Chaire Cyber CNI

Chaire Cyber CNI – Cybersecurity for Critical Networked Infrastructures

Industrial Networking Beyond Connectivity: Key Scientific and Cybersecurity Challenges Discussed at NOMS 2026

Industrial networking is reaching a turning point.

We are moving from isolated PLC-centric systems toward distributed AI-assisted cloud-edge infrastructures running industrial protocols over IP networks.

But here is the uncomfortable question:

Can probabilistic IT and cloud infrastructures ever truly satisfy deterministic industrial requirements?

At our NOMS 2026 panel on *“Next Steps of Industrial Communications and Networks”*, we debated topics such as:

* industrial protocols over Layer 3/IP,
* strict SLA enforcement,
* virtualized PLCs,
* AI-driven operational management,
* cloud-edge continuums,
* and the growing cybersecurity risks of converged IT/OT infrastructures.

One insight from the discussion stayed with me:

**Risk = Probability × Impact**

In industrial systems:

* the probability of failures or attacks on complex IP-based infrastructures is non-negligible,
* while the impact can be catastrophic.

That fundamentally changes the networking equation.

My conclusion:
Industrial networking is no longer merely a connectivity problem.
It is becoming a **trustworthy autonomy and resilience problem**.

And perhaps the most controversial question:
Will AI become the only realistic way to manage the operational complexity we are creating ourselves?

I summarized the key scientific debates, disagreements, and cybersecurity implications from the panel in a longer article below.

I would genuinely love to hear different opinions from academia and industry:
Are today’s IP/cloud-native architectures sufficient for future industrial systems — or do we need fundamentally new networking paradigms?

#NOMS2026 #IndustrialNetworking #Industry40 #Industry50 #Cybersecurity #IndustrialAI #CloudNative #EdgeComputing #OTITConvergence #Resilience #AI

With:Xinze Li (Southeast University, China), Renwei “Richard” Li (Southeast University, China), Luca Foschini (University of Bologna, Italy), Marc-Oliver Pahl (IMT Atlantique, France), Stefano Salsano (University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy), Jose Fontalvo-Hernandez (Siemens AG, Germany), Xipeng Xiao (Huawei Germany, Germany), Luis Miguel Contreras Murillo (Telefónica, Spain)

AIMLOps 2026 Workshop at IEEE/IFIP NOMS 2026 a Great Success

🚀 AI is rapidly transforming from a support tool into the operational core of future communication systems — and this was exactly the focus of the 1st AIMLOps Workshop at IEEE/IFIP Network Operations and Management Symposium 2026 in Rome.

Co-organized by Marc-Oliver Pahl, Hanan Lutfiyya, and Stuart Clayman, the workshop brought together researchers and practitioners from across Europe, North America, and Asia to discuss the future of autonomous and AI-driven network and service management.

The workshop saw strong engagement throughout the entire day with more than 100 participants distributed over the four sessions.

What stood out most was the exceptional quality of the papers and the depth of the discussions. Topics ranged from:
🔹 AI-driven cybersecurity and anomaly detection
🔹 Explainable AI (XAI) for trustworthy operations
🔹 MLOps and LLMOps for AI lifecycle management
🔹 Multimodal LLMs for troubleshooting and network management
🔹 Autonomous protocol translation for IoT interoperability
🔹 AI assurance for distributed AI infrastructures
🔹 Sovereign European cloud and AI infrastructures

A particularly strong contribution from the [Cyber CNI Chaire](https://cybercni.fr?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ecosystem came from Mohammed Mezaouli (CNRS Lab-STICC, IMT Atlantique) together with Yehya Nasser, Samir Saoudi, and Marc-Oliver Pahl. Their presentation, *“Closing the Loop in Embedded Security: Evolution of an AIOps Framework for Threat Hunting,”* explored how AIMLOps methodologies can secure resource-constrained embedded systems in future 6G and IoT environments through adaptive AI pipelines, side-channel telemetry analysis, and continuous model evolution.

The keynote sessions perfectly complemented the technical program.

🎤 Deep Medhi (National Science Foundation) delivered the keynote *“When Networks Think for Themselves: Who Is in-charge?”* and challenged the community to rethink trust, explainability, and control in future autonomous and zero-touch networks where AI systems increasingly make operational decisions themselves.

🎤 Hans Torben Löfflad and Manuel Hoffmann from STACKIT presented *“A European Data & AI Strategy – A Cloud Provider’s View.”* Their keynote addressed sovereign European cloud infrastructures, large-scale AI model serving, Kubernetes-based AI platforms, and Europe’s path toward digital sovereignty.

This discussion was particularly timely as STACKIT was recently selected by the European Commission as one of the providers for the EU Sovereign Cloud procurement initiative — a major milestone for resilient and sovereign European digital infrastructures and highly relevant for research on cyber-secure critical infrastructures.

A huge thank you to all authors, keynote speakers, participants, and organizers for making AIMLOps 2026 such an engaging and inspiring event. The workshop clearly demonstrated that AI lifecycle management, operational trustworthiness, resilience, and sovereignty are becoming defining challenges for the future of networking and distributed systems.

#AIMLOps #NOMS2026 #AI #AIOps #MLOps #LLMOps #AutonomousNetworks #Cybersecurity #DigitalSovereignty #SovereignCloud #6G #IoT #NetworkManagement #GenerativeAI #CloudComputing #CyberCNI

CyberSecDome : le projet entre dans sa dernière année et valide son démonstrateur

Le projet CyberSecDome entre dans sa dernière année avec l’intégration du second démonstrateur. Sa technologie est désormais validée auprès d’une douzaine de projets Open Call. Cette phase marque une étape clé pour la Chaire Cyber CNI et l’IMT Atlantique dans la cybersécurité des infrastructures complexes.

CyberSecDome presented by the Cyber CNI Chair at ECW!

The Cyber CNI Chair presented its work as part of the European CyberSecDome project during European Cyber Week, France’s leading trade show for cyberdefense and sovereign AI. The presentation highlighted immersive XR interfaces, explainable AI tools, and secure collaboration between stakeholders, illustrating the concrete innovation of the Chair and IMT Atlantique in cybersecurity.

CyberSecDome présenté par la Chaire Cyber CNI lors de l’ECW ! 

La Chaire Cyber CNI a présenté ses travaux dans le cadre du projet européen CyberSecDome lors de l’European Cyber Week, le principal salon français de la cyberdéfense et de l’IA souveraine. L’animation a mis en lumière les interfaces immersives XR, les outils d’IA explicable et la collaboration sécurisée entre acteurs, illustrant l’innovation concrète de la Chaire et de l’IMT Atlantique dans la cybersécurité.

CyberSecDome : une démonstration marquante à la Research Update

Le projet CyberSecDome a été présenté par IMT Atlantique et Airbus lors de la Research Update de la Chaire Cyber CNI. Ce projet européen vise à renforcer la résilience des infrastructures critiques grâce à un écosystème collaboratif de cyberdéfense, combinant intelligence artificielle, simulations avancées et réponse automatisée aux incidents. La démonstration a illustré les avancées concrètes du projet et l’intérêt marqué des acteurs industriels et académiques pour cette approche innovante.

CyberSecDome : an impressive demonstration at Research Update

The CyberSecDome project was presented by IMT Atlantique and Airbus during the Cyber CNI Chair’s Research Update. This European project aims to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure through a collaborative cyber defense ecosystem, combining artificial intelligence, advanced simulations, and automated incident response. The demonstration illustrated the concrete progress made by the project and the keen interest shown by industrial and academic players in this innovative approach.

CyberSecDome: IMT Atlantique represented at the Cambridge plenary meeting

On September 15 and 16, 2025, Marc-Oliver Pahl and Fabien Eyssartier represented the IMT Atlantique Cyber ​​CNI Chair at the plenary meeting of the European CyberSecDome project in Cambridge. This meeting provided an opportunity to take stock of the excellent results obtained and the progress made in the last year of the project.

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