State of the art communication systems are solely conveying agnostically information between two places where a very limited number of applications is hosted. Communication links are often addressed as dump pipes. Future communication networks are becoming intelligent as information is increasingly processed within the communication network, rather than solely in the end points, for a massive number of heterogeneous applications. In the era of digital transfer, computing within the network is the key enabler for new services offering increased security, lower latency, increased resilience, and many additional features. Once computing is introduced into networks, the role of the network operator will change dramatically. The course will offer a review of the key theoretical concepts to enable computing in communication networks (network slicing, mobile edge computing, content distribution), the related enabling technologies (SDN, NFV) and how to deploy in-network innovation. Theoretical lectures will be associated to hands-on activities that students will be able to perform using a dedicated virtual machine, developed on purpose for the course.