President Jun Sawada explains the IOWN concept at the NTTR&D Forum.

Jun Sawada, president of NTT, announced on April 13 that 65 companies are considering joining the "IOWN Global Forum" to be established with Intel and Sony in the spring of 2020. In addition to Microsoft, 55 of the companies are overseas, including Orange (France), Verizon (US), and China Telecom (Taiwan). Many global companies that support the IOWN concept of rapid processing of huge amounts of data by using light from communication networks to terminals are expected to join the list when it is established. In a speech in Tokyo on the same day, Sawada explained the reason why he proposed the IOWN concept. IOWN, which aims to be commercially available in 30 years, uses photons rather than electrons to transmit information between chips and cores within chips, making everything from networks to terminals optical, and realizing information processing capabilities that far exceed the limits of electrical control. Photo taken on November 13, 2019, credit: Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun / Kyodo News Images