On 16 May 2024, Gunnar Heinrich (CEO of adventics) and Mykyta Fastovets (CEO of ExpoPlatform) presented the four finalists of the annual UFI Digital Innovation Awards at IMEX Frankfurt. Heinrich and Fastovets have been members of the UFI Digital Innovation Working Group and members of the award jury for many years.
IMEX Frankfurt, Mykyta Fastovets (CEO ExpoPlatform) and Gunnar Heinrich (CEO adventics)
UFI-Award for digital innovation
The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI) has been honouring best practices and outstanding achievements by trade fair organisers, venue operators, service providers and associations from around the world since 2011. The competition is open to all companies in the exhibition industry, regardless of whether they are UFI members or not. Digital Innovation is one of six award categories of the UFI Awards – all focussing on the key, current challenges for companies in the exhibition sector:
- Digital Innovation Award
- HR Award
- Industry Partners Award
- Marketing Award
- Operations & Services Award
- Sustainable Development Award
The winners of all categories will receive their awards at the 91st UFI Global Congress, which will take place at Koelnmesse from 20 to 23 November 2024. The solution honoured with the Digital Innovation Award will also be presented to the trade fair industry at this event.
The finalists of the digital innovation award
The four finalists of the UFI Digital Innovation Awards 2024 are Easyfairs, Messe München, Integrated Systems Europe 2024 and the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). All four have developed outstanding solutions and innovations that bring added value to the global UFI community.
Easyfairs: „Data Aggregation Platform“
Easyfairs’ innovative solution aggregates data from many operational data sources, making it available for uniform analyses and standardised KPIs. At the same time, the aggregated data is available to train an internal AI model – for example, an EasySummary can be generated after each event.
Messe München: „AI-based Chatbot“
Based on numerous data sources, Messe München’s AI-based dialogue system offers interactive help for both internal and external users to access a wide range of information quickly and easily.
Integrated Systems Europe 2024 – South Access Welcome Screen
The huge transparent screen at Integrated Systems Europe 2024 dynamically presented a wide range of information for trade fair visitors. Realised with the help of technologies from ISE exhibitors, the South Access Welcome Screen is also a showcase of the industry’s capabilities.
Consumer Technology Association (CTA): AI based campaign
The AI-based campaign for CES 20224 in Las Vegas significantly exceeded the targets set for the trade fair. Over 4,300 exhibitors and 138,000 visitors mean growth of over 40% for the trade fair, which will once again be held exclusively face-to-face in 2024.
The winner of the Digital Innovation Awards will be announced in July 2024.
The awards website www.ufi.org/awards/digital-innovation-award/ presents winners and outstanding best practices in the field of digital innovation in the trade fair industry from previous years. Have a read!
Further details about the UFI Global Congress can be found at www.uficongress.org.