Evolving Networks at the Speed of Light
Five years ago, the IOWN Global Forum was founded with a clear purpose: to revolutionize communications infrastructure to deliver the solutions and opportunities of tomorrow. As the world navigates intensifying political, socioeconomic, and environmental challenges, technological advances will play an increasingly vital role in tackling them. At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month, we […]
IOWN Global Forum at MWC: The Executives’ Viewpoint on Photonics

Part of its half-day session, the IOWN Global Forum held a panel of executives from member companies who discussed Forum technology, titled “The Executives’ Viewpoint: Driving Optical Technology Evolution.”
IOWN Global Forum Shares a Photonic Future at MWC Barcelona 2025

For the first time, the IOWN Global Forum hosted a booth and a half-day session at MWC Barcelona 2025 to spread the word about the possibilities of photonic technology for society.
The Importance of Forum Technology for the Broadcast Industry

IOWN Global Forum members, Yuki Katsumata of TBS Television and Hiroshi Kuno of Sony, discuss the Forum Use Case titled “Remote Media Production for Broadcast Industry” that highlights the ability of IOWN Global Forum technology to address significant near-future issues that face the industry.
How Forum Technology Will Revolutionize the Financial Industry

IOWN Global Forum Use Case leaders, Yoko Inaba of NTT DATA and Moto Yuichiro of MUFG Bank, discuss the Forum Use Case titled “Services Infrastructure for Financial Industry” that details how IOWN Global Forum technology is poised to address the digital infrastructure needs of the industry.
IOWN Global Forum Working Group Chair Masahisa Kawashima Discusses Societal Impacts of Forum PoCs

IOWN Global Forum Technology Working Group Chair Masahisa Kawashima of NTT discusses the Forum’s current Proof of Concepts and their impact on business and wider society.
Why IOWN Global Forum PoCs are Important for Business & Society, from Forum Member Katsushi Shindo

IOWN Global Forum Member Katsushi Shindo of NTT shares why Forum Proof of Concepts are essential for business and wider society and the future of the program.
Interview Series: Ralph Rodschat discusses Ciena’s support of the IOWN Global Forum

Hear from Ralph Rodschat, VP of Global Sales Engineering at Ciena, as he discusses Ciena’s vision and expectations of the IOWN Global Forum, as well as how Ciena aligns with the Forum’s goals and his message to peers in the industry.
IOWN Global Forum’s Gonzalo Camarillo Discusses the Forum’s 5 Year Anniversary

IOWN Global Forum Marketing Steering Committee Chair, Gonzalo Camarillo of Ericsson, reflects on the Forum’s biggest achievements in the last 5 years, and its vision for the future.
NTT’s Yosuke Aragane Reflects on the 5th Anniversary of the IOWN Global Forum

Yosuke Aragane, VP of the IOWN Development Office at NTT, discusses the growth of the IOWN Global Forum over the past 5 years, and the 150+ diverse member companies that have joined.
IOWN Global Forum to Reveal Latest Developments in Photonics-Driven Innovation in Sweden
Senior technology and business leaders from across the globe will convene in Stockholm this month to discuss the future of communications infrastructure Stockholm – April 1, 2025: On Thursday 24 April, the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network Global Forum (the IOWN Global Forum) will host a public event in Sweden’s thriving tech capital to discuss […]
Member Workshop II
The IOWN Global Forum Member Workshops are scheduled as needed and determined by our Steering Committee and Working Groups. These sessions are dedicated to advancing the Forum’s ongoing projects and initiatives, providing a collaborative space for members to make meaningful progress between our official Member Meetings. The IOWN Global Forum Member Workshop II will take place from 3-5 June […]
Functional Architecture for Multi-domain IOWN Networking
This document defines the functional architecture for Multi-domain IOWN Networking designed to enable the interconnection of multiple Open APN domains operated by different organizations to enhance scalability, reliability, and flexibility of IOWN Global Forum infrastructure.
IDH Primitive PoC Scenario 2 Report
This report presents the results of the IDH Primitive PoC Scenario 2, which evaluates the virtual data lake functionality of the IOWN Global Forum Data Hub (IDH). The study confirms that IDH, using Open APN, enables high-speed, low-latency data transfers across data centers, achieving performance comparable to local networks, especially for larger data transfers. Key […]
Japan Regional Workshop 2025-I
To accelerate the IOWN Global Forum activities, the Japan Regional Workshop will be held in Tokyo, Japan for local Members to attend and participate in discussions in Japanese.
Data-Centric Infrastructure Cluster Reference Implementation Models
This document provides four interim DCI Cluster RIMs, covering a variety of use cases and cluster sizes.
Reference Implementation Model and Proof-of-Concept Reference of Green Computing with Remote GPU
This document outlines a reference implementation model and proof-of-concept (PoC) for utilizing Green Computing (GC) with remote GPU technology to enhance the time efficiency of Generative AI (GenAI) and Large Language Model (LLM) training. Through the integration of IOWN technology and Open All-Photonic Networks (APNs), the project aims to reduce power consumption and improve the […]
FUTURES Stockholm 2025 – Powering Tomorrow with Photonics

FUTURES Stockholm 2025 – Powering Tomorrow with Photonics FUTURES Stockholm 2025 is a half-day conference to envision a photonics-driven future of next-generation communications and infrastructure technology, and how it will impact business strategy and innovation. Presented as a public access session of the IOWN Global Forum Annual Member Meeting, the event is expected to engage […]
The IOWN Global Forum Marks 5th Anniversary with Status Update on Driving Speed-of-light Technologies

London – January 23, 2025
Reference Implementation Model and Proof-of-Concept Reference of Services Infrastructure for Financial Industry Use Case
This document outlines the Reference Implementation Model and PoC Reference for digital infrastructure aimed at financial service providers. It details the abstract system architecture for two use cases from the “Service Infrastructure for Financial Industry Use Case” document. The Reference Implementation Model and its behaviors are illustrated with diagrams. PoC validation and benchmark metrics are […]
IOWN Global Forum Showcases Latest Network Innovation at MWC 2025

Barcelona – February 13, 2025
Reference Implementation Model for the Interactive Live Music Entertainment Use Case PoC Report
The Interactive Live Music Use Case faces challenges in reducing motion-to-photon latency and improving computational resource allocation efficiency for simultaneous connections in the metaverse. This PoC-RVD specifically evaluated video transmission, aiming to minimize the latency from audience motion detection to rendered video return for a better user experience. ILM RIM envisions utilizing IOWN Open APN […]
Combine APN with “Optical Duplexer” PoC
This document is a report on the results of single-fiber bidirectional access architecture using “Optical Duplexer” PoC listed in the PoC reference document “PoC Reference of Mobile Fronthaul over APN v2.0” with the Benchmark-First process.
Technology Outlook of Information Security
IOWN Security Task Force studies a Multi-Factor Security (MFS) architecture which can combine multiple technologies to achieve end-to-end data protection with post quantum security. MFS could address a wider range of threats including sudden cryptographic compromise and achieve a required security level by the user that cannot be reached with a single method.