2026 Marconi Awards Gala and Institute Forums
November 4–6, 2026
San Francisco, California
Join us for three days of dialogue, recognition, and connection at the 2026 Marconi Awards Gala & Institute Forums, where global leaders in industry, academia, and policy convene to address the most pressing challenges in information and communications technology.
This year’s program features the Internet Resilience Expert Forum, the AI and Advanced Wireless Executive Forums, and — new for 2026 — a full day of combined Institute Forums uniting all three tracks around our shared themes: Trust & Safety, Infrastructure & Energy, and Internet Resilience.
The convening culminates with the Marconi Awards Gala, honoring Robert Calderbank, the 2026 Marconi Prize recipient, alongside the Institute Awardees and the next class of Paul Baran Young Scholars.
REGISTRATION OPENS JUNE 2026
Honorees
Join us for the Marconi Awards Gala as we honor innovators in the field of information and communications technology. The Gala gathers visionaries, innovators, and industry thought leaders to celebrate remarkable industry achievements.
2026 Marconi Prize Recipient
Recognized for contributions to the theory and practice of voiceband modems, space-time coding, and quantum error correction.
Ruth Gebremedhin
Thomas Micallef
Yidong Ren
Raghav Subbaraman
Institute Forums
Three Insitutes. One Global Conversation.
Each Marconi Society Institute leads a Forum focused on the most pressing challenges in its field — and connects with the others on the cross-cutting themes that define our future.
2026 THEMES
All Forums and discussions center on three interconnected themes that define how modern communications systems are built, sustained, and trusted at scale.
Trust & Safety
How do we build and maintain trust in the systems, algorithms, and networks that billions of people depend on every day?
Infrastructure & Energy
How do we build, power, and sustain the massive physical and digital infrastructure that next-generation connectivity demands?
Internet Resilience
How do we ensure the Internet remains open, trustworthy, and functional in the face of escalating disruptions for every person who depends on it?
The program
DAY ONE · WED NOV 4
Expert Convening
The Internet Resilience Expert Forum opens the program, bringing together technical and policy experts to surface the most urgent challenges. The day closes with a Welcome Reception.
DAY TWO · THUR NOV 5
Cross-Sector Forum
DAY THREE · FRI NOV 6
Leadership & Recognition
A half-day Institutes Forum, invitation-only Executive Forums for AI and Advanced Wireless, and the Marconi Awards Gala honoring this year’s recipients.
Signature Programming
A handful of conversations across the three days that bring together the people, ideas, and questions that will define the field for years to come.
ADVANCED WIRELESS Executive FORUM
The Advanced Wireless Forum brings together leaders across the wireless ecosystem to address the evolution of wireless infrastructure. Participants explore how emerging technologies, spectrum strategies, and deployment models can enable scalable, efficient, and globally accessible connectivity.
INTERNET RESILIENCE Expert FORUM
The Internet Resilience Forum convenes global leaders across infrastructure, cloud, energy, and policy to address systemic vulnerabilities in the Internet’s operational environment. The Forum focuses on advancing resilience through coordination, transparency, and long-term ecosystem alignment.
AI EXECUTIVE
FORUM
The AI Executive Forum brings together senior executives and decision-makers to explore AI’s role in shaping global systems, infrastructure, and leadership. The Forum connects technical innovation with real-world application, policy, and business strategy.
A Conversation with Robert Calderbank
FIRESIDE CHAT
The 2026 Marconi Prize recipient on the arc of his work — from voiceband modems to quantum error correction.
YOUNG SCHOLARS PANEL
PANEL
The next class of Paul Baran Young Scholars present the research they believe will shape the next decade.
DEANS & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
PANEL
Engineering deans on building the talent pipeline for the infrastructure transformation ahead.
Accommodations
Forum Voices
Andrea Goldsmith
President
Stony Brook University
Daddy Mukadi
Chief Regulatory Officer Africa
Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) B.V.
Rob Soni
VP of RAN Technology
AT&T
Yago Tenorio
SVP and CTO
Verizon
Peter Vetter
President of Bell Labs Core Research
Nokia
Fiona Alexander
Co-Founder
Salt Point Strategies
Vint Cerf
VP, Chief Internet Evangelist
Google
John Crain
CTO
ICANN
Ram Mohan
Chief Strategy Officer
Identity Digital
Paul Vixie
Deputy CISO
Amazon Web Services
Kevin R. Bolen
Principal, Advisory – Head of AI Transformation, Strategy and Investments
KPMG LLP
Annie Cheng
VP of Engineering
Waymo
Mischa Dohler
VP, Emerging Technologies
Ericsson
Gillian R. Hayes
Vice Provost
UCI
Durga Malladi
SVP & GM, Technology Planning & Edge Solutions
Qualcomm
Danijela Cabric
Professor
UCLA
Syed Jafar
Professor
UCI
Joseph Kakande
Network Engineer
Meta
Nick McKeown
Senior Fellow
Intel
2025 Marconi Prize Recipient
Kathleen A. Kramer
2025 IEEE President & CEO
Sponsorship Opportunities
Support the Marconi Society’s mission and align your organization with one of the field’s most respected convenings in information and communications technology.
The Marconi Awards Gala and Institute Forums offer opportunities to engage with leaders across AI, wireless, Internet resilience, academia, and industry.
Sponsors
The Marconi Society is grateful to the following organizations for their generous support of the 2026 Marconi Awards & Institute Forums: