Open Networking Summit

Open Networking Summit
Name	Open Networking Summit
Status	Active
Genre	Technology conference
Country	United States
First	2011
Organizer	The Linux Foundation

Open Networking Summit The Open Networking Summit is an annual technology conference focused on software-defined networking, network functions virtualization, open-source software, The Linux Foundation, and telecommunications innovation. The summit convenes engineers, researchers, vendors, and policymakers from organizations such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, and Intel to present technical papers, demos, and strategic roadmaps. Attendees include contributors to projects like OpenStack, OpenDaylight, ONOS (Open Network Operating System), ONAP, and P4 who engage with standards bodies, academic labs, and industry consortia.

Overview

The summit centers on advances in software-defined networking (SDN), network functions virtualization (NFV), and programmable data planes, emphasizing interoperability among implementations produced by Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Arista Networks, Cumulus Networks, and Broadcom. Presentations often reference work from academic institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon University. The event fosters collaboration with standards organizations like the Internet Engineering Task Force, European Telecommunications Standards Institute, 3GPP, and the Open Networking Foundation.

History

The summit was established following early demonstrations of SDN and NFV led by research groups at Stanford University and UC Berkeley and industrial initiatives from Google and Facebook. Early editions highlighted projects including OpenFlow, ONOS (Open Network Operating System), and OpenStack and featured contributors from Nicira prior to its acquisition by VMware. Over time the conference expanded to include industrial roadmaps from Verizon, AT&T, NTT, and Deutsche Telekom alongside academic keynote speakers from Princeton University and Harvard University.

Organization and Format

Organized by The Linux Foundation in partnership with industry consortia such as the Open Networking Foundation and ETSI NFV ISG, the summit combines peer-reviewed technical papers, poster sessions, hands-on labs, and hackathons. The program committee often includes representatives from Google, Microsoft, Intel, Broadcom, and Facebook, and collaborates with editorial teams from conferences like SIGCOMM and USENIX to maintain technical rigor. Sessions are structured as plenaries, track talks, tutorials, and interoperability showcases with demos from companies such as Arista Networks and research groups such as the University of Cambridge.

Conferences and Keynotes

Keynote speakers have included executives and researchers from Google, Facebook, Microsoft Research, Intel Labs, and IBM Research, and sometimes policy voices from Federal Communications Commission commissioners or representatives of the European Commission. Notable sessions have covered landmark deployments by AT&T and Verizon Business, technical roadmaps from Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks, and research overviews from MIT CSAIL and the UC Berkeley RISELab. The conference has featured panels including members of OpenStack Foundation, Cloud Native Computing Foundation, and representatives from cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services and Alibaba Cloud.

Technical Tracks and Topics

Technical tracks span programmable dataplanes (including P4), control-plane architectures (such as OpenDaylight and ONOS (Open Network Operating System)), NFV orchestration (including ONAP), telemetry and observability (using eBPF and gRPC ecosystems), and interoperability testing with tools from IETF working groups. Sessions address implementations on hardware ASICs from Broadcom and programmable switches from Barefoot Networks (now part of Intel), virtual switching like Open vSwitch, and cloud-native network functions deployed on platforms such as Kubernetes and Docker. Security, formal verification, and performance benchmarking often reference methods from USENIX Security Symposium and ACM SIGCOMM publications.

Industry Impact and Outcomes

The summit has influenced production deployments by Google Fiber, Facebook Connectivity, and telecommunications operators including NTT and Orange, accelerating adoption of disaggregated white-box switching and merchant-silicon solutions from Broadcom and Mellanox Technologies (now part of NVIDIA). Collaborative outputs include code contributions to OpenDaylight, standardization efforts in IETF and ETSI, and vendor-neutral testbeds promoted by The Linux Foundation and the Open Networking Foundation. The event has catalyzed acquisitions such as Nicira by VMware and strategic partnerships between hyperscalers and silicon vendors like Intel and Broadcom.

Notable Participants and Sponsors

Frequent participants and sponsors include The Linux Foundation, Open Networking Foundation, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Intel, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Arista Networks, VMware, Alibaba Group, Nokia, Ericsson, AT&T, Verizon, NTT, Deutsche Telekom, Orange S.A., IBM, Mellanox Technologies, Barefoot Networks, Cumulus Networks, Red Hat, Canonical (company), Huawei Technologies, Fujitsu, ZTE, NEC Corporation, Orange Labs, Telefónica, and research institutions including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University, and University of Cambridge.

Category:Computer networking conferences