en.Wedoany.com Reported - The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has announced the establishment of the Technical Committee on Federated Networks, Edge, Cloud, and Artificial Intelligence (TC NET) to advance the standardization of next-generation digital technologies. This committee will be responsible for developing technical specifications and standards to promote the coherent integration of telecommunications networks, distributed computing resources, and artificial intelligence (AI).
The goal of TC NET is to build a shared reference framework enabling cloud, edge, networks, and devices to operate as a unified ecosystem, thereby overcoming the fragmentation issues prevalent in many current digital architectures. This step will become increasingly central as AI applications grow, computing resources become more distributed, and networks evolve toward greater autonomy.
The new committee will focus on developing globally applicable technical specifications, with a particular emphasis on the logical integration between computing power, artificial intelligence, and connectivity technologies. Its areas of activity include federated architectures for the digital continuum, open interfaces, data models, and interoperability mechanisms, allowing applications and services to transparently leverage available resources across cloud, network, edge, and devices. Work will also cover the development of frameworks specifically designed for AI integration, AI system interaction, and agent-based network operations.
The initiative aims to standardize execution environments sensitive to workload placement, defining interfaces for secure execution, workload isolation, and lifecycle management across heterogeneous infrastructure. Additionally, the committee will provide tools and compliance guidelines for developers, along with validation activities through proof-of-concepts, interoperability testing, and pre-standardization experiments.
A key aspect of the new technical committee is coordination with the international standardization ecosystem. ETSI explicitly states that TC NET's work will complement and closely collaborate with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The new body will also cooperate with other ETSI technical groups focused on cybersecurity, data, emergency communications, lawful interception, AI security, optical technologies, quantum key distribution, and software-defined networking. At the international level, collaboration is planned with organizations such as 3GPP, oneM2M, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC), and major open-source communities to ensure coordination between standards and avoid duplication of effort.
According to Ricard Vilalta, Convener of the ETSI Network Technologies Committee, the next wave of digital innovation is based on seamless integration. TC NET is laying the foundation for a federated digital continuum to move beyond current fragmentation, enabling AI, computing, and connectivity resources to operate as a unified intelligent system. This common framework is essential for dynamically allocating AI capabilities across cloud, network, edge, and devices, unlocking higher levels of efficiency and automation.
The first meeting of TC NET is scheduled for October 7-9, 2026, at ETSI's headquarters in Sophia Antipolis. During this meeting, members will elect committee bodies, determine the initial work plan, and begin developing the first technical specifications to guide activities in the coming years.
