D3.1 : Secure-by-design orchestration and management & Data plane computation offloading.r1

The purpose of this deliverable is to present the design principles, architectural components, and initial implementation steps toward achieving secure-by-design orchestration and management of 6G network slices, as well as exploring advanced mechanisms for data plane computation offloading. As part of the NATWORK project’s broader goal to enable secure, sustainable, and resilient 6G services, this document focuses on developing decentralised and intelligent management services capable of responding to emerging security threats while addressing energy efficiency and trust in multi-domain environments. The report introduces decentralised orchestration components, services and algorithms capable of maintaining service continuity under evolving cybersecurity threats while optimising energy consumption across the edge-to-cloud continuum. It also outlines advanced approaches for offloading computation into the network data plane to reduce latency and enhance in-network intelligence. The deliverable further defines critical supporting frameworks such as decentralised Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) exchange, AI-based behavioural analysis, Moving Target Defence (MTD) mechanisms, and security-performance balancer services. These modules work together to strengthen the orchestration platform and dynamically adapt to operational and threat conditions. Early implementation strategies are described alongside validation approaches and methodologies to evaluate orchestration effectiveness, energy efficiency, and security performance in the context of 6G networks. The results of this work lay the foundation for upcoming large-scale integration and testing activities in NATWORK.