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These events – which together form one of the world’s biggest platforms for doing business, sharing knowledge and networking – will bring together in a net exhibition area of around 68,000 square metres more than 1,000 companies, 1,000 speakers and over 50,000 trade professionals from all over the globe to showcase the most innovative and cross-cutting offering of the whole production chain: from raw materials, plastics and chemicals to mass and customised manufacturing, the automation of processes, smart connectivity and the latest technologies applied to numerous industrial sectors.

The latest technologies

According to the managing director of Fira de Barcelona, Constantí Serrallonga: ‘We made the decision to unite some of our major industrial events with the aim of helping to promote innovation in manufacturing processes and supporting companies in their technological transition towards more efficient, sustainable and competitive production.’ In this respect, he noted that ‘we want to help position Barcelona in the international spotlight of Industry 4.0 with what we believe will be the major industrial event of the year based on the latest technologies.’

Meanwhile, the director of the Own Business unit at Fira de Barcelona, Salvador Tasque, points out that with this initiative, in which the common denominator is the promotion of industrial transformation, ‘Barcelona will become the international capital of smart, connected, digitised industry, amassing a broad and highly representative commercial offering as well as providing valuable knowledge so companies can tackle their future challenges successfully.’.

Barcelona Industry Week kicks off on 1 October with the World Congress of Chemical Engineering, which is being held for the first time in Spain and brings together more than 3,000 delegates from all over the world.

On 2 October, there will be a seminar by top-level Spanish experts and business leaders to analyse the future of industry in Spain and its main challenges in the current context in order to promote its competitiveness, digitisation and scale.

Meanwhile, on 2-6 October the eighteenth edition of Expoquimia will be taking place, with more than 680 direct exhibitors. The show presents the latest products in the chemical sector at the biggest event for the chemical industry in Spain and southern Europe. In addition, a new edition of Smart Chemistry, Smart Future will be held, headed by the Spanish Chemical Industry Business Federation (FEIQUE). Also taking place is the first World Chemical Summit, a discussion forum for the applied chemical industry, where pioneering solutions for the six major challenges of the future will be discussed: food, energy, health, water and air, the digital society and industry. In the meantime, the eighteenth edition of Equiplast, the international plastics and rubber meeting, will be taking place alongside the twenty-sixth edition of Eurosurfas, the international surface treatment event.

Speakers such as acclaimed chef Jordi Cruz; the director of Barcelona’s anti-doping laboratory, Rosa Ventura; professor Gunter Pauli, author of the book The Blue Economy and responsible for coining the terms Zero Waste and Zero Emissions; vice-president of HP, Ramón Pastor; and Swedish doctor Nina Rawal, recently named one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders in the field of health, will be among the more than 340 speakers taking part in these events.

3D: additive and personalised manufacturing

Following the success of its first edition, IN(3D)USTRY From Needs to Solutions is back between 3 and 5 October and will bring together a broad representation of the advanced additive manufacturing ecosystem: from the leading manufacturers of this type of machinery through to the companies that use it in different sectors. In all, 55 leading companies and institutions such as Seat, Renault, Airbus, Alstom, Bosch, Siemens and Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, plus 44 speakers including Peter Haneppe, a researcher at Sony Computer, Advenit Makaya, an engineer at the European Space Agency, and Simone Cesano, design director at Adidas, will be revealing their experiences, challenges and requirements in 3D production. The event will also host the Reshape Awards which recognise the best initiatives in wearables made using additive manufacturing.

The IoT Solutions World Congress also takes place on 3-5 October, an event that has become a benchmark for the sector and brings together the world’s leading experts on the industrial internet and also, at this year’s edition, on blockchain. Some 240 companies are expected to attend as well as more than 250 speakers who will analyse the latest products and real-life applications of the technologies that will be driving the digital transformation of all kinds of industries, sectors and services. Exhibitors include some of the world’s leading companies, such as ABB, Accenture Digital, Analog Devices, Deloitte, Google Cloud, Honeywell, Huawei, Intel, Microsoft, SAS, Schneider Electric, Telit, Vodafone and Wipro.

Among the standout speakers are: MIT Media Lab professor Joe Paradiso, who will talk about how humans will connect to the Internet of Things; cybersecurity expert Mikko Hyppönen, who will explain how to apply new measures to avoid cyberattacks; and head of integration of NASA’s Orion Mission Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, Carlos García-Galán. Meanwhile, the Blockchain Solutions Forum features the creator of the Bitcoin Foundation, Jon Matonis; the founder of the Blockchain Investors Consortium, Mike Costache, and the humanoid robot Sophia, who will be championing the benefits of the convergence of artificial intelligence and robotics with other emerging technologies.

To complement the exhibition area, IoTSWC will once again be opening a testbed zone for live demonstrations to show the operation of around a dozen industrial internet applications developed by leading companies.