Okinawa Open Days 2026
Overview
The 14th edition of the general ICT conference held every December in Naha since 2013, built around research presentations from the Okinawa Open Laboratory. A single venue spans networking, cloud, edge, generative AI operations, security and robotics, combining keynotes, poster sessions and sponsor booths with a hands-on program in which early-career engineers build the venue network themselves. The 2024 edition passed 1,000 attendees for the first time in several years.
Foundation
- Founded
- 2013
- Founder
- Launched in 2013 by the Okinawa Open Laboratory
Launched in 2013 by the Okinawa Open Laboratory, which researches and validates cloud and SDN technology, as a venue to present its results and connect engineers. Framed around the Okinawan words yuntaku (dialogue) and jinbun (wisdom), it brings engineers, businesses, researchers and students together each December in Naha. Recurring fixtures include an international exchange session with partner institutions from Taiwan and Malaysia, and a program where early-career engineers build the venue network.
Transition
- 2013 First edition held as a venue for Okinawa Open Laboratory to present results and for engineers to connect
- 2022 Held as a hybrid event at the Okinawa Municipalities Jichi Kaikan on December 13-15, with poster sessions on joint research into network automation
- 2024 Held December 4-6, with attendance passing 1,000 for the first time in several years
- 2025 13th edition held
- 2026 14th edition planned for December 3-4, with a pre-event on December 2
Voices
A first-year network engineer joined the venue-network build program, configuring Juniper EX4300 switches and laying LAN cable on a mixed team with engineers from other companies and vocational-school students, keeping the network up across three days (from BIGLOBE's 2024 account, in Japanese)
The poster format allowed deeper discussion than a timed session because materials could be walked through at length, and impromptu exchanges with other companies were an unexpected gain (from BIGLOBE's 2022 account, in Japanese)
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