electronica will take place digitally for the first time from November 9th to 12th, 2020. Find out what participants can expect from the virtual event, a four-day forum and conference program, and special events...
Electronic Specifier
Hello and welcome to our latest podcast from electronics specify insights in today's episode we'll be talking to Fox centre who is Managing Director in Charge of messy mansions, international trade fairs in the high technology sector. We will be talking about the upcoming electronica 2020 exhibition which of course this year is being held virtually due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Folk. Welcome and thank you for talking to us to kick us off. Perhaps a good place to start would be to ask how preparations are going for the what will be an unprecedented electronica 2020. And can you explain a little bit about the decision to make the show of virtual only event? Well,
Joe, thank you for the question. It definitely was a very tough decision to cancel electronica as a physical event. As you can imagine, still in August, we were looking forward to the trade fair and very much optimistic that the electronics industry would be able to meet in Munich. Nevertheless, as we all know, with COVID, we face a very dynamic situation that can change on a daily basis. So at the time in September, the latest developments related to travel restrictions in many countries, which were becoming more stringent again, forced us to rethink our plans. Without doubt international exhibitors and visitors are the heart of electronica, and in light of this situation, and the current conditions we would not have been able to meet the expectations with an in person trade fair. We would have lost the character of electronica as the world leading trade fair by realising it in this situation. The electronic advisory board understood the decision and therefore supported it as well. I think viewing it from today's perspective, organising electronica as a virtual event this year was definitely the right decision. Okay, sure,
sure, so would visit the safety have been a concern
at a physical event. To be honest, at that point, when we made the decision to hold the virtual event, it was not a concern. We have a safety and hygiene concept in place here in Munich, which was officially ratified by the Bavarian State Government. The concept allows trade fairs to be held safely and successfully even in times like these. Besides special measures, the concept is based on the rules in place for our everyday life. You know them social distance, distancing, wearing a mask, sufficient hand hygiene, and the traceability of all participants. With this concept, we've already able to have various trade shows successfully at our venues in Munich in the past weeks. But of course, as we see now, the situation today is completely different, again, with rising numbers all over Europe. This shows how difficult decision making is in these times. And I'm glad that we made the decision at the point where we were able to provide a very good alternative to the electronics industry. Indeed, indeed.
And obviously the electronics show is the marquee event for the electronics industry. So what can visitors expect from what would be an unprecedented virtual show in 2020,
the online format of electronica 2020 offers the global electronics industry a business platform for discussions for networking and knowledge transfer. The same way you know it from the real electronica, participants can visit virtual trade fair booths, and meet exhibitors online to find out about the latest products and solutions in the field of electronics. Furthermore, there is an expensive virtual forum programme for forums are part of it, amongst others the cybersecurity forum for which we are very glad to have you electronic specifier as our partner, the forums and the virtual product presentations are free of charge to visit. A part of the virtual trade fair is also a startup area. Electronic fast forward, newcomers present their innovations, which may have a boost on the whole industry. The Fast Forward competition will take place parallel to electronic or virtual electronica 2020 is completed by our four classical charged conferences, which will also be held digitally. Visitors can look forward to the electronic automotive conference, the electronic embedded platforms conference, the electronica medical electronics conference and the violence Congress. So, as usual, finally, one of the highlights of electronica can of course, not be missing this year. You know, it's the CEO Roundtable, in which direction is the electronics industry developing in the era of COVID-19 and beyond. This is the topic which we will discuss by with the heads of NXP St. microelectronics in Fenian and pepperl and Fox. This shows electronica will also take place in 2020 despite the corona pandemic, the highlight topics and trends in the electronics industry will be discussed there again this year, no matter from where in the world world and regardless to travel restrictions.
Great, thank you. And from from the point of view of the exhibitors themselves, what can they expect from the event and how can they ensure that they will ever that they can get the best out of the exhibition?
Well, it's almost a little bit the same as always, exhibitors who take part in electronica with virtual trade fair booths, are able to continue to communicate with their international customers and present their products and solutions worldwide for days, 24 hours this year, not in Munich, but still on a single platform that brings together the whole industry. For this purpose. We recommend all participating exhibitors to prepare themselves as if they were at the face to face trade fair. In short, preparing their virtual booths, inviting customers and also arranging meetings in advance.
Okay, okay. And similarly, obviously, a key element of the electronics show is the ability to network on the exhibition floors. How is this being replicated on a virtual basis? And how challenging is that been to try and replicate
your right electronic as the global electronics networking platform, and we have to admit that we cannot completely replicate it virtually. But still, with the virtual event, we want to give exhibitors and visitors the opportunity to network exchange ideas and create business opportunities as best as possible. personal contact is possible via text and video chat, which is why I have stressed the importance to prepare accordingly by inviting customers and arrange meetings in advance. Of course, I'm sure that we all prefer personal meetings. But with electronic or virtual, we still offer one place and one time for the industry to meet online. By doing so electronica maintains its position position as a strong driver of innovation within the electronics industry and as a motor of digitalization in general.
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Yes. As I already mentioned, the virtual event will be complete complemented by our four electronica conferences. The digital conferences will take place on the following days. First one electronica automotive conference, as always on Monday, so in this case, Nov. Nine, the electronic embedded platforms conference will take place on Wednesday and Thursday of the electronica week. So November 11, and 12th. The electronic medical electronics conference, will take on Monday and Tuesday. So November 9, and 10. And finally, the violence Congress will take place the three days from Tuesday to Thursday. So November 10, to November 12. Sure,
sure. And have any of the companies that originally withdrew from the physical event have they now re signed up to the to the virtual show?
Let me say it this way, the decision to hold electronica virtually this year, we took in close cooperation with the entire industry, in particular the advisory board, and yes, we are happy that we have received many applications for the virtual show in the short time available. And we are pleased with the commitments of numerous customers including industry giants, such as analogue devices, Harting, NXP Semiconductors, Phoenix Contact, st microelectronics, Rohde and Schwarz, and Samsung semiconductor Europe, just to name a few of them. from today's perspective, around 200 exhibitors will take part in electronic or virtual and will present their products and solutions online, and very much looking forward to their virtual booths. This shows that the desire for an industry meeting is great this year. The exhibitors are looking forward to the opportunity to network with customers and present their products
great. Sure. Sure. And And finally, obviously, many exhibitions have gone virtual over the last six months or so. So what do you think this means for the future of exhibitions and for electronica in particular?
That's quite a difficult question. The Corona pandemic has clearly shown the importance of working on digital services and making them available to customers that's clear and for electronica, we will continue to develop our digital innovations, but it's also clear that a trade fair lives from personal exchange and networks on site. So in the future, we do not want to replace electronica or parts of it exclusively with digital performance. We rather aim to supplement the existing successful trade fair concept of electronica with digital formats and offerings in order to provide added value, not only this year, but also for future editions. Fantastic.
Well, thank you for your time, folks. It's you know, it's obviously unprecedented times that we're currently living through so it was great to hear more about what to expect from from electronica 2020 and we're all looking forward to it and hopefully looking forward to seeing you there and along with our listeners as well, but for now, it's goodbye from electronics specified insights. Thank you very much indeed.
Thank you very much as well. Bye bye.
electronic specifier