IOWN
Dissemination Activities

Dissemination Activities

IOWN Global Forum

The IOWN Global Forum is an international organization established to realize the IOWN concept.

To realize the lofty goals of IOWN, it is necessary to unite the world's forces. Collaboration is required at various levels, including technology, products, services, information, and rules.

Companies and organizations participating in the IOWN Global Forum are not limited to ICT providers. Many user companies and organizations participate in discussions on specific use cases for IOWN. The unique feature of this project is that it examines the state of technology by delving into the thoughts of each company.

IOWN Global Forum

Collaboration with international standardization organizations

For international information and communications services to be viable, component devices must be interconnected internationally and operate as designed. Arrangements for interfaces between devices, networks, and network operators are essential. International standardization bodies establish this agreement across countries.

In particular, to spread IOWN technology throughout the world, whether in developing or developed countries, it is important to cooperate with the de jure*1 standardization organization, which influences regulations in each country, especially ITU-T*2, which is a de jure standardization organization in the telecommunications field.

At the CxO Roundtable hosted by the Director of ITU-T in December 2023, NTT proposed the importance of securing IOWN's international connectivity and establishing de jure standards for global expansion, including in developing countries. This proposal was approved by CxO and ITU-T executives from all over the world who attended the meeting, and the IOWN Global Forum and ITU agreed to strengthen their relations. In the future, it will be important to strengthen cooperation with international standardization organizations, especially ITU-T, to disseminate IOWN.

*1 De jule
There are three broad categories of standards organizations (Figure 1).
De jure standards organizations: Standards created through official, written procedures that are in force worldwide. According to the WTO agreement, only three organizations are in this category: ITU, IEC, and ISO.
Regional and National Standards Bodies: Public standards bodies that establish standards that apply only within specific regions or countries. Representative examples are the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the Asia-Pacific Telecommunication Community (APT). Standardization bodies in Japan include the Committee on Information and Communications Technology (TTC) and the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB).
Forum Organization: A standard created by a forum formed by companies interested in a specific field. Although its effect is limited to the members of the forum, the limited number of participants makes it possible to establish a standard with appropriate granularity sooner. Typical examples include the Third Generation Partnership Project (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and the IEEE.

*2 ITU-T
ITU (International Telecommunication Union) is one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations and is a de jure*1 standardization organization. It is one of the few international standardization organizations in which states are members, and currently has more than 190 member nations (companies and academic institutions can also join in addition to nations). ITU-T is the telecommunications standardization arm of ITU and plays a very important role in international standardization in the field of telecommunications. Typical international standards established by ITU-T include E. 164, which specifies international telephone numbers, and H. 264, which specifies video compression methods. Seizo Onoe, former Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of NTT DOCOMO and Chief Standardization Strategy Officer (CSSO) of the holding company, is currently serving as ITU-T Director (the first ITU-T Director from Japan).