Hannover Messe: All topics in the digital ecosystem

With the current lead theme of Industrial Transformation, this year's Hannover Messe aims to shed light on all current topics in industry, including Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, 5G and smart logistics.

In keeping with the motto „Better late than never!“, the date of the traditionally held April Hannover Messe postponed due to global developments surrounding Covid-19 (coronavirus). This year, the world's leading trade fair for industry will therefore bring together the core areas of drive technology and automation, energy, R&D and industrial IT, as well as supply from 13 to 17 July together in one place.

„The way we live, produce and work is changing at breakneck speed right now,“ says Dr Jochen Köckler, Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Messe AG. „Industry has the levers in its hands. At Hannover Messe 2020, exhibitors will show how transformation can succeed and how change can lead to growth and progress.“

This year, the organiser has adjusted the rigid hall structures in order to New growth opportunities to create. Where until recently processes and technologies were considered separately, the focus is now on a holistic presentation of processes and solutions.

„In the age of Industry 4.0, it's all about flexible production, machines and systems that communicate with each other independently and the autonomous exchange of process information. The software that maps these processes is an essential component of this. At the trade fair, all relevant topics will therefore be covered in the rapidly growing Digital Ecosystems exhibition area,“ says Hubertus von Monschaw, Global Director Digital Ecosystems at Deutsche Messe AG.

 Data: A prerequisite for machine learning

The amount of data in industrial production is increasing. At the same time, the ability to utilise this data profitably is growing. Köckler: „The rapidly growing share of cloud providers shows that we are at the beginning of completely new developments.“

In addition to Microsoft with Azure, Amazon with its cloud platform AWS and Google Cloud will also be represented at the trade fair.

„There is no way around platforms. What has long been established in the consumer sector is developing with some delay in the manufacturing industry. But there is no question that the platform economy will play an increasingly important role in the B2B sector,“ says Hubertus von Monschaw.

 5G for the industry

Following last year's successful premiere, a 5G test field is being set up again. There, both network equipment suppliers and users will demonstrate what will be possible with the new mobile communications standard. The transmission of data in real time and with a high level of data security is particularly important for the digital networking of industry.

And as the social debate on climate protection brings sustainable technologies and climate-neutral business models into focus, a key message of Hannover Messe 2020 is that Climate protection and a Sustainable industrial policy belong together indispensably.