As the IOWN Global Forum enters its next phase, it's preparing for a future beyond the original goals of low power consumption, high capacity, and low latency. In Stockholm earlier this year, Dr. Katsuhiko Kawazoe, President of the Forum and CTO of NTT Corporation, laid out a new direction.

"Now I'd like to unveil the fourth pillar of IOWN towards the year 2030. It's Beyond Digital. It understands time with an ultimate, precise clock and transcends digital by quantum technology with AI."

Beyond Digital and the World Model

The concept of Beyond Digital is based on biology and philosophy, as well as engineering, and builds on the work of German biologist Jakob von Uexküll, who proposed that all organisms perceive the world differently depending on their sensory capabilities. Dr. Kawazoe drew on this idea to introduce the IOWN concept of the "World Model," which recognizes that a bee, a dolphin, and a human each inhabit a different perceptual world, and that technology should begin to reflect that diversity.

Time: A Central Axis of Progress

Where digital systems process and transmit information through discrete states, IOWN's future sees time itself as a central axis of progress. Time, measured and synchronized with extraordinary accuracy, could help model phenomena with new levels of detail, from viral mutations such as SARS-CoV-2 to shifts in the Earth's crust.

Optical Lattice Clocks

NTT's research into optical lattice clocks gives some practical insight into what this might involve. Able to measure time so precisely that they would drift by only one second over 30 billion years, the way they can detect tiny differences in gravitational potential makes them useful as sensors for geodesy, disaster prevention, and environmental monitoring. Time synchronization using such clocks could support ultra-reliable applications such as telesurgery, collaborative AI, and autonomous driving, where even millisecond discrepancies matter. Our current systems rely on GPS or quartz clocks, which have limits. Once we have a more precise time clock, we then have the potential to understand the world better.

Synchronized Society

Imagine a future where AIs work in teams, exchanging ideas with precise timing. For this to work, time will have to be synchronized across all systems; a conversation where responses are even slightly mistimed quickly falls apart, whether among humans or machines. Future AI collaboration, especially in environments driven by real-time feedback, depends on synchronization at a foundational level.

The Identity of IOWN

This vision of time can also be seen in the recently published The Identity of IOWN: A Sustainable Future Powered by IOWN, co-authored by Akira Shimada, President and CEO of NTT Corporation, and Dr. Kawazoe. The book outlines how the initiative will evolve over the coming decades and describes the social and technical ideas that define its future direction.

International Cooperation

Whatever form Beyond Digital takes, what is certain is that the IOWN Global Forum's success will depend on the structures, partnerships, and international collaboration that support its work. That's why its partnerships with organizations such as the Linux Foundation, OpenROADM, TIP, and the Optical Internet working Forum are so important. Shared infrastructure and interoperability will be essential to scale. As Gonzalo Camarillo of Ericsson, Chair of the IOWN Global Forum Marketing Steering Committee, explained in Stockholm, "We need players from all around the world... this is not about one country or even one region."

An Influence for Good

The Forum will continue to engage governments and global institutions. At the Stockholm event, Håkan Jevrell, State Secretary to Sweden's Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, observed, "The era of the next generation of digitalization of our societies and the implementation of AI will have a profound impact on our societies." He stressed the importance of international cooperation to ensure global competitiveness, noting that "connectivity will continue to be crucial to make our future industries competitive."

The future of the IOWN Global Forum will lie in its effectiveness at working both with fellow members and with governments and supranational organizations. Just as DIGITALEUROPE contributed to the EU's Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts, and the European Round Table for Industry influenced EU single market policy, the Forum aims to play a role in shaping future technical standards and communication infrastructure.

IOWN offers a framework for computing and connectivity that reflects the way we experience life, the complexity of global infrastructure, and the priorities of governments, industries, and research institutions.

Let's leave the final word with Dr. Kawazoe.

"What we aim to realize is creating a natural, planet-friendly world."

Unlimited Innovation for a Global Sustainable Society by IOWN

Daniel O'Connor

Daniel O'Connor joined the NTT Group in 1999 when he began work as the Public Relations Manager of NTT Europe. While in London, he liaised with the local press, created the company's intranet site, wrote technical copy for industry magazines and managed exhibition stands from initial design to finished displays.

Later seconded to the headquarters of NTT Communications in Tokyo, he contributed to the company's first-ever winning of global telecoms awards and the digitalisation of internal company information exchange.

Since 2015 Daniel has created content for the Group's Global Leadership Institute, the One NTT Network and is currently working with NTT R&D teams to grow public understanding of the cutting-edge research undertaken by the NTT Group.