What to expect from NTT R&D Forum 2025
NTT R&D Forum 2025 is staged at Tokyo’s Musashino R&D Center this November… and the Computer Weekly Developer Network team is ready to attend, read, listen and report… so what can we expect?
The organisation will once again showcase its work in IOWN.
Simpler than it sounds, IOWN Innovative Optical Wireless Network (often pronounced aye-own) is a networking concept designed to help create products across a wide range of areas from networks to AI, making it (so claims NTT) really “indispensable” for realising a sustainable future society.
IOWN is a vision built to enable high-speed, large-capacity, low-power communication and information processing infrastructures.
Event keynotes at NTT R&D forum will once again be presented by president and CEO of NTT, Akira Shimada. He will be joined by Shingo Kinoshita, senior vice president of NTT and Kazuhiro (Kazu) Gomi, president and CEO of NTT Research.
Themed around the notion of “Quantum Leap” this year, the event is said to offer attendees “a deep dive” into the future of technology, particularly at the intersection point of IOWN, AI and quantum computing.
Quantum Industrialisation
NTT promises to explain what it means by “Quantum Industrialisation in Focus” today. This comes to the fore now, especially because 2025 was marked by the Japanese government as the first year official year of quantum industrialisation. This means that NTT will put a significant emphasis on the practical applications that surface in this space and how the company itself is working to accelerate the development of quantum technologies.
This element is (almost certainly) a development that aligns with the United Nations General Assembly having declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ). Why this year? Because it marks 100 years since Heisenberg, Born and Jordan developed matrix mechanics and Schrödinger formulated wave mechanics.
According to quantum.gov, “Quantum mechanics is the science of atoms and particles–the building blocks of the world around us. Using quantum mechanics, scientists and engineers have created revolutionary technologies [such as] semiconductor chips, LASERS, LED lights and LED monitors. The Global Position System (GPS) that helps us navigate the world relies on the quantum mechanics of ultra-precise atomic clocks. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners in hospitals use quantum mechanics. Future technologies such as quantum computers, quantum sensors and quantum communication devices may offer new and disruptive applications as well.”
Back at NTT R&D Forum, attendees can expect to gain a clearer understanding of how quantum computing is moving onward from theoretical concept stages to more tangible, practical, applied software systems solutions today.
IOWN 2.0 & enhanced AI
Talking about the need to showcase the latest advancements in IOWN itself, the company will have a specific focus on IOWN 2.0 optical computing. While IOWN 1.0 focused on the launch of the IOWN All-Photonics Network, IOWN 2.0 – formally launched in 2024 – focuses on the development of board-to-board photonics for devices within datacentre racks.
In the future, IOWN 3.0 (slated for the end of the decade) will see a focus on package-to-package photonics, and IOWN 4.0 (slated for the early 2030s) will see the launch of intra-chip, or die-to-die photonics. In this way, IOWN is evolving.
Also on display will be NTT’s work to create its own proprietary generative AI (which has been around for almost two years now since it was announced at R&D Forum 2023) known as “tsuzumi” – a name drawn from a traditional Japanese drum.
At the show, tsuzumi will be presented in an enhanced version, “tsuzumi 2.” NTT will talk about its current (and future) capabilities and its potential for impact across various sectors. We also know that tsuzumi 2 is set for launch in October.
Exhibition expositions
Always an open and free-form exhibition area, NTT R&D Forum will use the whole Musashino R&D Center to showcase working functioning examples of its technology in a variety of industry deployments.
The spectrum of categories on show includes generative AI, IOWN (with an emphasis on being able to witness the evolution of optical and wireless network infrastructures) and quantum.
NTT will also focus on sustainability so that attendees can learn about technological solutions addressing environmental challenges. Mobility will also feature, showcasing the company’s work in shaping the future of transportation. Also here we will find network security (protecting digital ecosystems), aerospace and a digital twin experience, which will be presented to show the power of virtual representations for real-world optimisation.
Many exhibits will offer hands-on experiences to allow attendees to get a more practical understanding of these advanced technologies.
“Ultimately, the forum aims to demonstrate how these innovations can drive transformative progress, not just in business, but across society as a whole. Attendees can expect to leave with a comprehensive understanding of how NTT is shaping the future through its pioneering R&D efforts,” said the company, in its pre-show materials.
Attendees will include professionals, researchers and enthusiasts, the latter perhaps showing that NTT is open to democratising access to these technologies.
The tsudzumi (鼓) or tsuzumi is a hand drum of Japanese origin. Free image: Wikipedia.