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 undergoing huge changes in its services and infrastructure. This transformation is driven by the growing global demand for innovative financial solutions that align with social progress. Our work with MUFG, along with IOWN’s technology, makes these advancements possible”, said Tom Winstanley, Head of New Ventures in UK&I 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 explore the transformative potential of IOWN technology on financial systems architecture and together they have co-developed early use cases.
Through our joint expertise, MUFG and NTT DATA have defined challenges in the financial industry's Information and Communications Technology (ICT) systems. Our collaboration focused on identifying common ICT issues and requirements in the financial sector, exploring potential solutions using IOWN technology, and assessing the effectiveness of these approaches.
The results of this joint research effort have been compiled and presented in a newly released white paper, offering insights into how IOWN technology could address key ICT challenges in finance.
The White Paper: "Services Infrastructure for Financial Industry Use Case"
The financial services sector faces 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 centres to maintain overall system resilience.
This latest IOWN-GF 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 centres using IOWN technology and the development of proof-of-concept models.
The purpose and objectives of the “Services Infrastructure for Financial Industry Use Case” Project with 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:
- Defining a reference design for multi-data centre computing infrastructure.
- Describing use cases and key requirements.
- Establishing Technology Evaluation Criteria with reference cases and benchmarks.
- Developing a Reference Implementation Model.
- Providing guidelines for conducting Proofs of Concept.
This white paper outlines 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 these 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/.