The first week of February 2021 was a productive and successful one for members of the IOWN Global Forum as they held the second online Member Meeting since the Forum’s official launch.

With representation from eight different countries, six different time zones, and over thirty member companies, more than 330 individuals from IOWN Global Forum attended this member meeting.

Members had the chance to learn about the Forum’s latest updates since the September 2020 Member Meeting, like the new Use Case Documents, IOWN’s addition to the Board of Directors, and its recent membership class. This member meeting also allowed members to hear progress and plans from the Working Group Chairs and participate in a strategic discussion designed to help guide and align the directions of the IOWN GF activities. Throughout the second online Member Meeting, there was an increase in member engagement and participation during the interactive sessions that contributed to many lively conversations.

IOWN Global Forum President and Chairperson Katsuhiko Kawazoe, Executive Vice President, Head of Research and Development Planning, NTT Corporation, welcomed all members to the four-day event. He expressed his appreciation and gratitude for all of the members’ work that has been done so far and stressed that all members should be willing to share their knowledge of technology and markets so that innovative products and services can be developed and offered.

In addition to Mr. Kawazoe’s opening message, members heard from the Use Case Working Group Chair, Katsutoshi Itoh of Sony Corporation, who provided a status update on each working group’s activities, target milestones, and key achievements.

Director Per Beming, Head of Standard and Industry Initiatives at Ericsson, delivered the keynote presentation, titled “The Network of the Future.” Mr. Beming discussed his view of the network’s future and the role IOWN will play in it. He emphasized that a network evolution journey will take us to that future, where society will enjoy the benefits that new technologies will bring.

As IOWN Global Forum continues to grow and welcome new members, the ‘New Company Introductions’ session was an excellent way to close out the first day of this week-long event. Ten new member companies introduced themselves by sharing a brief overview of their company, recognizing their team representatives, and explaining how they plan to engage with IOWN Global Forum. Despite these unprecedented times, IOWN GF now has 39 members!

On the second and third day, members participated in working sessions led by Katsutoshi Itoh, Use Case Working Group Chair, Sony Corporation, and Masahisa Kawashima, Technology Working Group Chair, NTT, on specific topics involving the work in progress.

Day 4 started with two member company presentations, each followed by an interactive strategic discussion moderated by Marketing Steering Committee Vice-Chair, Gonzalo Camarillo of Ericsson. Members first heard from Takumo Yamada, Deloitte, on “The strategic marketing approach to standardize IOWN in a global society: SDGs perspectives,” and then heard Maik Seewald of Cisco present on “TSN and related Profiles for Industrial Use Cases.”

In closing, the Working Group Chairs held a Working Group wrap-up session, followed by Mr. Geng Wu, Intel Fellow and Chief Technologist for Intel Wireless Technologies & Standards, Intel and IOWN Global Forum Treasurer, sharing closing remarks.

A few inspiring words from Mr. Geng Wu:

“We are forming an outstanding community, with a common goal and interest to advance the technologies for the future generation innovative optical and wireless network. We have a lot of work in front of us. I look forward to seeing you all in the near future. In the meantime, let’s keep up the great work, collaborate with each other remotely, and stay safe. Thank you all!”

All presentations from the Member Meeting are now available, to all IOWN Global Forum members, via the Member Platform. If you are interested in becoming a member, learn how to join today. We thank you all for your support and involvement in making this Member Meeting such a success, and we look forward to many more member meetings in the future.