Digitalisation is making a relentless headway and transforming all kinds of industries and economic sectors, as a result of which many companies are assessing the most suitable technologies to invest in. To help them in their decision-making and implementation, the time has come for another IOTSWC (IoT Solutions World Congress), the international flagship event that will bring together more than 350 exhibitors, including the world’s leading suppliers of IoT, artificial intelligence and blockchain solutions. It will also host a congress with over 300 speakers who will discuss the benefits of digitalisation based on their experiences in different businesses, analysing the challenges and new implications opening up in this era of smart connectivity.
Organised by Fira de Barcelona in partnership with the IIC (Industrial Internet Consortium), the IOTSWC will be held from 29th to 31st October in Gran Via venue in the framework of Barcelona Industry Week. It’s the largest international event devoted to the industrial internet and, throughout its history, has complemented its offering with other converging technologies that are accelerating the digital transformation of sectors such as transport, manufacturing, healthcare, energy, utilities, construction, infrastructure, retail, and agriculture, among others.
Maximum international reach
The companies set to attend include those from the information technology sector, software platform developers, cybersecurity companies, service and telecommunications providers, industrial automation firms, consultancy firms, hardware manufacturers, technological and R&D centres, incubators, associations and IoT-related entities.
The list of participating companies includes Microsoft, Sas, Vodafone, Nutanix, Deloitte, T-Systems, Libelium, Kaspersky, Orange, Siemens, Fiware, Hitachi, Relayr, Thingstream, Zyfra, Emnify, Linux Edge Foundation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and ARM through their headquarters. Leading companies adopting IoT solutions from different sectors, for instance Roca or Eutelsat, will also attend via the industry partner programme. The countries with more exhibiting companies are Spain, the USA, China, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
In addition, IOTSWC 2019 will have international and institutional pavilions. In this regard, the presence of stands from Greece, Austria, Germany, Spain, Romania, Sweden, France, Baviera, Catalonia and Barcelona has already been confirmed; these will contribute a large number of companies to the event, many of them SMEs and start-ups linked to the IoT ecosystem.
A new feature of this year’s fair will be a specific area called IoT Solutions.Font, which will provide visibility for start-ups with original and innovative IoT, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain based products and services that have already been tested in the market and with potential for internationalisation. In partnership with Conector Startup Accelerator, about ten start-ups from all over the world have been selected, which, in addition to being exhibited at the trade fair, will take part in a competition to choose the best one. There will also be a networking activity involving investors, sponsors and visitors interested in finding out more about their solutions. The winning start-up will gain direct access to a Connector acceleration programme. The participating startups provide solutions ranging from cybersecurity to data analysis and enhanced fire extinguishing equipment monitoring.
Testbeds and Congress
Finally, one of the great attractions of the commercial section will be the testbed area, where there will be live demonstrations of ten industrial internet applications that stand out for their innovation and efficiency in process improvement.
This year the following will be on display: an application that measures the driver’s behaviour to update the cost of insurance policies; drones, sensors and blockchain that monitor the water quality of the Volga River; an autonomous electric car equipped with a cybersecurity system that blocks attacks that jeopardize the reliability or privacy of the vehicle; a solution to check gas distribution networks, reducing energy losses and preventing fraud, a platform that combines IoT, artificial intelligence and 5G to provide predictive medical care and handle emergencies affecting the elderly and chronically ill; a system to inspect and repair wind farm turbines using drones; artificial intelligence and the cloud; an assembly assistance system which accurately guides the employees of a factory through the different steps to be performed; an application to enable farmers to view the status of their holdings in real time and facilitate their decision-making; and software based on artificial intelligence for submersible pumps used in oil wells.
In addition, the 200+ sessions of the congress will be divided into nine thematic areas: IoT enabling technologies, connected transport, manufacturing, energy and utilities, healthcare, buildings and infrastructure, open industry, blockchain and artificial intelligence. The latter two have their own monographic forums: Blockchain Solutions World (BSW) and AI & Cognitive Systems Forum (AI & CS) with the aim of deepening these two technologies that enhance and reinvent the internet of things capabilities.
The list of over 300 speakers includes American analyst Joe Barkai and directors of companies using IoT, IA and blockchain solutions, such as Hugo Boss, McLaren Technology Group, Airbus, Sanitas, Carrefour Group, Daimler Motors, Ibercaja, Roca, SNCF Réseau, Maersk GTD or Brussels Airport, among others. Executives of major technology firms such as ABB, Dell, Ericsson, Google Cloud, Huawei, IBM, Hitachi, Microsoft, SAS, Wipro, Fiware, Honeywell, Amazon Web Services and Thingstream will also participate.
IOTSWC will also host several sessions bringing together female leaders in the sector to address why it is crucial to attract and support women’s leadership in the industrial IoT sector, as well as promotion to management roles and gender equality. Helena Lisachuk (Deloitte Consulting), Leila Dillon and Nicole Bulgarino (Ameresco), Mandy Chung (Women in IoT); Nicole Hagopian (The Walt Disney Company); Sheila Ronning (Women in the Boardroom); Jaishree Subramania (Microsoft); Teresa Tung (Accenture Labs); Jenn Mann (SAS) o Sally Saba (Sally Lion LLC) will be speakers at these sessions.
The programme of activities is completed by four technology workshops to provide deeper knowledge on the fundamentals of artificial intelligence, digital transformation, connected transport as well as about start-up companies in the IoT ecosystem. Participants will receive an official certificate from IOTSWC and the Industrial Internet Consortium. Similarly, we highlight the training programme, which includes more than 25 side events organised by companies and entities in the sector within the framework of the event.
Finally, remember that on 30th October the IoT Solutions Awards will be held, an event which is convened annually and which recognises the best innovative technology, business transformation experience, success story in industries and the best testbed of this edition.
IoT Solutions World Congress, together with the Blockchain Solutions World (BSW) and AI & Cognitive Systems Forums (AI & CS), form part of the Barcelona Industry Week, a trade fair platform that will hold seven events related to the digital transformation of the industry simultaneously, from 29th to 31st October in the Gran Via venue of Fira Barcelona. Industry From Needs to Solutions, MAX, the Barcelona Cybersecurity Congress and Ayri11, an automation and robotics conference, will also form part of this platform.
Barcelona, October 2019