnership Between ATIS and the Linux Foundation for Sustainable Network Development

Executive Summary

On August 4, 2025, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) and the Linux Foundation announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalize their collaboration. This partnership is designed to accelerate the development and integration of open, intelligent, and sustainable next-generation network architectures, including 5G and 6G. By combining ATIS’s leadership in standards development with the Linux Foundation’s open-source ecosystem, the initiative aims to harmonize industry efforts and drive progress toward critical infrastructure goals that directly support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The collaboration between ATIS and the Linux Foundation is fundamentally aligned with several key SDGs, leveraging technological advancement for global sustainable development.

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure: The core objective is to build resilient, next-generation telecommunications infrastructure. By fostering innovation through open-source and open-standard technologies for 5G and 6G, the partnership directly promotes the development of reliable, sustainable, and accessible infrastructure, which is a primary target of SDG 9.
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals: This MOU exemplifies a strategic multi-stakeholder partnership. It unites a standards development organization and an open-source technology consortium to achieve shared objectives, demonstrating the collaborative model essential for realizing the comprehensive 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities: The deployment of advanced, intelligent networks is a foundational element for creating smart cities. This infrastructure is crucial for improving urban services, resource management, and overall quality of life, making communities more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
• SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy: A central component of developing “sustainable” network architectures is enhancing energy efficiency. This focus helps reduce the energy consumption and carbon footprint of the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, contributing to global energy goals.

Key Collaborative Initiatives

The MOU outlines a framework for cooperation focused on leveraging the complementary strengths of both organizations. The primary areas of collaboration are structured to maximize impact on industry-wide adoption and sustainable practices.

1. Joint Education and Training: To build capacity and understanding of how open-source software and industry standards can work in concert to accelerate sustainable innovation.
2. Information Sharing: To exchange technical specifications, security best practices, and development tools for open network components, ensuring a secure and robust foundation for future networks.
3. Co-hosted Workshops and Technical Sessions: To foster community engagement, facilitate knowledge exchange, and drive alignment on key technical and strategic priorities across the telecom landscape.
4. Joint Marketing and Communications: To create aligned messaging that effectively communicates the benefits of this integrated approach to a broad audience of operators and vendors, encouraging wider adoption.

Organizational Mandates and Contributions

Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS)

ATIS is a leading technology and solutions development organization that brings together global ICT companies to advance industry priorities. Through initiatives like the Next G Alliance, ATIS is building the foundation for North American leadership in 6G and beyond. Its work focuses on developing standards, specifications, and business use cases for critical technologies, ensuring that new network deployments are secure, interoperable, and aligned with long-term industry needs.

The Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the world’s leading hub for collaboration on open-source software, hardware, and standards. Through projects like Linux Foundation Networking (LFN), it hosts and supports the development of critical open-source components for the entire networking stack, from RAN to Core to Edge. The Foundation’s mission is to create sustainable models for open collaboration, enabling a globally interoperable and innovative ecosystem that supports critical world infrastructure.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: The article is centered on the development and standardization of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure. It discusses a partnership to “accelerate progress toward open, intelligent, and sustainable next-generation network architectures, including 5G and 6G,” which is fundamental to building resilient infrastructure and fostering innovation.
• SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals: The article’s primary subject is the announcement of a “Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)” between the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) and the Linux Foundation. This strategic agreement represents a multi-stakeholder partnership designed to “harmonize industry efforts” and combine the strengths of open standards and open source to achieve shared technological and sustainability goals.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

   • Target 9.1: Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure. The article directly supports this target by describing the partnership’s goal to advance “sustainable next-generation network architectures” and ensure the “deployment of secure… and intelligent next-generation networks.” The collaboration aims to create standardized and interoperable systems, which enhances reliability and resilience.
   • Target 9.c: Significantly increase access to information and communications technology. By working to “accelerate deployment” and create “globally interoperable” standards for “5G and 6G,” the partnership’s efforts are foundational to expanding access to the latest ICT for a “wider operator and vendor audience.”
   • Target 9.b: Support domestic technology development, research and innovation. The collaboration between a U.S.-based standards organization (ATIS) and a global open-source foundation (Linux Foundation) to advance “open RAN technologies” and build a “foundation for North American leadership in 6G” is a direct effort to support and advance domestic and global technology innovation.

2. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

   • Target 17.6: Enhance cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing. The partnership’s key areas of collaboration explicitly include “Joint Education and Training,” “Information Sharing around technical specifications, best practices,” and “Co-hosted Workshops and Technical Sessions to foster community engagement and knowledge exchange.”
   • Target 17.16: Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships. This MOU is a prime example of a multi-stakeholder partnership that mobilizes and shares knowledge and technology. It brings together ATIS’s “standards development leadership” and LFN’s “open source ecosystem” to work towards a common goal of “sustainable” network development.
   • Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships. The agreement between ATIS and the Linux Foundation is a formal partnership between two major civil society/private sector organizations aimed at advancing the entire ICT industry’s business and technological priorities.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

1. SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

   • Indicator (Implied for Target 9.c): The successful “deployment” and adoption rate of “5G and 6G” technologies that are developed through this partnership. The article’s focus is on accelerating this deployment.
   • Indicator (Implied for Target 9.b): The number of “technical specifications” and “open source solutions” developed and harmonized between the two organizations. The article mentions sharing these as a key activity.

2. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

   • Indicator (Direct for Target 17.6): The “Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)” itself is a formal indicator of a cooperation agreement on technology and innovation.
   • Indicator (Direct for Target 17.6): The number of “Joint Education and Training” programs, “Co-hosted Workshops,” and “Technical Sessions” conducted by the partnership, as these are listed as specific collaborative activities.

4. SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Table

Source: finance.yahoo.com