The 6G-Cloud project participated in DCOSS-IoT 2025, held in Tuscany (Lucca), Italy, from 9–11 June. The event brought together researchers and practitioners working across distributed computing, sensor networks and IoT-driven systems — key technological foundations for the future of intelligent and autonomous communication infrastructures.
During the conference, Ioannis Vasalos (NCSRD) presented the paper “Design and Evaluation of a Network Digital Twin Framework for 5G/6G Architectures.” The work addressed one of the central challenges in next-generation networking: the need for accurate, real-time virtual representations of the physical network to enable closed-loop automation and AI-native operations.
The paper introduced a comprehensive methodology for developing a Network Digital Twin (NDT) specifically tailored for B5G/6G environments. The proposed framework includes:
- generation of an accurate NDT model aligned with real network topology;
- real-time synchronisation between the virtual and physical network;
- seamless integration with a 5G testbed for validation;
- and support for AI/ML-driven decision-making within the twin.
By deploying and validating an NDT prototype in a real 5G environment, the research demonstrated how NDTs can enhance orchestration workflows, improve transparency of network behaviour and unlock AI-native functionalities essential for the evolution of 6G systems.
6G-Cloud’s participation in DCOSS-IoT underlined the project’s commitment to enabling cloud-continuum intelligence and strengthening collaborations across the distributed systems and IoT research communities.
