PRESS RELEASE

06 December 2011

Contact:
Lyndsay Meyer OFC/NFOEC +1.202.416.1435 lmeyer@osa.org

OFC/NFOEC 2012 Plenary Session to Feature Japanese Government Official's Perspective on Telecom Net

Japan's Isao Sugino to address earthquake and tsunami's impact on telecommunications industry

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6—Isao Sugino, director of the Research and Development Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) in Japan, will give a keynote presentation at the plenary session of the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC), taking place in Los Angeles March 4–8, 2012. Sugino will speak on the topic "Disaster Recovery and the R&D Policy in Japan's Telecommunication Networks," on Tuesday, March 6, 2012.

In his presentation, Sugino will reflect on the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that largely impacted telecommunications networks in Japan. In addition to addressing the strategies utilized to promptly restore these networks, Sugino will also focus on future plans and R&D policy for the country to consider when developing a dependable network infrastructure in the future.

"Isao's keynote address will be a timely and relevant addition to the OFC/NFOEC 2012 plenary session, which takes place one year after the devastating disasters that hit Japan in March," said conference co-chair Scott Hamilton of MIT Lincoln Lab. "Within the framework of disaster recovery, the unique experiences and strategies that are underway in Japan will provide OFC/NFOEC attendees with exclusive insights into network recovery, restoration and rebuilding. Isao's firsthand experience and role with Japan's MIC will offer a fresh perspective into the future of telecommunications and the importance of providing protection to such a vital industry."

Sugino has been involved for 20 years in Japan's government administration related to ICT and telecommunications, including radio frequency management, radio licensing, business/technical regulations, and numbering plans. From 2001 to 2004, he performed diplomatic services as the first secretary of the Embassy of Japan in London, and engaged in various negotiations on ICT issues between Japan and the UK. He was also the deputy head of the Japanese delegation for both the Radiocommunication Assembly in 2007 (RA-07) and the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly in 2008 (WTSA-08) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). In 2009, he joined the Kyushu Institute of Technology (Kyutech), Japan, as professor at the Network Design Research Center and conducted research on policy analyses and technology management in the areas of ICT/telecommunications and new generation network architecture. In August 2011, Sugino was appointed to his current position in the MIC, where he is responsible for the planning and management of various national R&D projects in ICT fields. Sugino holds a B. Eng. and M. Eng. respectively from Waseda University, Japan, as well as an M.S. in technology and policy from MIT.

Sugino will also be joined by plenary session keynote speakers Milo Medin, Google's vice president of access networks, and Greg Papadopoulos, New Enterprise Associates venture partner and former Sun Microsystems CTO. More information on the plenary session is available on the OFC/NFOEC website.

EDITOR'S NOTE: High-resolution images of Sugino, Papadopoulos and Medin are available to members of the media upon request. Contact Angela Stark, astark@osa.org.

About OFC/NFOEC

For more than 35 years, the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exposition/ National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC) has been the premier destination for converging breakthrough research and innovation in telecommunications, optical networking and, recently, datacom and computing. Uniting service providers, systems companies, enterprise customers, IT businesses and component manufacturers, along with researchers, engineers and development teams, OFC/NFOEC combines dynamic business programming, an exposition of more than 500 companies and cutting-edge peer-reviewed research into one event that showcases the trends and pulse of the entire optical communications industry.

OFC/NFOEC is managed by the Optical Society (OSA) and co-sponsored by OSA, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers/Communications Society (IEEE/ComSoc) and the IEEE Photonics Society. Acting as a non-financial technical co-sponsor is Telcordia Technologies, Inc. Visit www.ofcnfoec.org.