Connected and Collaborative IoT – Edge – Cloud Continuum for 6G Networks
Year: 2027
Type: article
Abstract: The evolution towards 6G networks is driving the need for intelligent, reliable, and scalable networks capable of supporting emerging digital applications across diverse sectors, such as manufacturing, healthcare, mobility, and critical infrastructure. 6G networks are envisioned as ecosystems that converge the digital, physical, and personal worlds. At the heart of this vision lies the notion of the "3C Network", i.e., an infrastructure enabling seamless connected collaboration across communication, computation, and control resources. These networks will operate along an IoT–edge–cloud continuum and rely on open, intelligent, automated, and collaborative orchestration policies capable of managing multi-domain and multi-technology environments.This Special Issue (SI) will explore novel architectures, mechanisms, and operational models that support connected collaboration across heterogeneous, multi-provider, and multi-domain 6G ecosystems. Particular emphasis will be placed on agent-based AI systems embedded across the network continuum, intelligent orchestration, cross-layer optimization and scheduling, as well as security and trust frameworks, which will be essential for building resilient, autonomous, and service-aware 6G infrastructures. In addition, the shift toward Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) models with collaborative capabilities along the IoT–edge–cloud continuum requires open, software-based architectures that expose and manage programmable interfaces to third-party services.We invite high-quality contributions, including original research articles and visionary perspectives, that will serve as a reference for academia, industry, and regulatory stakeholders working on the next generation of networked systems.Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: 6G system architectures enabling integrated communication-compute-control collaboration. Telco cloud, edge, and IoT integration in the computing continuum. Interoperability enablers for multi-provider edge–cloud orchestration. AI-native orchestration of distributed and federated services in multi-domain, multi-tenant systems. Agent-based AI for distributed decision-making and coordination. Virtualization, softwarization, and network/compute capability exposure (e.g., open APIs, service discovery) in the continuum. Time-sensitive/deterministic networking and resource scheduling for cyber-physical systems in the continuum. AI-driven cross-layer optimization of communication, control, and computing in collaborative 6G networks. Security, trust, and regulatory aspects in multi-domain and multi-provider 6G ecosystems. Enablers for scalable IoT–edge–cloud operations. AI-as-a-Service, Compute-as-a-Service, ISAC-as-a-Service, and Security-as-a-Service in the continuum. Industrial (sub-)networks (local area networks) and collaborative intelligence for future manufacturing networks. Emerging business models and standardization challenges for connected collaborative 6G systems.
Language: English
Subfield: Computer Networks and Communications
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225227062