MUFG and NTT DATA collaborate with IOWN Global Forum on a Groundbreaking Paper for Services Infrastructure for Financial Industry Use Case

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/.

About IOWN Global Forum

The IOWN Global Forum was established in 2020 as a private sector organization to develop IOWN technologies and use cases. As of the end of 2023, it is comprised of over 140 organizations. The objective of the IOWN Global Forum is to accelerate innovation and adoption of a new communication infrastructure to meet our future data and computing requirements through the development of new technologies, frameworks, specifications, and reference designs in areas such as photonics R&D, distributed computing, use cases and best practices. For more information, visit IOWN Global Forum – Innovative Optical and Wireless Network.

About MUFG Bank

MUFG Bank, Ltd. is Japan's premier bank, with a global network spanning around 40 countries. Outside of Japan, the bank offers an extensive scope of commercial and investment banking products and services to businesses, governments and individuals worldwide. MUFG Bank's parent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) is one of the world's leading financial groups. Headquartered in Tokyo and with over 360 years of history, MUFG has a global network with approximately 2,000 locations in more than 40 countries. The Group has about 120,000 employees and offers services including commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing. The Group aims to "be the world's most trusted financial group" through close collaboration among our operating companies and flexibly respond to all of the financial needs of our customers, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world. MUFG's shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York stock exchanges. For more information, visit https://www.mufg.jp/english.

About NTT DATA

NTT DATA is a $30+ billion trusted global innovator of business and technology services. We serve 75% of the Fortune Global 100 and are committed to helping clients innovate, optimize and transform for long-term success. As a Global Top Employer, we have diverse experts in more than 50 countries and a robust partner ecosystem of established and start-up companies. Our services include business and technology consulting, data and artificial intelligence, industry solutions, as well as the development, implementation and management of applications, infrastructure and connectivity. We are also one of the leading providers of digital and AI infrastructure in the world. NTT DATA is part of NTT Group, which invests over $3.6 billion each year in R&D to help organizations and society move confidently and sustainably into the digital future. Visit us at nttdata.com