As preparations towards the hosting of IFA Consumer Electronics show for 2015 gather critical momentum, around 300 technology journalists, leading hi-tech industry operators and equipment manufacturers have converged on Malta for a key chapter in the programme, the IFA Global Press Conference, running April 23-26.
The IFA Global Press Conference returns to Malta after being staged in the country in 2009.
And, while the visitors settle down to discussions that will open up the key areas and innovations for the IFA holding in Berlin September 4-9, the organisers of the IFA show, Messe Berlin have given indication of the direction of what this year’s event promises to offer.
In what is tagged “IFA TechWatch – technologies for the markets of tomorrow,” the organisers say the programme for startups will feature “even more participants” than it did in previous events, among other areas of focus, including the new wave “ideas and solutions for the Internet of Things.”
The statement revealed further that “in 2015 IFA TecWatch, the place to exchange ideas for the markets of tomorrow will feature an even wider range of innovations, topics, papers and meetings of experts than at last year’s event. Five months before the show opens its doors the TecWatch Hall (11.1), which covers around 3,000 square metres, is almost booked up. It features international exhibitors and an even larger number of new and creative startups.”
In 2014 technically interested visitors at IFA as well as journalists, experts and decision-makers from industry and the retail trade were fascinated by the products displayed by startups. On Startup Day, which was organised by TecWatch in close cooperation with the German Startup Association, startups delivered lectures and hosted panel discussions presenting their technology visions for the future as well as business models.
“A competition was also held that enabled startups to present their ideas. Over the course of 2014 many of the entrants were able to secure innovation awards or investors at national and international level. Among those companies were:
- Relayr, a Berlin-based company which markets sensor modules for the Internet of Things,
- Plugsurfing, whose app can search for electric vehicles and which handles charging point payments,
- Sonormed, which markets Tinnitrax, a digital health app for tinnitus sufferers,
- tado, whose unique product enables intelligent control of heating systems,
- SegFi, which markets personal emergency response systems,
- Innovative Mobility Automobile (IMA), based in Jena, which is working on an innovative, one-seater electric car
- and medexo, which has set up an internet platform for obtaining a second medical opinion
“At IFA 2015 the partnership between TecWatch and the German Startup Association is set to continue on an even larger scale and will feature even more exhibits by startups and a wide variety of topics on different days of the show.
Other key topics at TecWatch have also been decided upon. Thus, three departments of the Fraunhofer Institute will be displaying innovative media technology exhibits, including the next generation of HbbTV and interactive communication between television and the web. New audio codecs, 3D sound for headphones and virtual vehicle restorations will also be among the exhibits shown by the Fraunhofer Institute. A joint exhibition of other media technology innovations organised by universities and technical colleges will round off the displays in this section.
Deutsche TV-Plattform will also be focusing on media technology, in particular DVB-T2. In Germany, regular broadcasting of next-generation terrestrial TV is due to commence in 2016.
3D printing is another fascinating topic that will be featured at TecWatch. In addition to printer hardware exhibitors will be displaying 3D printer software and scanners for scanning objects. They include a man-sized apparatus that can scan a human being in only a matter of seconds.
Numerous small and medium-sized enterprises will also be displaying products for everyday use in the networked home, where the Internet of Things is becoming a more and more dominant feature. International organisations and alliances, among them Z-Wave and the Allseen Alliance, will also be showing exhibits on this subject.
A joint display organised by the industry associations VDE, ZVEH and ZVEI will be promoting innovation under the heading of ’fit for the digital world’. These three organisations will be providing information on education and training measures in the digital world in order to interest more young people in a technical career and thus secure the next generation as innovators and builders of enterprises for the future.
IFA is the world’s leading trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances and will take place on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds (Expo Centre City) from 4 to 9 September 2015.
Reported by MKPE ABANG, in Malta