IOWN: Innovating for a sustainable future

Today, most of our devices and technologies use electronics to process and transmit information. Wired, wireless, fiber optics, LTE and 5G networks all do what we need – for now.

But, when it comes to tomorrow’s enterprise and consumer innovations, those networking options have some serious limitations. What’s needed is an energy-efficient network that can drive both economic growth and zero environmental harm. That is where Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) comes in.

IOWN will use optical technologies to transform electronic connections into photonic connections, increasing transmission speeds and improving responsiveness while consuming extremely low levels of power.

What is IOWN?

IOWN is a communication infrastructure that uses optical and photonic technologies to deliver ultra-high-capacity, ultra-low-latency and ultra-low-power communications.

The IOWN concept aims to transform existing information and communication systems into a new infrastructure that goes beyond the limitations of current technology.

It connects vast amounts of data generated from people, devices, sensors and the digital world, processing it all in real-time through faster, larger-scale technologies as well as enormous computing resources.

IOWN is composed of three foundational technologies:

• An All-Photonics Network that introduces photonics-based technology to the network and computing infrastructure. Photonics is used for transmission and can be applied to computing on devices and servers to efficiently send data between chips within and between cores within chips. Photonics cuts the need for electronic signals by relying on light for lower power and latency, creating environmentally friendly, sustainable benefits and more ubiquitous access.
• Digital Twin Computing, which enables predictions for the future by combining the real and digital worlds to create a new era of service applications.
• The Cognitive Foundation,® which connects, manages and controls data.

What are the advantages of IOWN?

IOWN offers a blueprint for a more sustainable future. Relying on our current technology to handle tomorrow’s increased data volume driven by the growth of AI would consume enormous amounts of electricity. After all, trends show that power consumption for IT-related demands worldwide could increase five thousand-fold by 2030.

The manufacturing of small mechanical, optical and electronic components and devices that enable faster communications and information processing speeds has typically driven higher power consumption levels.

IOWN offers a way to reverse these trends by shifting network components from electronics to photonics. This can allow for enormous computing resources, making it possible to utilize all kinds of information beyond the limits of conventional infrastructure. And, because it is based on global, open architecture optical transport, IOWN enables equity and access to a new, energy-efficient digital society for all.

IOWN promises a range of services based on low-latency, high-capacity, high-precision time synchronization and multipoint multicasting, physically and functionally merging mobile and fixed networks and a completely new data-centric computing infrastructure that will replace the IP-centric infrastructure of the past.

We expect IOWN technologies to create a new world that can improve individual wellbeing and bring us closer to zero environmental impact.

Partnership and collaboration will drive IOWN’s impact

The best kind of change happens when people and businesses work together across disciplines to tackle issues and chart a better future. The vision of IOWN requires a cooperative and collaborative approach from numerous invested partners and stakeholders beyond the technology industry.

That’s why NTT is working with more than 100 partners through the IOWN Global Forum to accelerate this truly transformational concept that will help build the communications and computing infrastructure of the future – the next internet.

Read more about IOWN.