We will discuss the development of polymer-based photonic materials and devices for both conventional telecommunications networks (i.e., the Internet) and emerging data center communications (i.e., Google) applications. Hybrid material examples will include nanoparticle-doped polymer composites for optical isolators and photorefractive polymers, which are poised to drive the demand for high bit rate communications through their use in 3D telepresence. The development of state-of-the-art electro-optic polymer based modulators based on sol-gel and silicon photonic platforms will provide a perspective on hybrid photonic devices.