Johann Marquez-Barja

Johann Marquez-Barja is a Full Professor at the University of Antwerp and imec.  He is the head of Programmable & Intelligent Networks at IDLab.  Since 2024, he has been ranked among the World Top 2% Researchers in Telecoms networks and Artificial Intelligence (Stanford/Elsevier World Top 2% Ranking). He has been appointed IEEE Vehicular Technology Society Distinguished Lecturer and IEEE Education Society Distinguished Lecturer. He also leads The ABC of 5G program, a collaborative joint effort of the top universities in Belgium VUB, UGent, and UAntwerp. Also, Prof. Marquez-Barja holds an appointment on the Board of Directors of FITCE.be (Belgium-based broadband connectivity association). He is heavily active in the European and International arena of 5G and 6G, leading and participating in several consortia. He is interested in bringing flexibility to 6G networks by enabling distributed intelligence via softwarized solutions. Such solutions are consistently implemented and proved in real systems such as the Smart City, the Smart Highway, and the NextGopen testbed facilities in Antwerp, Belgium, where he leads such facilities. He has delivered keynote speeches at major events, received numerous awards throughout his career, and authored over 250 published works, including publications, editorials, and books.