iPOP 2016, marks the 12th anniversary of this conference! This annual International event which has been sponsored by Photonic Internet Labs (PIL) and ISOCORE since its inception, takes place June 15-17, 2016, in the beautiful Hiyoshi Campus of Keio University, in Kanagawa, Japan. We are also accommodating IEEE HPSR 2016 conference independently at the same campus.

This year we are augmenting the existing central theme of the conference, optical transport networks to include topics such as SDN and NFV while still keeping the focus on reliable, manageable, flexible and cost effective carrier and/or service provider networks. The aim is to have presentations on the topics related to SDN for Carrier networks. This is very much different from the private data center networks, as high reliability, monitoring capability for their operation will be required. To emphasize, we will also have an interoperability demonstration on this topic.

The technical program committee has put together an exciting program consisting of technical sessions with emphasis on presentations on ASON (Automatically Switched Optical Network), WSON (Wavelength Switched Optical Network), PCE (Path Computation Element) and its applications, and Packet Transport over Optical. In addition, there will be technology showcases and other demonstrations in the booths.

We hope that you would be able to join us at iPOP 2016 and benefit from the presentations and technical discussions! We look forward to your participation and support to make the event a great success.