Executive Summary
On 8-11 October 2024, the IOWN Global Forum hosted its 7th Member Meeting in Taipei, Taiwan. As part of the Member Meeting, the second public-facing FUTURES event was held on 9 October, with an impressive turnout of in-person and online participants ready to learn more about the Forum’s groundbreaking work. Throughout the week, almost 500 people from 135+ organizations participated in rich discussions and collaboration throughout the meeting to work towards the Forum’s Vision 2030.
Opening Message and Keynotes
The IOWN Global Forum President and Chairperson, Dr. Katsuhiko Kawazoe, welcomed members and thanked them for their efforts towards the achievements of the Forum. He noted recent achievements such as Forum members sponsoring the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the world’s first IOWN International APN (All-Photonic Network) connecting Taiwan and Japan based on the Open APN architecture.
Yennun Huang, Minister of Digital Affairs of Taiwan, gave a visionary and well-received introductory speech, discussing the importance of the digital revolution that IOWN technology is a part of.
Attendees heard two keynotes from Chunghwa Telecom and Google. Dr. Rong-Ruey Lee, Vice President, Telecommunication Laboratories at Chunghwa Telecom, gave the keynote “Collaborations and Activities Towards IOWN’s Visions” which updated attendees on his company’s support of the Forum’s goals. Nikhil Kelshikar, Director, Product Management at Google Cloud, presented “Building a Highway to Google Cloud with IOWN,” which outlined how Google Cloud can benefit when powered by IOWN technologies.
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The IOWN Global Forum PoC of the Year Award
The IOWN Global Forum Board of Directors introduced the Proof of Concept (PoC) of the Year award to recognize the Recognized PoC that best demonstrated the viability, value, and performance of IOWN-based technologies in building a connected and sustainable world. The 2024 winner, NTT’s APN Proof of Concept (PoC) Project, was announced during the Opening Plenary.
Member Presentations
Three member presentations from GeNopsys Technologies, Infinera, and SK Telecom were given during the meeting.
During the opening plenary, attendees heard from Dr. Takki Yu, VP and Head of ICT Infra Tech Group at SK Telecom, when he shared “The Path to AI Telco Infra Evolution as Future Architecture,” which discussed how AI aligns with the Forum’s vision. On the final day, attendees heard two member presentations. Maria Yueng, CEO of GeNopsys Technologies, presented “Empowering AI with All-Optical-Switching Scale-Out Network Technology,” which focused on the possible benefits of the technology for AI. Next, attendees listened to Dr. David Hillerkuss, Director of Open XR Optics Forum at Infinera, who presented “Ensuring Openness in All-Photonic Network (APN) Control and Operation,” which explained the importance of decoupling of disaggregated functions in APN.
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Discussions and Workshops
Throughout the meeting, various member discussions and workshops for Steering Committees, Working Groups and Task Forces were held to accelerate important decisions and discussions. Those in person were also able to attend multiple networking opportunities to connect with fellow IOWN Global Forum members. On the final day, a recap session was held to summarize each group’s discussions from the event.
FUTURES Taipei
On 9 October, the Forum held its FUTURES Taipei event to envision a photonics-driven future of next-generation communications and infrastructure technology for those outside the Forum. The purpose of FUTURES is to expose interested technology minds to the work of the Forum, offer an opportunity for media and analysts to hear first-hand from the Forum what is being worked on, and to build its membership across the world.
The event welcomed over 450 in-person and 70 online participants to listen to presentations and view member exhibits on IOWN technology about how it will impact business strategy and innovation. Among other presentations, a panel with speakers from companies including MUFG Bank, NetApp, Sony and TBS Television discussed the needs of the different use cases recently published by the Forum and the technology readiness of IOWN technologies to meet these needs.
With FUTURES Taipei concluding as a resounding success, the Forum has begun planning its next public event: FUTURES Stockholm in April 2025.
The full event recording can be found on the Forum’s YouTube channel.
Exhibits
As part of FUTURES and throughout the meeting, 13 member companies exhibited live demos and informational exhibits. IOWN technologies such as All-Photonic Network (APN), Data Centric Infrastructure (DCI), IOWN for Mobile Networks, Fiber Optic Sensing for Remote Fiber Test and Monitoring, and more, were showcased. Full details of each exhibit are available in the provided Exhibitor Guide.
Closing Remarks
The last day of the meeting included a closing message from the IOWN Global Forum Marketing Steering Committee Chair, Dr. Gonzalo Camarillo, Head of Implementation Components at Ericsson, who noted his excitement for the future of the Forum and its technology and expressed his gratitude to the attendees and participants. He concluded his message with an announcement of the upcoming Annual Member Meeting in Stockholm, Sweden, from 21-25 April 2025.
We would like to thank all participants, in-person and online, for their support and involvement in making this Member Meeting a success. We would also like to thank our sponsors, Chunghwa Telecom, Fujitsu, the Cloud Computing and IOT Association in Taiwan, and the Industrial Technology Research Institute for their support. We look forward to future Member Meetings with IOWN Global Forum members.
Many presentations, photos, and recordings from the 7th Member Meeting are available to IOWN Global Forum members via the Member Platform. If you are interested in becoming a member, learn how to join today.
