The 50th iteration of the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) will take place this year at San Fransisco’s Moscone Center, moving north from its longtime residence in San Diego. From March 30 to April 3, the conference is expected to host more than 13,500 participants from more than 80 countries while featuring more than 600 exhibiting global companies. The live event’s multitude of highlights and displays will revolve around three exhibition hall theaters, showcasing expert presentations on hot topics such as market watches and data center hyperscaling. As a hallmark of OFC, showcases will place an additional focus on how the latest technology innovations are being used at the conference itself. As it hits the 50-year milestone, OFC will recognize the yearlong celebration of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, according to Nicolas Fontaine of Nokia Bell Labs, Fotini Karinou of Microsoft, and Elaine Wong of the University of Melbourne, who are chairing this year’s event. The chairs said that this recognition will culminate with a “symposium showcasing groundbreaking advancements, including innovative architectures and enabling technologies that are shaping the future of quantum communication and photonics for quantum computing.” Courtesy of Optica. Complementing this celebration of quantum, a plenary session on April 1 will feature three industry leaders, beginning with Kei May Lau, professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, who will speak on the practicality of shifting from III-V bonding to direct epitaxy for silicon photonics. Bryan Robinson, leader of the Optical and Quantum Communications Group at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, will discuss space-based optical communications. Pradeep Sindhu, corporate vice president of silicon at Microsoft and inventor of the data processing unit, will discuss the conflict between data center scaling and increasing interface speeds. Courtesy of Optica. Accompanying the exhibit, OFC’s five-day technical conference will feature 17 live demonstrations, along with several tutorials, more than 45 short courses, five symposia and special sessions, 10 industry panels, 12 interactive workshops, and more than 650 technical presentations. A quantum track will comprise sessions and presentations focusing on quantum key distribution, entangled photon sources, and a multitude of systems and components. Additional topics will range from technological explorations into fiber sensing and its applications, generative AI and large language models in network operations, and the development of materials for high-speed transceivers. Integrated photonic optical processors — particularly those for use in AI training, integrating sensing and communications, free space communications, and optical materials innovation (thin-film lithium niobate) — will also feature as the themes of numerous submitted papers and presentations. Featured events include the Open Networking Summit, which will determine which path should be taken with optical networks on the way toward 6G, and the thought- and crowd-provoking rump session on March 31 that will probe the question, “If a Global Disaster Struck and all the Optical Infrastructure Was Wiped Out, Would You Rebuild with Today’s Mainstream Technologies?” The organizers of this highly anticipated session include Antonio Tartaglia, photonics expert at Ericsson; Roy Rubenstein, consultant at LightCounting LLC; and Dirk Van Den Borne, director of systems engineering at Juniper Networks. OFC 2025 will run from March 30 to April 3. For more information and to register, visit www.ofcconference.org.