Following the successful completion of her first Marie Skłodowska-Curie secondment in 2025, Professor Eleni Mangina (School of Computer Science, University College Dublin) has returned to Z-RED L.P. in Thessaloniki for a six-week secondment within the ENSURE-6G Horizon Europe project (GA 101182933). This second placement builds directly on the foundations established during the first secondment, moving from identifying ethical and regulatory requirements towards developing practical governance mechanisms for trustworthy AI-enabled 6G systems.
This secondment comes at a particularly significant time. Since the previous exchange, Prof. Mangina has been appointed as an IEEE Representative to the European Commission’s AI Act Advisory Board, bringing first-hand expertise on emerging European AI governance, international standards, and trustworthy AI implementation into the ENSURE-6G research programme.
From Requirements to Operational AI Governance
The first secondment established a comprehensive framework for analysing privacy, security, ethics and fairness in AI-driven 6G intrusion detection systems, aligning ENSURE-6G research with the GDPR, the EU AI Act, and IEEE standards. The focus of this second secondment is to transform these principles into practical methodologies that can be embedded directly within future AI-native communication infrastructures. Working closely with Eirini Kanaki, CEO and Researcher at Z-RED, whose expertise spans AI governance, legal frameworks, cybersecurity regulation, privacy engineering and business innovation, the collaboration combines complementary perspectives from academia and industry. Together they aim to demonstrate how ethical and regulatory compliance can become an integral design feature rather than an afterthought in AI-enabled communication systems.
Main Objectives
During the six-week secondment, the collaboration focused on:
- advancing Ethics-by-Design methodologies for AI-native 6G security architectures;
- aligning ENSURE-6G developments with the implementation requirements of the European AI Act;
- developing governance approaches for trustworthy AI throughout the AI system lifecycle;
- strengthening privacy-preserving AI mechanisms for distributed and federated 6G environments;
- analysing transparency, explainability and human oversight mechanisms for security-critical AI applications;
- contributing to IEEE standardisation activities and European best practices for trustworthy AI.
These activities extend ENSURE-6G beyond technical innovation by integrating governance, regulation and responsible innovation into future communication infrastructures.
Strengthening the Industry–Academia Partnership
The secondment further reinforced the strategic collaboration between University College Dublin and Z-RED, demonstrating how academic excellence and industrial innovation can jointly address Europe’s emerging challenges in AI governance and cybersecurity. Z-RED continues to play a leading role in research on 6G communications, AI, cybersecurity, legal and ethical frameworks, privacy engineering and digital innovation, making it an ideal environment for interdisciplinary collaboration. By combining UCD’s internationally recognised expertise in Artificial Intelligence, Explainable AI and AI Ethics with Z-RED’s strengths in communications, regulation and innovation management, the secondment creates an ecosystem where technological innovation is developed alongside ethical responsibility and regulatory compliance.
Expected Impact
The expected outcomes extend beyond ENSURE-6G itself. Scientifically, the work will contribute new methodologies for integrating AI governance into next-generation communication networks. From an industrial perspective, it will support organisations developing AI-native 6G technologies by providing practical approaches for compliance with evolving European regulation. Societally, the secondment promotes trustworthy, human-centric AI systems that respect privacy, transparency, accountability and fundamental rights while strengthening public confidence in future digital infrastructures.
Looking Ahead
As Europe moves towards widespread deployment of AI-enabled communication networks, ensuring that innovation remains secure, transparent and trustworthy is becoming increasingly important. This second secondment represents another important milestone in the long-term collaboration between UCD and Z-RED, illustrating how international knowledge exchange can accelerate both scientific excellence and responsible innovation. One of the principal scientific outputs of the secondment was the preparation of the joint conference paper:
“From Requirements to Operational Governance for Trustworthy AI in 6G Security” Authors: Eleni Mangina, Eirini Kanaki and Periklis Chatzimisios. The paper has been submitted to the Next Generation Communications Conference (NextGCom 2026) for peer review and potential publication. The paper consolidates the research undertaken through the UCD–Z-RED ENSURE-6G staff exchanges and proposes an operational governance-by-design framework for trustworthy AI in 6G security. The proposed framework establishes a traceability chain connecting: Requirements → Technical/Organisational Controls → Accountable Roles → Lifecycle Gates → Auditable Evidence
The work is planned for presentation in connection with NextGCom 2026 in September 2026. By bringing together expertise in Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, communications, ethics, regulation and standardisation, the collaboration contributes to shaping a future where AI governance becomes a core component of secure 6G infrastructures rather than simply a compliance requirement.
Acknowledgements
This secondment is funded through the ENSURE-6G project under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Staff Exchanges (Horizon Europe).. Professor Eleni Mangina gratefully acknowledges the hospitality and collaboration of Z-RED L.P., particularly Mrs. Eirini Kanaki, CEO and Researcher, for continuing to strengthen the partnership between University College Dublin and Z-RED in advancing trustworthy, ethical and secure AI for next-generation communication networks.
