Building Europe’s AI Infrastructure: Data Centers, Optical Networks, and the Next Connectivity Model
Date: October 1, 2026 | Amsterdam, Netherlands
An invitation-only executive discussion hosted by the IOWN Global Forum
Europe’s rapidly expanding AI ambitions are creating new demands on data centers, energy systems, networks, and the infrastructure connecting them. Meeting those demands will require more than incremental improvements—it will require new approaches to how infrastructure is designed, deployed, and scaled.
The FUTURES Executive Roundtable will bring together a select group of senior leaders from across the AI, data center, telecommunications, technology, government, and infrastructure communities for a candid discussion about what comes next.
This closed-door session is designed to encourage open dialogue among participants—not presentations or sales pitches. Together, participants will examine the challenges shaping Europe’s AI infrastructure and explore where greater industry collaboration may help accelerate practical solutions.
The Discussion
The conversation will explore questions such as:
- How will AI growth change data center and connectivity requirements across Europe?
- What infrastructure, energy, capacity, and scalability constraints are organizations encountering?
- How are data sovereignty and regulatory considerations influencing investment and architecture decisions?
- Where do today’s network models fall short?
- What role could next-generation optical networking play in improving performance, flexibility, efficiency, and resilience?
- Where could collaboration across industries help move promising approaches toward implementation?
The discussion will be informed by perspectives shared during the FUTURES public program and facilitated by independent industry analyst Ian Redpath.
Who Is Being Invited
Participation is being curated to bring together senior decision-makers and subject-matter leaders representing organizations involved in:
- AI and high-performance computing
- Data center development and operations
- Telecommunications and optical networking
- Cloud and digital infrastructure
- Energy and sustainability
- Public policy and digital sovereignty
- Technology development and implementation
- Industry and cross-sector collaboration
Invited Organizations
Leaders from the following organizations have been invited or are under consideration for participation:
ASML, Colt Technology Services, Deutsche Telekom, Equinix, KPN, Orange, OVHcloud, Prysmian, SURF, and others.
Organizations listed on this page have been invited to participate or identified as prospective participants. Their inclusion does not indicate confirmed attendance. The participant list will continue to evolve as invitations are accepted.
What Participants Can Expect
The Executive Roundtable will be:
Focused: Centered on the real infrastructure challenges affecting AI and data center growth in Europe.
Interactive: Designed for discussion and the exchange of perspectives rather than formal presentations.
Cross-industry: Bringing together voices that do not often have the opportunity to address these issues in the same room.
Confidential: Conducted as a closed-door discussion to support candid participation. Comments will not be attributed externally without permission.
Forward-looking: Focused on emerging requirements, potential solutions, and opportunities for meaningful collaboration.
About IOWN Global Forum
IOWN Global Forum is a global, member-driven organization working to advance a new communications infrastructure capable of supporting the growing performance, efficiency, and sustainability requirements of a data-intensive world.
Through collaboration among organizations across the technology ecosystem, the Forum develops technical frameworks, reference models, use cases, proofs of concept, and other practical work intended to accelerate the development and adoption of next-generation networks and computing infrastructure.
Participation
Participation in the FUTURES Executive Roundtable is by invitation and subject to space availability.
If you have received an invitation and would like to participate, please respond using the information provided in your invitation or contact:
Barbara Soifer
Director, IOWN Global Forum Marketing | Virtual, Inc.
[email protected]
