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MUFG Bank, Ltd. (MUFG) and NTT DATA are pleased to announce the release of a white paper titled “Services Infrastructure for Financial Industry Use Case” published by the Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN) Global Forum (IOWN-GF).

This milestone document defines how financial institutions can leverage next-generation technologies to enhance their digital services. “The financial industry is in an era of evolving services and infrastructure driven by the tremendous demand for next-generation financial services, spurred by global social innovations. Our collaboration with MUFG aims to make this vision a reality through the use of IOWN technology.”, said Hidehiko Tanaka, Head of Technology and Innovation General Headquarters of NTT DATA.

Background

MUFG joined the IOWN-GF in October 2021 and has been exploring the applicability of IOWN’s next-generation communication infrastructure to financial systems as well as its potential to transform all industries. In October 2023, MUFG Bank, together with NTT DATA, established a team of experts within the IOWN-GF to describe the transformative potential of IOWN technology on financial systems architecture and have engaged in activities to develop early use cases.

Through this expert joint team, MUFG and NTT DATA have defined common Information and Communications Technology system challenges and requirements for the financial industry, examined approaches for resolution by applying IOWN technology, and assessed their validity. The two companies summarize the results in the new white paper.

White Paper “Services Infrastructure for Financial Industry Use Case”

The financial services sector is at the forefront of digital transformation, facing unique challenges such as performance limitations, regulatory compliance, and the need for reliable and resilient service delivery. As financial institutions worldwide strive to navigate these obstacles, new opportunities arise to innovate infrastructure and service models.

High reliability, disaster resilience, advanced performance, and security are required to provide stable financial services to customers under any circumstances. One potential strategy for future, financial systems configurations is to use geographically dispersed data centers to maintain overall system resilience.

IOWN-GF’s latest white paper highlights how IOWN technology can address the financial sector’s pressing challenges for digital transformation. Specifically, the paper examines and describes the design of multiple data centers using IOWN technology and the development of proof-of-concept models.

Purpose and objectives of the “Services Infrastructure for Financial Industry Use Case” Project in IOWN-GF

The project primarily aims to provide unrivaled performance and reliability, enabling financial entities to overcome market challenges with dynamic and resilient services. The IOWN-GF’s collective expertise drives this initiative, leveraging advanced technologies such as Open All-Photonic Networks for superior energy efficiency, performance, and network management.

The white paper’s objectives and scope include:

1. Defining a reference design for multi-data center computing infrastructure.
2. Describing use cases and key requirements.
3. Establishing Technology Evaluation Criteria with reference cases and benchmarks.
4. Developing a Reference Implementation Model.
5. Providing guidelines for conducting Proofs of Concept.

This white paper is the inaugural step toward involving early adopters in the financial industry, outlining how IOWN GF technologies can drive transformative services with agility and enhanced disaster recovery capabilities. The white paper describes Step 1 and Step 2 of the objectives. MUFG and NTT DATA, as IOWN-GF coordinators, continue to co-develop additional steps.

Conclusion

The release of “Services Infrastructure for Financial Industry Use Case” illustrates a significant advancement in the financial services sector. MUFG and NTT DATA, in partnership with IOWN-GF, remain committed to fostering innovation, efficiency and sustainability to help financial institutions thrive in an increasingly digital landscape.

For further information and to access the full white paper, please visit https://iowngf.org/use-cases/.

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