While emerging wireless technologies that use radio-frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) are vital for the European way of life, particularly in telecommunications, there is an increasing consideration of their possible adverse effects on human health and the environment, which may be potentially exacerbated by aggregation of different types of EMF signals. Some concerned citizen groups even perceive the fifth-generation (5G) telecommunications network as a greater threat to public health compared to previous generation systems. The exposure standards issued by the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and the International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety of the Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (ICES-IEEE), are set to prevent the occurrence of such effects.

The NextGEM project’s vision is to ensure EU citizens’ safety when employing existing and future EMF-based telecommunication technologies. This will be accomplished by generating relevant knowledge that identifies appropriate control measures of EMF exposure in the residential, public, and occupational settings. Fulfilling this vision will provide a healthy living and working environment, under safe EMF exposure conditions, trustable by people and in line with the regulations and laws issued by the public authorities.

In this respect, NextGEM will provide a framework for the generation of health-relevant scientific knowledge and data, based on new scenarios of exposure to EMF in multiple frequency bands, as well as develop and validate tools for evidence-based risk assessment. NextGEM will also create the NextGEMInnovation and Knowledge Hub (NIKH) for EMF and Health, offering a standardised way for European regulatory authorities and the scientific community to store and assess project outcomes and provide access to FAIR data.