News Releases 2021
Mar. 04, 2021
JGC joins the IOWN Global Forum, which is Aiming to Realize Next-Generation Communications Infrastructure
Yokohama, Japan - JGC HOLDINGS CORPORATION announced today that JGC JAPAN CORPORATION, which operates the domestic engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) business of the JGC Group, recently joined the IOWN Global Forum (hereinafter: the IOWN GF), which promotes the IOWN* (Innovative Optical and Wireless Network) next-generation communications infrastructure concept.
IOWN GF is a non-profit international organization that was set up in January 2020 by founding members NTT Corporation (NTT), Intel Corporation and Sony Corporation, in order to promote the implementation in society of IOWN next-generation communications infrastructure, which will utilize cutting-edge optical technologies. The IOWN GF is inviting companies and organizations in regions worldwide that are representatives of their industries to participate as sponsor members (39 companies and organizations had joined as of January 2021). Going forward it plans to engage in building the IOWN concept and carrying out technology standardization in partnership with the sponsor members, with the aim of realizing IOWN by 2030.
As the first engineering contractor to join the IOWN GF, JGC JAPAN Corporation is providing the technologies, knowledge and expertise that it has cultivated as an engineering company, toward realizing the IOWN concept. Furthermore, by realizing the IOWN concept and making it possible to process vast amounts of information instantaneously and transmit it at high speeds, JGC JAPAN Corporation plans not only to utilize IOWN in the engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance work and project management systems for plants, it also aims to contribute to developing safe and efficient energy and social infrastructure.
* IOWN: IOWN will be the foundation for future communication networks that utilize the most advanced optical and information processing technologies to realize a better, smarter and more sustainable world. Accompanying the acceleration in computerization in recent years, improving the processing capacity and transmission capacity of communications systems in order to cope with the constantly increasing quantity of data worldwide, and furthermore holding down the power consumption required to process that information, have emerged as challenges. Employing photons in place of electrons in communications infrastructure will make it possible to overcome processing capacity and transmission capacity limits by enabling high-capacity, low-latency communication, and will also make it possible to lower the required power consumption by around 100 times compared to the current level. By overcoming technology constraints, IOWN aims to realize the ultimate in safety and security, support sustainable, environmentally-friendly growth creating a richer, more advanced society for all.
(Detailed information is available on this website: https://www.rd.ntt/iown/)