IOWN Global Forum 6th Member Meeting September 2023 – Highlights
Executive Summary
On September 5-8, 2023, IOWN Global Forum hosted its 6th Member Meeting in Munich, Germany, welcoming nearly 200 registrants from over 45 organizations, and well over an additional 220 online participants from 19 different countries. The meeting fostered significant collaboration with a strong theme of innovation as the Forum prepares to enter its Phase 3.
Opening Message Keynote and Key Values Introduction
IOWN Global Forum Secretary Masayuki Hattori welcomed members to Germany for the 6th Member Meeting, expressed gratitude to the members for their contributions, and made opening remarks. He noted the importance of this being the first meeting held in Europe, as the Forum works to increase worldwide visibility.
On the second day of the meeting, the Forum heard a message to members from IOWN Global Forum President and Chairperson Katsuhiko Kawazoe. Kawazoe welcomed the newest members of the Forum, discussed the exciting time that the Forum is in, and encouraged collaboration among members. Following Kawazoe’s message, IOWN Global Forum Director Tomoyuki Otani gave a keynote message titled “KDDI’s View on All Photonic Networks,” in which he detailed the importance of IOWN technologies such as digital twin and All Photonic Networks (APNs) in creating a better future for all.
Also on the second day, Technology Steering Committee Chair Clara Li introduced the newly published IOWN Global Forum: Key Values and Technology Evolution Roadmap to all members. This Technical Outlook document is complementary to the Vision 2030 whitepaper, articulates the unique characteristics of IOWN Global Forum and sets the technology evolution roadmap for IOWN Networking and IOWN Computing.
Member Presentations
Six Member Presentations from Nokia, Juniper Networks, SK Telecom, and NTT were given over the three Plenary sessions.
Three presentations were given on day one. Giovanni Manto of Nokia presented “Developing the Connections of Future Optical Networking,” which touched on solutions to demand exceeding optical capacity growth, such as spatial dimension parallelism. Gert Grammel of Juniper Networks shared the presentation “The Open Optical Network Observer,” explaining the concept and how it can create a view of the actual operation of a network to gauge performance. Takki Yu of SK Telecom touched on the outlook for the 6G era and where IOWN technology fits with the presentation “SK Telecom’s Views on 6G & IOWN”.
On day two, Kevin Drury of Nokia Canada presented “Addressing the Need for Quantum Safe Networking,” sharing how quantum computers will threaten cybersecurity and how safeguards must be put into place to protect end user data on present telecom infrastructure.
On day three, NTT’s Yoshihiko Kainuma summarized the Forum’s Open APN exhibition at the Interop Tokyo 2023 event and touched on plans to expand the scope of demonstrations in the coming years. Lastly, Yoshinori Tsuzuki of NTT Comware presented “Implementation Journey of XR Ping Pong on APN,” which was also an exhibition at Interop Tokyo 2023. He discussed the value of using a ping pong demo to demonstrate the APN concept visually.
Discussions, Breakout Sessions, and Workshops
Rich member discussions, workshops, and breakout sessions for Steering Committees, Working Groups, and Task Forces took place during the meeting. Workshops covered a range of topics including Energy Efficiency, Digital Twin, security, Internet of APNs, and DCI Early Capabilities. Those in-person also enjoyed a variety of networking opportunities to connect with fellow IOWN Global Forum members. Before concluding the meeting, a recap session was held to summarize discussion points made during the event.
TUCWG Prepares for Phase 3
The IOWN Global Forum is diligently preparing for the next phase of its roadmap, Phase 3, which began with the Technology and Use Case Working Groups (TUCWG) accepting calls for proposals from members. Seventeen members offered 34 proposals, with a mix of topics including use cases, technology evolutions and IOWN Global Forum’s value proposition. The proposals were summarized on day one during the Opening Plenary for all members, and on day three, the TUCWG met to discuss the proposals and determine the next steps.
Closing Remarks
The last day of the meeting included a closing message from IOWN Global Forum Director Jefferson Wang, who expressed his gratitude to the attendees and their participation and shared his excitement for the Forum’s progress towards a better future.
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 all our sponsors, Fujitsu and NTT, for their support. We look forward to future Member Meetings with IOWN Global Forum members.
Many presentations, photos, and recordings from the 6th Member Meeting are available to IOWN Global Forum members via the Member Portal. If you are interested in becoming a member, learn how to join today.
