Service-based architecture in the 5G core network, disaggregated RAN, and network slicing are a few of the 5G network's innovative paradigms. There are however new requirements for 6G, such as the efficient use of integrated cloud resources, end-to-end network programmability, and the dynamic integration of multiple connectivity domains to realize intelligent connectivity across increasingly pervasive cloud environments. The 6G-Cloud project will research, develop, and validate key technologies to realize an artificial intelligence (AI)-native and cloud-friendly system architecture atop the cloud continuum. It will integrate cloud resources offered by multiple stakeholders and allow network functions from different 6G network segments to be composed flexibly and dynamically based on service needs in hybrid cloud environments. 6G-Cloud will address the following key topics: i) designing a holistic, AI-native service-oriented 6G system architecture atop a cloud continuum; ii) developing AI-driven cloud continuum and management frameworks and business interfaces for a multistakeholder environment; iii) defining an AI/machine learning (ML) framework for native-AI support in the 6G system; iv) supporting the 6G "network-of-networks" concept using service-oriented network design. 6G-Cloud will incorporate scalability, sustainability, resilience, and security requirements into system design. The concept will be validated by three well-defined proofs-of-concept and promoted through 6G architectural standardization work and open-source projects to reach maximum impact.

FLECON-6G gathers key participants from Phase-1 and Phase-2 SNS JU projects, aiming to make the “Intelligent 6G Network of Networks” vision a reality, with Trustworthiness and Generalisability of Native AI and Network Digital Twins (NDT) assisted approaches. It aims to deliver key technological assets in the form of collaborative and distributed frameworks offering scalability and support for multi-domain, multi-stakeholder infrastructures, jointly with network infrastructure programmability that supports the offloading of network application logic. FLECON-6G provides groundbreaking research to drive the next phase of 6G Native AI research, addressing Trustworthiness and Generalizability via novel intent-driven frameworks and robust Foundation Models, that not only deliver zero-touch orchestration but also performance guarantees and robustness in multi-stakeholder infrastructures. A multi-layer, multi-vendor NDT framework will also assist online decisions and resolve conflicts among multiple closed control loops operating in reactive, proactive or predictive mode for zero-touch self-optimisation. At the business layer, a Smart Marketplace will facilitate the creation of a wide, sustainable ecosystem of highly diversified stakeholders, through which, MNOs, digital service providers, verticals and software developers of AI or DT software applications will jointly collaborate to build more integrated and intent-driven service offers, composing a plethora of modular assets for their effective monetisation. In line with EU’s policies, FLECON-6G will design, develop and validate through relevant PoCs, several secure, trustworthy, resilient and reliable solutions across 4 heterogeneous verticals that require 6G performance capabilities. FLECON-6G will strongly impact standardisation, with significant contributions to 3GPP, ITU, ETSI, GSMA and O-RAN and open-source communities.

RIGOUROUS project aspires to identify and address the major cybersecurity, trust and privacy risks threatening the network, devices, computing infrastructure, and next generation of services. RIGOUROUS will address these challenges by introducing a new holistic and smart service framework leveraging new machine learning (ML) and AI mechanisms, which can react dynamically to the ever-changing threat surface on all orchestration layers and network functions. RIGOUROUS new smart service framework is capable of ensuring a secure, trusted and privacy-preserving environment for supporting the next generation of trustworthy continuum computing 6G services along the full device-edge-cloud-continuum on heterogenous multi-domain networks. This includes establishing compliance with the design of software (SW), protocols and procedures, as well as AI-governed mechanisms to cope with the security-related requirements in the full DevOps lifecycle, from the service onboarding up to the day-2 operations. Further the DevOps lifecycle spans from the prevention and detection of anomalies and/or intrusions at different levels (physical or cyber) based on violation of policies or rules, up to their mitigation and policy enforcement. It also comprises the incorporation of the human factor starting from the design until the human-in-the-loop concept in the whole orchestration. Additionally extensive research devoted to realizing advanced security enablers is carried out to bring automation and intelligence to the smart, but also secure, orchestration concept. In brief, RIGOUROUS targets the following key objectives: • Holistic Smart Service framework for securing the IoT-Edge-Cloud continuum lifecycle management • Human-Centric DevSecOps • Model-based and AI-driven Automated Security Orchestration, Trust Management and deployment • Advanced AI-driven Anomaly Detection, decision and Mitigation Strategies • Demonstration of a Set of Industrially Relevant Use Cases in Operational Envi

6G is expected to emerge as key enabler for the intelligent digital society of 2030 and beyond, providing superior performance via groundbreaking access technologies, such as joint communication and sensing, cell-free, Radio Intelligent Surfaces, and ubiquitous wireless intelligence . Most importantly, 6G is expected to trigger a total rethink of network architecture design, which builds on the key idea of new stakeholders entering into the value chain of future networks. The SUNRISE-6G approach is inspired by the “network of networks” concept of 6G Networks, aiming to integrate all private and public infrastructures under a massively scalable internet-like architecture. SUNRISE-6G similarly aspires to create a federation of 6G test infrastructures in a pan-european facility that will support converged Testing as a Service (TaaS) workflows and tools, a unified catalogue of 6G enablers publicly accessible by experimenters, and cross-domain vertical application onboarding. Experimentation and vertical application onboarding are offered via a Tenant Web Portal, that acts as a single-entry point to the facility, serving end users (e.g., experimenters) and tenants (e.g., vertical developers, infrastructure owners, 6G component manufactures). The project execution is based on 4 pillars, delivering: (a) the Implementation of new 6G enablers, complementary to existing ones being developed in SNS Phase 1 projects, (b) A truly scalable and 3GPP compliant Federation solution that provides access to heterogeneous resources and devices from all Europe, (c) A Federated AI plane aligned with AIaaS and MLOPS paradigms, which promotes a collaborative approach to AI research which benefits immensely from scaling-up datasets and models and (d) a commonly adopted Experimentation Plane, which offers common workflows to experimenters.

The intense ongoing work towards 5G readiness has reached the point where the performance gains provided by 5G infrastructures should be exploited by third party innovators and SMEs, to create a new, open and dynamic ecosystem from both technology and marketing perspectives. Towards the materialization of the 5G performance gains at application and market level, key contributions are expected by the domain of design and development of Network Application (NetApp). In this context, EVOLVED-5G endorses the vision where the world of NetApps follows the paradigm of mobile applications hosted in a related market place. Moreover, the EVOLVED-5G project will contribute towards the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0. Recognized as one of the major vertical industries by 5G-PPP (referring to the digital evolving of workspaces), Industry 4.0 brings innovative use cases, yet technologically challenging, and create a fertile environment for SME-driven entrepreneurship, where new use case-tailored functions (as NetApps) can be provided to compose a digitalized, secure, and automated generation of the industrial operations (mainly referring to functions for process and machine control as well as procedures for advanced product lifecycle management). The industry-oriented EVOLVED-5G NetApps will be tested, validated, and certified in a vendor-agnostic experimentation platform, and progressively define the first set of NetApps that the EVOLVED-5G marketplace will host.