The recent publications in the field highlight a significant shift towards integrating advanced technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and software-defined networking (SDN) into various sectors to address pressing global challenges. A notable trend is the application of blockchain technology in environmental sustainability measures, aiming to create verifiable and unbiased monitoring systems for greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. This approach not only enhances the transparency of environmental practices but also facilitates the enforcement of conservationist policies.

In the realm of network management, there is a growing emphasis on securing intent-based cellular networks (IBN) through innovative frameworks that ensure the integrity and confidentiality of network intents. The integration of AI into network slicing and orchestration architectures is also advancing, with reinforcement learning (RL) being employed to optimize network throughput and resource allocation, thereby meeting stringent service-level agreements (SLAs).

Another critical area of development is the pursuit of environmentally equitable AI, where researchers are exploring equity-aware geographical load balancing to fairly distribute the environmental costs of AI workloads across different regions. This effort is part of a broader initiative to mitigate the environmental footprint of AI systems, which has become a significant concern due to the exponential increase in compute requirements for training AI models.

Furthermore, the integration of blockchain and SDN technologies into the Internet of Energy (IoE) systems is being explored to enhance performance, security, and decentralization. This synergistic approach aims to address the challenges of peer-to-peer energy trading, smart grids, and electric vehicle energy management, while also identifying potential future directions for research in energy efficiency and scalability.

Lastly, the evolution of AI as a service (AIaaS) architecture in Beyond 5G (B5G) and 6G networks is being proposed to facilitate cognitive service delivery. This involves the development of a distributed Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF) that leverages AI algorithms to provide insights for network orchestration, thereby empowering the core network with advanced AI capabilities.

Noteworthy Papers

• Blockchain in Environmental Sustainability Measures: a Survey: Offers a comprehensive classification of blockchain applications in environmental monitoring and policy enforcement.
• Securing the Management Plane in Intent-based Cellular Networks: Introduces a novel security framework based on WireGuard for IBN systems, ensuring secure intent communication.
• Towards Environmentally Equitable AI: Advocates for environmental equity in AI system management, proposing equity-aware geographical load balancing.
• On Enhancing Network Throughput using Reinforcement Learning in Sliced Testbeds: Presents the eMBB-Agent, a RL-based approach to improve network slicing throughput.
• Synergistic Integration of Blockchain and Software-Defined Networking in the Internet of Energy Systems: Explores the integration of SDN and blockchain in IoE, highlighting performance enhancements and security improvements.