Deutsche Messe is strengthening its leading position as a showcaser of tomorrow’s world with a quantum leap into the future of mobile data. It is gearing up to treat the world to the first-ever exhibition complex with full 5G coverage. The company’s plans involve transforming its 100-hectare exhibition center in stages into a highly innovative multifunctional campus that will be available as a test facility for real-time 5G use cases 365 days a year. Deutsche Messe will also launch a new 5G-themed trade show in the fall of 2020: the 5G CMM Expo.
Hannover. The current season of HANNOVER MESSE with its 5G Arena is just the beginning; the “Smart Venue” project is taking Deutsche Messe’s 5G commitment to a whole new level. The company aims to roll out the new 5G mobile telephony standard to all of its exhibition halls and its open-air site as soon as possible. With 5G permanently available, the Hannover Exhibition Center will be able to host tests and demonstrations of numerous innovative, 5G-based applications from a whole range of sectors, including industrial manufacturing, mobility, logistics, Smart City technology and health.
“5G is the key enabling technology for the ongoing digital transformation of business and society, because only with 5G can the Consumer Internet truly become the Industrial Internet,” said Deutsche Messe’s Managing Board Chairman Dr. Jochen Köckler. “The integration of intelligent machines in smart manufacturing and the development of self-driving cars, vertical logistics, smart farming and many other technologies require radio-based mobile gigabit Internet. That is why we are making this move and developing our exhibition center into a showcase of tomorrow’s world, a platform where people can preview the changes that are transforming work and public life.”
Dr. Bernd Athusmann, Minister of Economic Affairs, Employment, Transport and Digitalization for the German state of Lower Saxony as well as a member of Deutsche Messe’s Supervisory Board, had this to say about the new development: “Once again, the Hannover Exhibition Center is serving as the birthing grounds for an innovation of global significance. With a permanently installed 5G exhibition site, Deutsche Messe is underscoring its leadership in the staging of international flagship fairs. The implementation of fully operable, seamless 5G infrastructure is of pivotal importance to the futureproofing of German industry. Deutsche Messe’s 5G site will thus serve as a role model. In Hannover, the trailblazing opportunities and innovative applications made possible by the 5G standard will be visible 365 days a year.”
5G will improve connectivity and reduce latency, thereby making possible a whole range of highly data-intensive Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Examples of such applications, alongside Industry 4.0 and new traffic management systems, include new urban utility supply and disposal systems, eHealth, telemedicine and robot-assisted surgery, to name but a few.
In the first stage of this process, Deutsche Messe will build a unique urban infrastructure system, comprising a public and private 5G network, at its exhibition center. The network will encompass an area of 100 hectares, including more than 30 exhibition halls, about 10 kilometers of transit routes and several thousand parking spaces. The fully functional network will make it possible to demonstrate 5G applications and offer new services at Deutsche Messe’s existing Hannover-based trade fairs. It will also transform the exhibition center into a testing ground and multifunctional campus where 5G real-time use cases can be tested year-round in a protected and controlled environment.
World’s first 5G trade show: 5G CMM Expo
Deutsche Messe’s move into the 5G space will culminate in a new dedicated trade show + conference event: the 5G CMM Expo. The 5G CMM Expo will be held annually and positioned as the world’s foremost event for 5G technology. CMM stands for Connected Mobile Machines. The company’s plans are moving fast, and things are starting off as early as October of 2019, when the first conference on 5G and CMM will be held. The first 5G CMM Expo will then be staged in the fall of 2020. The expo will present the full gamut of 5G applications by physically demonstrating use cases for all connected mobile machines in public spaces, in various sectors of the economy, and in the home. The exhibitors will demonstrate hardware, software and services as building blocks for complete solutions and systems in the following areas: cloud, mobile platforms, system integration, application software and IT security technology, communication technology, automation technology for mobile machines, and embedded systems for mobile applications. In terms of visitors, the 5G CMM Expo is aimed at technical professionals and decision-makers from a wide range of industries and areas, including the automotive and automotive subcontracting industry, logistics, Smart City solutions, the energy industry, building automation, security technology, agricultural technology, eCommerce, healthcare, food, construction machinery, textiles, and the chemicals and pharmaceuticals industries. Diverse as these visitor target groups may be, one thing they have in common is that they all see 5G as offering new opportunities and scope for their respective areas of application.
Köckler: “The Smart Venue project and the 5G CMM Expo mean that we at Deutsche Messe are taking on the role of an accelerator for 5G technology and are functioning as an enabler of the digital transformation of industry and the public sector.”
Deutsche Messe AG
As one of the world’s foremost organizers of capital goods trade fairs, Deutsche Messe (Hannover, Germany) stages a rich array of events at venues in Germany and around the globe. With 2017 revenue of 356 million euros, Deutsche Messe ranks among Germany’s top five tradeshow producers. The company’s portfolio features such world-class events as (in alphabetical order) didacta (education), DOMOTEX (carpets and other floor coverings), HANNOVER MESSE (industrial technology), INTERSCHUTZ (fire and rescue services, civil protection, safety and security), LABVOLUTION (lab technology) and LIGNA (woodworking, wood processing, forestry). Deutsche Messe also stages trade fairs at other German venues, for example parts2clean (industrial parts cleaning) and SurfaceTechnology (surface treatment). The company also regularly hosts a number of internationally renowned events by third parties, among which are AGRITECHNICA (agricultural machinery) and EuroTier (animal production), both of which are staged by the German Agricultural Society (DLG), EMO (machine tools; staged by the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association, VDW), EuroBLECH (sheet metal working; staged by MackBrooks) and IAA Commercial Vehicles (transport, logistics and mobility; staged by the German Association of the Automotive Industry, VDA). Deutsche Messe’s portfolio also comprises events in Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and the USA. These include shows in the following fields: Automotive, ICT & Digital Business, Manufacturing and Processing & Industries, Energy & Logistics and Metal Processing. With more than 1,200 employees and a network of 58 sales partners, Deutsche Messe is present in more than 100 countries.
