5 July 2026
Montreal, Canada
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the IEEE Photonics Society, Montreal Chapter, organized a workshop on
“Photonics for AI Infrastructure” taking place on 5 July 2026 in Montreal, Canada.
This workshop provided a collaborative platform for stakeholders involved in the evolution of AI infrastructure, including scale-up, scale-out, and scale-across architectures. It featured technical presentations and discussions on key enabling technologies such as:
- Fiber network sensing and advanced optical infrastructure
- Co-packaged optics for high-performance computing systems
- Optical circuit switching for data center and network scalability
- Photonic and quantum computing technologies
The workshop aimed to foster dialogue, knowledge exchange, and partnerships across industry, academia, and standards organizations. In particular, it seeks to strengthen collaboration between
ITU-T Study Group 15 and the broader photonics research, development, and innovation community by addressing topics of shared interest and strategic importance.
Participation was free of charge and is open to Members from IEEE, ITU Member States, Sector Members, Associates and Academic Institutions and to any individual from a country that is a member of ITU who wish to contribute to the work. This included individuals who are also members of international, regional and national organizations.
🍁 Watch the recording of the session here
Programme
13:00 - 13:15
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Welcome Remarks
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| 13:15 - 14:35 |
Session 1: Building the AI Rack
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| 14:35 - 15:00 |
Coffee break
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| 15:00 -16:20 |
Session 2: Access and Scale Across
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| 16:20 - 16:30 |
Closing Remarks
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