11 Mar 2027
12:00 - 13:00
Expo Theater II
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has established a new strategic framework – International Optical Networks towards 2030 and Beyond (ION-2030) – to guide the evolution of global optical connectivity in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). ION-2030 sets out a strategic vision for how optical networks should evolve to meet the demands of AI, data centers, broadband access, home networking, and 6G mobile networks (IMT-2030). The framework emphasizes the mutual empowerment of AI and optical networking, positioning both as drivers of the next wave of digital transformation for ubiquitous intelligence. In parallel, ETSI is studying new use cases and requirements of the sixth-generation fixed network (F6G), which builds upon the foundation of F5G-Advanced and is in alignment with the vision of ION-2030.
This Session aims to bring together experts at OFC 2027 to inform and discuss new advances in ION-2030. Among the topics to be discussed are:
- How optical networks are evolving from traditional high-capacity transport infrastructures into intelligent, programmable platforms designed to support large-scale AI training and inference workloads.
- How optical networks are becoming an integral part of the AI compute infrastructures by serving as the express computing interconnects in scale-up, scale-out, and scale-across scenarios.
- How photonics, coherent optics, embedded intelligence, and AI-driven control will shape future optical networks under the ION-2030 vision.
- How SDOs such as ITU-T SG15, ETSI, IEEE, OIF, and related organizations are cooperating to achieve interoperable AI-era optical infrastructures through initiatives such as ION-2030 and F6G.
