IOT Solutions World Congress: the digital transformation of industries

In its sixth edition and under the theme ‘Game-changing technologies for industry transformation’, IOTSWC gathers from May 10 to 12 at Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue. Over 310 exhibitors will showcase to showcase technological solutions that provide an edge to companies across many industries and 200 speakers will discuss the latest trends in digital transformation through disruptive technologies.

Organised by Fira de Barcelona in partnership with the Industry IoT Consortium (IIC), the 2022 edition of IOTSWC will showcase the solutions of over 250 exhibiting companies including ABB, Altair, Amazon Web Services, Braincube, Crowdstrike, Deloitte, Device Authority, EMnify, Faircom Corporation, Fiware, Hornet Security, Huawei, Kaspersky, KNX, Libellium, Palo Alto, Richardson RFPD, Relayr, Siemens, Sternum and Trellix, TXOne Networks. All of them will display examples of how the Internet of Things, Artificial intelligence, Digital Twins, Blockchain and other technologies have the potential to transform entire businesses.

The Director of IOTSWC, Roger Bou, says: “IOT Solutions World Congress 2022 will be a critical milestone for the ecosystem of business transformation technologies. After two years of being apart, companies, thought leaders and innovators will finally be able to get together. This will surely provide a much-needed push to relaunch collaboration and joint initiatives in a field where multi-actor projects are key in the development of new solutions capable of being scaled worldwide.”

Along these lines, the President of the IIC, Bill Hoffman emphasises the practical focus of the event, which showcases not only the latest advances in the IoT industry but also the enabling technologies that will drive the transformation of multiple industry sectors. “IOTSWC aims at companies who are looking for these technologies. At the event they will not only be able to learn from fellow users about how they have successfully adapted and implemented some of them, but they will also see at our exhibition floor some of the most innovative trials being conducted worldwide.”

Industry transformation reimagined

IOTSWC will structure its congress programme in five themes that express a new cross-industry approach: Business optimisation, Artificial Intelligence, Connectivity, Security and Customer Experience. Moreover, the conferences and sessions will focus on use cases that provide clear examples of how disruptive technologies are capable of changing businesses.

The list of speakers is headlined by Ann Dunkin, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the US Department of Energy and author of Industrial Digital Transformation: Accelerate digital transformation with business optimisation, AI, and Industry 4.0, and includes, among others, Hiroshi Yamamoto, Corporate VP of Digital Innovation Technology Centre and Corporate Digitisation at Toshiba; Mark Geckeler, DPP Alliance Head at the Volkswagen Group; Gunter Beitinger, Senior VP of Manufacturing & Head of Factory Digitalisation at Siemens; Stuart Bashford, CTO at Buhler Group, Matthias Kuss, CEO, FMC Data Solutions at Fresenius Medical Care, Juha Pankakoski, Chief Digital Officer at Konecranes, Nicole Raimundo Coughlin, CIO for Town of Cary (USA), and Jesper Toubol, VP of Operations – Moulding Production at Lego Group.

Testbed area

Providing tangible examples of successful combinations of these technologies is also key to drive innovation. In 2022, IOTSWC will bring back the testbed area that has become a trademark of its own. A jury comprised of industry leaders selected a total of 10 initiatives that will show at a central location within the exhibition floor how new services and solutions can be developed, tested in real life conditions, and deployed in a scalable manner. Among the examples selected are solutions for the Automotive, Construction, Food, and Urban management sectors including a smart refrigerator that uses AI cameras to reduce food waste and apply dynamic pricing, a digital twin service designed to implement a pay-per-use service for the Construction industry, and an intelligent heritage conservation system capable of anticipating asset maintenance needs through virtual reality and remote monitoring.

IOT awards and Start-up competition

Distinguishing the exceptional work of IOT and digital transformation in specific fields and highlighting the results that transform industries through greater efficiency, sustainability and connection to the people is the goal of the Industry Solutions Awards. In 2022, the accolades will be given in a total of six categories: Security, Connectivity, Customer Solution, Optimisation, Intelligence, and a special Game Changer of the Year Award. This last recognition will go to an industry pioneer, an individual who has been a role model key for the promotion and implementation of technology solutions in vertical industries. The award is open to audience nomination so the ecosystem can name its very own heroes every year. The winners will be announced during a ceremony held on Wednesday May 11.

But innovators taking the firsts steps in the industry will also be brought into the spotlight during IOTSWC through the Start-up Competition. The aim of the contest is to provide global visibility to these companies and to do so the event has selected the best 5 start-ups in two categories: Stage One entrepreneurs who have developed a Minimum Viable Product and the Stage Two Entrepreneurs who have built out minimal elements needed for scale and commercialisation. The competition will be held in person during the IOTSWC, and the winners will be announced at the end of the competition itself on May 12.

IOTSWC and ISE join forces

On 2022, IOTSWC will be jointly held with Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), the professional audiovisual (AV) and systems integration show. The simultaneous celebration of the two events will provide a unique opportunity to explore the crossroads between two different sets of disruptive technologies and highlight the two events’ common ground, offering new ideas and means of collaboration for all attendees and exhibitors.

IOTSWC will bring to the table leading experts and companies working on Artificial Intelligence, Digital Twins, Internet of Things and Quantum Computing and ISE will deliver leading companies from the professional AV industry as well as international experts in the field of systems integration in numerous industries. The agreement will allow visitors of these events to access both exhibition areas at no extra cost, whilst delegates registered to the IOTSWC congress program will benefit from a 50% discount if they wish to register for any ISE conferences – and vice versa.

Barcelona Cybersecurity Congress

Cybersecurity has become a critical field within the technology landscape as an essential layer for every solution. To underline this importance, the Barcelona Cybersecurity Congress will be jointly held with the IOTSWC. The third BCC will address the need for all industries to increase their security levels to avoid or minimise the effects of an attack by cybercriminals. The event organised by Fira de Barcelona and the Agència de Ciberseguretat de Catalunya, the body responsible for cybersecurity in Catalonia for both society and the public administration, will feature conferences, an exhibition and activities area, and a symposium for start-ups. The BCC will also have an exhibition area, an Innovation zone, and a Hacking Village that will host workshops and a Bug Bounty, a programme in which companies contact ethical hackers willing to test the security of their systems and discover vulnerabilities in exchange for a reward.