Exhibition: 10 – 12 March 2020

OFC is the largest global conference and exhibition for optical communications and networking professionals. The program is comprehensive -- from research to marketplace, from components to systems and networks and from technical sessions to the exhibition. For over 40 years, OFC has drawn attendees from all corners of the globe to meet and greet, teach and learn, make connections and move the industry forward.

OFC 2020 COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Action Plan

Read: OFC 2020 COVID-19 FAQ

More than 8,000 registrants and nearly 500 exhibitors and sponsors are ready to experience The Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC 2020) which is scheduled to take place, as planned, 8 – 12 March, in San Diego, California U.S.A. OFC has taken innovative steps to allow for remote 2-way participation via video-conferencing for all technical registrants. The available technical sessions including the workshops, panels, rump session and Postdeadline Papers are now available for remote participants. The plenary and the special keynote by David Welch, founder and chief innovation officer of Infinera for the 50th anniversary of the commercialization of low-loss fiber on Tuesday, 10 March will be livestreamed. Instructions on how to access these sessions will be sent to technical registrants throughout the week. 

"We are a global community who will continue to interact, in spite of difficult global situations," said the OFC Steering Committee and Program and General Chairs. "We now find ourselves in unchartered territory but are working together, aiming to put on a conference that utilizes the global telecommunication infrastructure that the OFC community has enabled to allow for virtual technical participation by the international community that has been impacted by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The work and discovery that has made OFC the most important event in our field will continue as planned." 

We respect the decision of those exhibitors and registrants who decided to cancel their participation due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19). We understand that many attendees from China, Iran, Italy, Japan and South Korea, and speakers who are prohibited from traveling due to their institutional/ corporate policies, will be unable to participate in-person.

“We will continue to support the thousands of registrants and hundreds of companies still committed to attending the conference and exhibition in-person, and we thank them for their continued engagement", said Ryan Strowger, head of OFC Management. “OFC is offering all presenters the option to pre-record their presentations or submit their poster PDF for presentation in advance of the conference. Selected sessions will also have live speaker participation via video-conferencing. With these news steps in place, hundreds of speakers can still deliver their groundbreaking content, whether in-person or via recording."

For the benefit of all technical registrants, the OFC Program Chairs will have all of the speaker-authorized content from the technical sessions recorded. These recorded talks (content capture) will be made available within 24 hours. 

A “no-handshake policy” at OFC is among the measures being implemented to protect the health of attendees. Additional onsite tools for registrants, exhibitors and onsite personnel include the following:

OFC Management will:

We strongly urge exhibitors and attendees to implement appropriate guidelines and protocols as suggested by the WHO and other health authorities. 

The U.S. Government has taken steps to mitigate the concerns regarding COVID-19. Please reference links below for more information.