From September 29 to October 2, Members of the IOWN Global Forum gathered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, for the 2026 Midterm Member Meeting. The event brought together Members from across industries and regions to collaborate on Forum initiatives, share progress, explore emerging opportunities, and strengthen the ecosystem supporting the work of the IOWN Global Forum.
Throughout the week, Members participated in plenary sessions, Working Group meetings, technical discussions, demonstrations, exhibits, and collaborative planning activities focused on implementation, interoperability, and industry engagement. The week also featured FUTURES Amsterdam, a public program exploring the infrastructure challenges and opportunities associated with AI.
Membership and Ecosystem Continue to Grow
The IOWN Global Forum continues to expand its global community. As of September 2026, the Forum included more than 180 Member organizations with approximately 2,900 Member representatives worldwide. The Forum has welcomed 16 new Members during 2026 so far, including organizations from Europe and North America. Several joined the activities in Amsterdam.
The meeting highlighted continued collaboration across the industry ecosystem, including activities involving the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), Telecom Infra Project (TIP), Open Compute Project (OCP), the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA), and the Automotive Edge Computing Consortium (AECC).
Maxime Flament, CTO of 5GAA, and Ryokichi Onishi, Chairperson of AECC, participated in a special ceremony recognizing collaboration among the three organizations and the importance of cross-industry cooperation in shaping the future of communications and digital infrastructure. Marcello Pagnozzi, Director of ETSI’s Standards Development Centre, also called for deeper technical and standardization collaboration, with a focus on Open APN and data center networks designed for AI.
The Forum also announced the launch of a Startup Membership program as part of its ongoing efforts to broaden participation and engagement across the community.
From Vision to Reality
A recurring theme throughout the Amsterdam meeting was the continued focus on implementation, interoperability, and business value. The Marketing Steering Committee reported progress in refining Forum messaging, advancing market analysis, supporting industry engagement activities, and preparing for major industry events including MWC 2027 and OFC 2027 .
Working Groups and Task Forces shared updates across key Forum initiatives, including Open APN, deterministic network services, Computing Continuum, Sovereign Data Spaces, Digital Twins, Fiber Sensing, and AI infrastructure. Members reviewed ongoing activities, Recognized Proofs of Concepts (PoCs), and techno-economic analyses designed to help connect technical innovation with real-world implementation.
The Technology and Use Case Working Groups also emphasized three priorities for the Forum’s future work: scaling infrastructure, scaling the ecosystem, and scaling the narrative around Forum initiatives, use cases, and implementation efforts.
Exploring the Infrastructure Needed for AI
AI infrastructure emerged as a major focus across both the Midterm Member Meeting and FUTURES Amsterdam.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Katsuhiko Kawazoe, President and Chairperson of the IOWN Global Forum, highlighted the Forum’s progress across a range of use cases, including financial services, media production, remote GPU computing, and construction. He also discussed the growing importance of optical networking and computing in supporting future digital infrastructure requirements.
Other sessions during the Midterm Member Meeting explored the infrastructure needed to support AI. Eelko Brinkhoff, CEO of PhotonDelta, highlighted the importance of photonics for AI infrastructure and discussed opportunities for continued development in this area.
At FUTURES Amsterdam, speakers explored topics including AI infrastructure growth, data center expansion, energy requirements, digital sovereignty, photonics, connectivity, and the role of interoperable infrastructure in supporting future AI-enabled services. Discussions emphasized the importance of collaboration across technology providers, infrastructure operators, enterprises, standards organizations, and policymakers.
Throughout the week, Members returned to several common themes: sovereignty, interoperability, ecosystem development, and the need to align innovation with practical implementation requirements and real-world deployment challenges.
Recognizing Member Contributions
The Midterm Member Meeting also included the recognition of two significant contributions to the ecosystem with an awards presentation.
First, the Forum presented the annual Implementation of the Year Award, which recognizes the Proof of Concept (PoC) that most clearly showcases the realization of the IOWN Global Forum vision. Three Recognized PoCs were named finalists for the 2026 Implementation of the Year Award:
- Point-to-Multipoint Mobile Fronthaul over APN
- Inter-DC VM Migration and Long-Distance Database Replication for Financial Industry
- Remote Media Production in Broadcast Industry
The 2026 Implementation of the Year Award was presented to NTT, Inc., NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS, Inc., NTT DOCOMO SOLUTIONS, Inc., Sony Group, Sumimoto Electric Industries, Ltd., TBS Television Inc. for the Remote Media Production in Broadcast Industry PoC.
Next, the Forum also recognized Masayuki Hattori of Sony for significant contributions to the organization since its founding. Dr. Hattori was named an IOWN Global Forum Fellow and Officer Emeritus in recognition of more than six years of service to the Forum, and presented with the organization’s Significant Service Award.
Looking Ahead
As the Amsterdam meeting concluded, Members reflected on the progress achieved across use cases, partnerships, Working Groups, and industry engagement activities.
Discussions throughout the week focused on continuing to scale infrastructure, scale the ecosystem, and scale the narrative around the work of the Forum through collaboration, interoperability, standards engagement, Recognized PoCs, and implementation-focused initiatives. Members also looked ahead to future activities, including participation at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2027, Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) 2027, and ongoing collaboration with industry and standards organizations.
The 2026 Midterm Member Meeting demonstrated the continued growth of the IOWN Global Forum community and reinforced the Forum’s commitment to advancing open, interoperable infrastructure and methodologies that help address emerging industry challenges and support future digital services.
Watch FUTURES 2026 Amsterdam on YouTube and view photos from the midterm member meeting in the Flickr album. | Members can also access videos and presentations from the Opening and Closing Plenaries, on the IOWN Global Forum Member Platform.
