Optics and photonics technologies are central to modern life; indeed, UNESCO declared 2015 to be the International Year of Light. These technologies enable the manufacture and inspection of all integrated circuits. They give us displays on our smartphones, optical fiber that carries the information in the Internet, advanced precision fabrication, and medical diagnostics tools. Optics and photonics technology offers the potential for even greater societal impact over the next few decades. Solar power generation and new efficient lighting, for example, could transform the energy landscape, and new optical capabilities will be essential to supporting the continued exponential growth of the Internet. Optics and photonics technology development and applications have substantially increased across the globe over the past several years. The European Commission has selected photonics to be one of six key enabling technologies and the U.S. National Academies recently released the report Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for Our Nation; both efforts showing the importance of optics and photonics to our global economic future. This session examines the grand challenges and the future potential of optics and photonics in an international as well as an economic perspective.