The IOWN Global Forum demonstrated why next-generation photonics networks are central to meeting ever-evolving AI demands

At OFC 2026, the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network Global Forum (IOWN Global Forum), comprised of over 180 member organizations, highlighted its vision for the future of open AI networking through an interactive booth and dedicated panel session. These platforms enabled the Forum to demonstrate the power of interoperable technologies and engage industry leaders on how collaboration can accelerate the development of open ecosystems and drive innovation in AI cluster networking.

At its booth, the IOWN Global Forum featured a multi-domain, multi-vendor demonstration that illustrated the real-world potential of open, interoperable photonics networking. The live demonstration showcased optical peering based on an Open All-Photonics Network (Open APN), highlighting how this collaborative approach enables scalable AI workloads. With ever-evolving AI solutions placing unprecedented demands on global networks, the Forum explained why APNs will be crucial for delivering the ultra-high bandwidth, ultra-low latency, and energy-efficient performance AI requires.

The Forum also hosted a panel session: “IOWN Global Forum’s Vision for Future AI Networking: What Industry Collaboration is Needed for Scalable AI Cluster Networks?”. Moderated by Masahisa Kawashima, IOWN Technology Director at NTT and Chair of the IOWN Global Forum Technology Working Group, the panel brought together leaders from the Open Compute Project’s (OCP) Optical Circuit Switch Subproject, the Forum’s AI Interconnect Work Item, and the compute systems industry.

The discussion explored the opportunities and challenges in accelerating computing infrastructure through emerging optical technologies, including co-packaged optics and optical circuit switches. The panelists agreed the OCP and the IOWN Global Forum would effectively complement each other. In particular, OCP leaders expressed expectations that the Forum would drive use case development and proof-of-concept (PoC) activities for optically accelerated computing infrastructure, leveraging the common data models and control interfaces defined by the OCP Optical Circuit Switch (OCS) subproject.

Dr. Katsuhiko Kawazoe, President and Chairperson of the IOWN Global Forum, said: “OFC 2026 provided an important opportunity to demonstrate the progress the IOWN Global Forum is making in shaping the future of AI networking. The strong engagement we achieved at the conference reflects a growing industry consensus on the need for open, collaborative approaches to meet the demands of AI-driven infrastructure. As we move from proofs of concept to real-world deployment, our continued focus is helping to validate and operationalize the All-Photonics Network to enable scalable, high-performance AI cluster networks.”

About the IOWN Global Forum

The IOWN Global Forum was established in 2020 as a private sector organization to develop IOWN Global Forum technologies and use cases, and is comprised of over 180 organizations. The objective of the IOWN Global Forum is to accelerate innovation and adoption of a new communication infrastructure to meet our future data and computing requirements through the development of new technologies, frameworks, specifications, and reference designs in areas such as photonics R&D, distributed computing, use cases, and best practices. For more information, visit Home - IOWN Global Forum.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260401978322/en/

Media Contacts
Joe Hatt
IOWN Global Forum
press@iowngf.org

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