PageRank is an algorithm named after Google’s co-founder, Larry Page. Google Search uses it to rank web pages based on each one’s importance, as a function of the number and quality of connecting links. The algorithm lends itself to 6G industry map; each organization and project, for example, is analogous to an individual web page.
One application of PageRank to the 6G industry map is as a method to identify which countries are central hubs of activity, based on their related organizations and relationships. Relationships include contributions and participation in strategic 6G events, MoU agreements, 6G projects, and 6G testbeds. A country will score highly because it is home to well-connected organizations, or because the country has strong relationships with international organizations, projects, testbeds, and MoUs.
As an example of the PageRank analysis, the following is a ranking of countries based on their 6G strengths. It shows the USA to be ahead of the next two evenly matched nations of Germany and India.
For insight into the organizations that contribute to a given country’s ranking, here are the results from the same ranking algorithm applied to the United States.
The NextG Alliance’s (NGA) success in bringing academia, business, and government representatives from North America is one explanation of its dominant role in the United States’ 6G industry. Probing to the next level of detail in the 6G industry map, the following illustration highlights the size of NGAs member base and international partners. The strong concentration of US entities shows up as the nest of participating organizations in the lower left corner of the illustration. Several of the NGA’s members hail from other countries, as captured by the pattern for South Korean firms on the left-hand side of the illustration. Their involvement and those of other nations contributes to the NGA’s prestige among US organizations. Another contributing factor takes the form of MoU relationships that the NGA has fostered with international 6G initiatives.
