The most promising use cases for edge computing, related to demanding network features and scenarios like industrial IoT, require to go beyond current network services, and support a much more dynamic way of consuming them.
The traditional borders between local and wide area networks, between network segments, and between application and network services themselves tend to blur into a continuum of network services supporting user applications.
Techniques like the emerging In-Network Computing paradigm require multi-dimensional openness (among computing environments, across network segments, along geographical areas and operators…) and have to rely on holistic network orchestration to achieve the promise of an elastic edge.