IBM's autonomic networks challenge of 2001 instigated the introduction of a cognition cycle into networks. Cognitive radio, Kantor's cognitive networks, and IBM's autonomic networks provided the foundation for the parallel evolution of cognitive wireless networks and other cognitive networks. In 2004, Petri Mahonen, currently at RWTH, Aachen, and a member of Mitola's doctoral committee organized the first international workshop on cognitive wireless networks at Dagstuhl, Germany.