L’evoluzione della rete ottica di telecomunicazioni secondo la visione del progetto europeo e-Photon/ONe

e-Photon/ONe is a “Network of Excellence” (NoE) bringing together about 40 research institutions operating in the general field of Optical Telecommunications Networks. It is funded by the European Community in the context of the 6th Framework Programme (FP6). NoEs are a so-called “new instruments” in the FP6 and are aimed at fostering the integration of the activities of the researchers of the institutions involved, exploiting their complementarity to achieve critical mass. One of the tools designed and implemented in e-Photon/ONe to achieve integration are the “Virtual Departments”, that coordinate the research activities of the researchers belonging to the participating institutions, on specific thematic areas. In this paper we present a summary of Virtual Departments views on the state-of-the-art and on future trends and key issues in research on Optical Networks.