Welcome from the Chairs of NoF 2026

On behalf of the Network of the Future (NoF) Organizing Committee, it is our great pleasure to warmly introduce you to the 17th International Conference on Network of the Future (NoF 2026), that is taking place in Rome, Italy, on September 29 – October 2, 2026.  

We are delighted to welcome you to Rome, the Eternal City, a place known for its unique blend of history, beauty, and atmosphere. Built on seven legendary hills and crossed by the “blond” Tiber River, it displays millennia of art and architecture,  from the Colosseum and the Pantheon to Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain. Its skyline, marked by domes and ancient bridges, opens to vast green spaces such as Villa Borghese and the Appia Antica Park. From the Pincio Terrace or the Janiculum Hill, every view tells the story of a city that is eternal yet ever new.

NoF 2026 aims to bring together the community to discuss and shape the future of networking.

Since its creation in 2010, NoF has been a premier annual conference that covers advances in the area of Future Internet design, with emphasis on enabling technologies, architectures and services.

In recent years, networks have continued their profound transformation, evolving into highly adaptive infrastructures that blur the boundaries between communication, computation, and control. The convergence of cloud-native design principles, intent-based and autonomous networking, and AI-driven orchestration is enabling networks to become more resilient, sustainable, and user-centric. More recently, advances in generative and agentic AI are emerging as powerful new tools to further raise the level of automation, enabling more proactive, self-driven network operation and opening new possibilities toward fully autonomous networking systems. At the same time, traditionally distinct critical infrastructures are becoming increasingly intertwined, with communication networks and energy systems requiring closer coordination and joint design to ensure efficient operation, and long-term survivability, and security. Paradigms such as Digital Twins of networks, zero-touch automation, multi-path and multi-domain integration, as well as network-aware immersive applications, are redefining how connectivity supports both humans and machines. At the same time, the global momentum behind 6G research is accelerating, with visions of integrated terrestrial and non-terrestrial systems, extreme performance for immersive experiences, and new trust, privacy, and sustainability requirements that shape the future Internet.

We look forward to welcoming you to Rome for an inspiring and engaging NoF 2026.

General Chairs

TPC Co-Chairs

Sahar Hoteit
(Université Paris-Saclay, France )

Marco Polverini
(Università La Sapienza, Italy)