Welcome RemarksDear colleagues, presenters, and supporters of the iPOP Conference, This year marks the 22nd anniversary of the iPOP International Conference, which was founded and is sponsored by Photonic Internet Labs (PIL) and ISOCORE. Since its inception, the conference has enjoyed strong attendance and has fostered a diverse and engaged community of participants. This year, iPOP 2026, planned as a fully in-person conference, will be held with showcases and exhibitions on July 30–31, 2026, at Keio University's Yagami Campus in Yokohama, Japan. As you may know, the Yagami Campus is located just 30 minutes from central Tokyo and is conveniently accessible for all attendees. For this year's event, we are expanding the conference's central theme to include forward-looking All-Photonic Networks (APN), which are expected to support smart cities, including AI-centric services. In the era of 6G networks, not only massive bandwidth but also ultra-low latency and energy-efficient (green) technologies are essential. To address these challenges, organizations such as NTT, Intel, and Sony are promoting the IOWN concept, and some of these technologies have already been commercialized. However, further breakthroughs are still required. In addition, the conference will cover network technologies that enable flexible services, such as software-based networks and fully programmable networks, with a focus on reliability, manageability, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness for carriers, service providers, and data centers. Mobile access network integration, including 5G, also remains a key topic. AI and data analytics are expected to support reliable and highly efficient network operations. All-photonic networks that connect distributed data centers and edge devices are becoming increasingly important for AI-driven applications. By linking high-performance computing resources with AI, these networks are expected to create a new paradigm. The concept of "physical AI" is also becoming more realistic. This year's iPOP conference venue is particularly significant, as Keio University is an academic member of the IOWN Global Forum, placing the conference at the heart of IOWN-related research and development. The iPOP conference—"Intelligent and Processing over Optical Networks"—aims to serve as a platform for advancing AI-enabled, all-optical network technologies, which are central to the future of IOWN and 6G. We hope you will be able to join us in person at iPOP 2026 and share your work through presentations. We look forward to your participation and support in making this event a great success.
May, 2026 |