2020 sees Integrated Systems Europe - the world’s largest exhibition for AV and systems integration - return to the RAI Amsterdam.
The ribbon cutting ceremony that officially marks the opening of the event will take place just before 10:00. The event runs over four days, occupying 15 halls, and is home to everything the professional audiovisual industry has to offer – including the latest developments and technologies that will influence almost every industry’s future.
ISE 2020 is produced by Integration Systems Events on behalf of international trade associations and co-owners AVIXA and CEDIA.
Continuing a long tradition, this year’s event will be bigger than last year’s: more than last year’s 81,000 visitors are expected; there will be more floor space; and more conferences and learning opportunities on the agenda. Visitors will be ‘Making Deeper Connections’ with the newest technologies, the latest ideas – and the global AV industry.
Technology Zones
Designed to help visitors more easily find the 1,300 exhibitors most relevant to their interests are the six Technology Zones. Spread across eight of the 15 halls, these comprise:
- Audio and Live Events, showcasing sound from microphone to speaker, as well as the latest technologies to support the kind of audiovisual extravaganzas at which the industry excels;
- Digital Signage and DooH, with a broad range of advertising and information delivery solutions for the retail, transportation, healthcare, corporate, education, leisure, and hospitality sectors and many more;
- Education Technology, with its positive and growing multidimensional impact on learning outcomes;
- Residential, showcasing the latest developments in the connected home as well as home entertainment and energy management;
- Smart Buildings, with a wide array of solutions for the control of air conditioning, lighting and shutter control, security systems, heating, ventilation, monitoring, alarming and many others; and
- Unified Communications, with innovative new platforms designed to facilitate collaborative working and enhanced productivity across sites and countries.
Innovation Zone
A new initiative for ISE 2020 is the Innovation Zone, a specially designed area for first-time ISE exhibitors to showcase their technology. Also in Hall 14, the ISE Main Stage theatre relocates from Hall 8. The Main Stage will offer thought leadership and best practice sessions from ISE, AVIXA, CEDIA and AV Magazine. These sessions are free to attend, and no advance booking is required. Hall 14 will also be the location of an exciting technology feature, details of which will be announced in the coming weeks.
Another show floor development sees an even bigger Hall 5; 2019’s temporary extension has been upgraded to a larger permanent one. This will help to accommodate the growing number of exhibitors and visitors looking to take advantage of the opportunity presented by ISE.
Something that has characterised the development of ISE over the years is that it has attracted a growing proportion of end-users anxious to see and hear the latest technologies and solutions for themselves. This evolution in demographics has seen ISE respond with a conference programme that has been continually enhanced in both number of sessions and range of topics.
Conference
ISE 2020’s conference and professional development programme – which runs over five days – will once again be presented with the tagline ‘Learn, Discover, Be Inspired’. ISE 2020 will see the return of long-standing fixtures the Digital Signage Summit ISE and Smart Buildings Conference ISE, along with more recent additions such as the XR Summit ISE and the 2019-inaugurated Digital Cinema Summit ISE and Hospitality Technology Summit ISE by HTNG.
Two major new conferences have been added for ISE 2020 in the shape of the Control Rooms Summit and the CEDIA Design & Build Conference. The former will explore business and technology strategies for operators of control rooms across all sectors – including utilities, government, transportation and military – while the latter is targeted at architects, interior designers and other design and build professionals in the residential space.
The extensive conference programme is further enhanced by the AVIXA Higher Education AV Conference, which will highlight a range of different perspectives on how to best enhance the learning and teaching experience through effective use of AV. The AVIXA Enterprise AV Conference will highlight the growing availability of data and the opportunity that data analytics provides to enable better business strategies and workspace/system design.
Also making eagerly anticipated returns are AudioForum, will this year will focus on acoustics and wellbeing; attractionsTECH, hosted by blooloop, covering the visitor attractions market; and AGORA, which will reflect the growing importance of sports venues as a key market for AV professionals.
Many of the conferences will take place at the nearby Okura Hotel – a move that proved very popular with visitors when introduced last year. A free shuttle bus will run between the RAI and the conferences.
AVIXA will also be hosting FlashTracks throughout ISE 2020 on a dedicated show floor stand. Designed for AV professionals of all experience levels, these are free 20-minute education sessions, focusing on hot industry topics.
In addition to the CEDIA Design & Build Conference, CEDIA will present the CEDIA Cybersecurity Workshop for the first time. A theory-based interactive workshop, it will challenge attendees to produce technical best practice procedures and customer policies around network security and cybersecurity.
The Workshop is the first in the association’s four-day roster of CEDIA paid-for professional development sessions, which will cover a broad range of technology and business topics for custom installers. Throughout the show, CEDIA’s stand will also play host to CEDIA Talks. These are 20-minute free of charge sessions focusing on emerging trends and new technologies.
Awards
There will be many other show features at ISE 2020. Organised and independently judged by EXHBITOR magazine, the Stand Design Awards recognise the most effective small, medium, large and extra-large stands at the show. The Inavation Awards return for the fourteenth time to recognise the best in global AV projects and technology, as well as outstanding distributors, project managers and consultants. The 2020 venue is the architecturally unique Beurs van Berlage. And following 2019’s projection onto the nhow Amsterdam RAI Hotel, a spectacular projection mapping showcase involving another part of the RAI complex will catch the attention at ISE 2020.
ISE’s Opening Address is renowned for presenting internationally acclaimed thought leaders, drawn not only from the audiovisual world but also from disciplines that have the potential to shape AV. at ISE 2020, the speaker will be Duncan Wardle, a former Disney executive who will show how innovation can become part of the day-to-day working culture in our businesses. The Opening Address will take place the evening before the ISE 2020 exhibition opens, and be followed by the Opening Reception.
ISE 2020 will be the final edition of the show to be held at the RAI Amsterdam; in 2021, ISE will relocate to the Fira de Barcelona. To prepare attendees for this change, the walkway between Halls 7 and 8, formerly known as the Business Lounge, will have a Barcelona theme. Here attendees can find information about how to get to ISE 2021 and what to expect once they are there.
Additionally, to mark this significant moment in ISE’s story, the traditional Closing Keynote will be replaced by an invitation-only event on the Friday. Here ISE will say thank you and goodbye to Amsterdam and the RAI, and look ahead to what Barcelona and the Fira have to offer.
“The event will mark the end of an era,” said Mike Blackman, Managing Director of Integrated Systems Events, “and the beginning of an exciting new one.”
