This paper explores the role of data spaces in enabling secure, interoperable data exchange between Network Digital Twins and SDN Controllers. This approach emphasizes data space connectors for faster, scalable, and flexible integration of multiple components across digital ecosystems to work in unison. The proposed approach is to use a common trusted platform (in this paper, the platform used is TRUE Connector) which is responsible for secure information exchange between components(e.g: SDN Controller, Network Digital Twins, Software applications, etc.) in a digital ecosystem, thus encouraging collaboration between multiple technology vendors to provide more efficient network services and encourage interoperability.

In multi-domain Software Defined Networking (SDN) environments, inter-controller communication is essential for coordinated decision-making and consistent operation across administrative boundaries. These exchanges involve sensitive control-plane data requiring strong guarantees of authenticity and confidentiality. However, traditional cryptographic mechanisms such as RSA and ECC are increasingly vulnerable to quantum attacks, threatening the long-term security of SDN systems. Recent advances in Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) offer promising alternatives, with CRYSTALS-Dilithium and CRYSTALS-Kyber emerging as leading candidates for digital signatures and encryption, respectively. In parallel, permissioned blockchain technologies have gained traction as decentralized, tamper-proof ledgers for enforcing trust in SDN environments. Yet, the integration of PQC and blockchain for secure SDN communication remains largely unexplored. To address this gap, a novel system is proposed that combines PQC and blockchain to enable secure and verifiable communication between SDN controllers. Each controller uses a Dilithium-based signature keypair for authentication and a Kyber-based encryption keypair for confidentiality, with public keys stored on-chain to establish decentralized trust. SDN controller messages are encrypted using Kyber, signed with Dilithium, and recorded on the blockchain in an encrypted format. Key innovations of the design include the execution of Dilithium signature verification directly on-chain through smart contract logic, enabling decentralized and auditable validation, and a blockchain-based mechanism for securely distributing Kyber public keys, eliminating reliance on external key exchange infrastructure. The feasibility and performance of the proposed approach are evaluated, demonstrating its potential for implementation in SDN deployments facing quantum-era threats.

This paper presents a comprehensive Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) platform designed to enhance the deployment and management of all-optical access and transport networks. We demonstrate our platform with a use-case of cloud-based AR/VR gaming service that requires high bandwidth and ultra-low latency, through the slicing of Passive Optical Network (PON) and optical transport network. Building on our previous work that detailed the overall architecture of our solution and the fine-grain Optical Transport Network (fgOTN) technology, this paper introduces the novel aspect of automated PON slicing, achieving a fully end-to-end solution. Leveraging ETSI F5G and ETSI ZSM standards and integrating with ETSI TeraFlowSDN and ETSI Open-Source MANO (OSM) for orchestration and management, our platform offers a seamless and immersive experience for latency-sensitive applications.

A large language model (LLM) chatbot is integrated within TeraFlowSDN for intent manipulation. The resulting chatbot is capable of understanding the context and is able to carry out three actions: create, find, and explain intents using natural language while being flexible regarding the language used.

This paper presents a novel end-to-end quality-on-demand Optical Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) platform that introduces cutting-edge Fifth Generation Fixed Network Advanced (F5G-A) access and transport network capabilities to enterprises, users, and application developers. We demonstrate this platform through a real cloud-based virtual reality (VR) gaming service use-case. The platform is supported by a number of open-source projects (i.e., ETSI OpenSource MANO, ETSI TeraFlowSDN), and its implementation is standards-based (GSMA Open Gateway, Linux Foundation CAMARA, ETSI ISG ZSM and F5G). The platform’s architecture, and its implementation are discussed. The paper also demonstrates a real end-to-end connectivity service via a F5G-A network slice realized by an end-to-end, Layer 3 VPN (L3VPN) service in order to show and validate the proof-of-concept (PoC).

We present P5; an event-driven policy framework that allows network operators to realize end-to-end policies on top of P4-based data planes in an intuitive and effective manner. We demonstrate how P5 adheres to a service-level agreement (SLA) by applying P4-based traffic engineering with latency constraints.

This demonstration will showcase the end-to-end orchestration of virtual network functions in the full-fledged ADRENALINE Testbed Cloud Platform expanding from the edge to the cloud. The Management and Orchestration (MANO) software ETSI OpenSource MANO (OSM) is used to deploy and handle a multi-site network service involving both edge and core Data Centers (DCs). Besides, the inter- and intra-DC connectivity is directly managed by a novel OSM WAN Infrastructure Manager (WIM) connector using the Transport API (TAPI) interface, thus completely abstracting the details of the underlying SDN controllers handling the programmability of the WAN network interconnecting the DCs.