ABSTRACT
This chapter provides some of the fundamental technical challenges in today's software-defined networks, which are, at the same time, opportunities to move toward an autonomous network—an autonomous network is a network that is self-contained; it self-manages, self-optimizes, and protects itself from all forms of cyberattacks. While today a user purchasing an Internet of Things (IoT) device relies on existing mobile or fixed broadband capabilities, together with the existing service definition, future networks will provide support for tailing the network to the IoT device's needs through autonomous networks. With the transformation to an autonomous network, the operational staff will move from managing the network elements to managing automation. There are a number of challenges in the field of autonomous networks and AI that are nontechnical as well as technical. In order to overcome the challenge of understanding new ways of presenting results, predictions and models need to be developed.
