Zentrix Lab Partners in CONFIDENTIAL6G to Secure the Future of 6G Networks

PRESS RELEASE
Date: [25 July 2024]

Zentrix Lab Partners in CONFIDENTIAL6G to Secure the Future of 6G Networks

Belgrade, Serbia – Zentrix Lab is proud to reaffirm its role as a consortium partner in the CONFIDENTIAL6G project — “Confidential Computing and Privacy-preserving Technologies for 6G” — funded by the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) under Grant Agreement No 101096435.

Through this partnership, Zentrix Lab contributes its expertise in distributed systems, security, and industrial software in order to help ensure that the upcoming 6G ecosystem is resilient, trustworthy and privacy-enabled.

Project Overview

CONFIDENTIAL6G brings together 15 organisations across Europe, spanning industry, SMEs and academia in 8 countries, to develop cryptographic, computing and networking enablers for confidentiality in the cloud-edge-continuum of 6G systems.

Key technology domains include:

• Post-quantum cryptography (PQC), fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), secure multiparty computation (SMPC) and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP).
• Confidential computing and secure orchestration on heterogeneous infrastructure (edge, cloud, IoT).
• Confidential networking: quantum-resistant protocols, blockchain/DLT for privacy, federated AI/ML orchestration in mission-critical environments.

2024 Milestones and Activities

In the course of 2024 Zentrix Lab and the consortium have achieved the following:

• Presented CONFIDENTIAL6G at the OpenInfra Edge Computing Working Group where Zentrix Lab, together with Telefónica, introduced the project and engaged with key industry players such as Verizon to discuss federated learning and edge-security.
• Contributed to the “Confidential Computation Toolkit” use case, including architecture work on trusted execution environments and quantum-safe orchestration for industrial/automotive edge scenarios.
• Advanced dissemination and open-source contributions: the newsletter covering months 19-30 reports on joint publications, partner additions (e.g., TU Wien) and ecosystem outreach led by Zentrix Lab.

About Zentrix Lab’s Role

As a partner organisation, Zentrix Lab supports:

• Requirement gathering and architecture definition for secure, distributed and collaborative computing across edge and cloud environments.
• Implementation of middleware and software libraries for confidential containers, federated learning and secure orchestration in multi-tenant environments.
• Contribution to standardisation and exploitation activities ensuring European leadership in secure 6G systems.

Looking Ahead

Over the remainder of the project (running through 2025), Zentrix Lab will focus on:

• Validation and pilot deployments of selected use cases including aviation predictive maintenance, telecom-cloud threat mitigation and connected vehicles with OTA updates.
• Strengthening open-source toolchains and building an ecosystem of users and stakeholders around confidentiality-by-design for 6G.
• Supporting exploitation and business model development to translate research into impact and commercial value.

About CONFIDENTIAL6G

CONFIDENTIAL6G is funded under Horizon Europe via the SNS JU (Grant Agreement No 101096435). The project aims to define, design, implement and validate cryptographic, computing and networking enablers for confidential and privacy-preserving connectivity in future 6G systems. For more information see: https://confidential6g.eu/