Following on the successful inaugural Optical Fiber Communication Conference/National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference (OFC/NFOEC) 2012 special issue of the Journal of Optical Communications and Networking (JOCN), the JOCN Editors have decided to continue the series as a regular yearly publication. We are excited to introduce this JOCN special issue of invitation-only extended papers based on the best systems and networking papers presented at OFC/NFOEC 2013. Our intent is to provide a high-quality article collection on an expedited schedule, but without compromising the rigorous selection process using our excellent editors and reviewers.

Since we believe it is important to provide a publication platform for these high-quality results as soon as possible, we started the paper selection process earlier this year, immediately after the papers were accepted to OFC/NFOEC. As a result, the 2013 special issue is ready for publication before the deadline of OFC/NFOEC 2014. The paper selection process involved participation of the OFC Program and Subcommittee Chairs, as well as the JOCN Editors-in-Chief. All of the JOCN Editors contributed to the expedient and rigorous paper review process.

The 29 papers in this special OFC/NFOEC 2013 issue of JOCN highlight the leading trends in optical communication systems and networks. Some of the feature topics include elastic optical networks and the flexible use of spectrum and programmable transceivers, control plane technologies based on path computation elements (PCEs) and software-defined networks (SDNs), as well as new capabilities in passive optical networks (PONs).

We hope you enjoy this special issue.

Keren Bergman and Ori Gerstel

JOCN Editors-in-Chief