DSS Europe’s 52nd Digital Signage Summit event, proved a resounding success with 450 visitors, 49 keynote addresses and 81 speakers . The summit, which took place at the Hilton Munich Airport on 22 and 23 May, discussed trends like the growing importance of software, the need to significantly reduce energy consumption and industry challenges, such as the slow adoption of new technologies.
Co-hosted by invidis Consulting and Integrated Systems Events, DSS Europe played host to exhibitors, including DynaScan, Sharp NEC, Sony, Samsung, Ameria, and Vanguard displaying solutions from the digital signage industry.
With a worldwide demand for more sustainable solutions, DSS Europe presented a dedicated ‘Green Signage Hall of Fame’ with brands including Signage OS, Absen, PPDS, LED Studio, Cingerine, First Impression Audiovisual, Visionect and Broadsign demonstrating a range of solutions and software specifically chosen by invidis for their green credentials.
Alongside the exhibition area, the extensive conference programme featured expert industry figures and emerging disruptors from across the digital signage and DooH industry. The two-day agenda boasted 49 keynote addresses, best practice sessions, workshops, panel discussions and networking events, with 81 speakers taking a deep dive into a wide range of the industry’s key topics of discussion around this year’s summit theme ‘Connecting Signage: The Shift to Software-Defined Visual Solutions’.
Focussing on software and IT security, 13 sessions featuring 30 thought leaders discussed what the industry needs to know about this defining component of the digital signage ecosystem.
The possible future of digital signage software was presented with Samsung’s VXT, an experience platform, which some think could be a gamechanger for the industry, but whose approach is questioned by others.
The official launch of the invidis Digital Signage Software Compass on day one sought to address one of the key areas of uncertainty in the software market. The vendor-neutral CMS comparison tool works with a scoring model for the most relevant topics for each category. Compass offers comparison categories such as user interface, operations, APIs, innovation, security, complexity, multiplatform support, sustainability, and commercialisation.
For the first time, the DSS Europe 2024 agenda also included a Women in Technology networking event. Hosted by Lenovo, Intel and Google ChromeOS, the event was very popular and triggered a lot of conversations. One of the topics covered was how unconscious bias can translate into AI, potentially creating an AI bias. Johanny Payero, director, global advanced solutions marketing, Lenovo added: “Everyone is saying ‘We should have done this before, thank you for the idea’, so I’m excited to keep leading it and making sure that we continue the conversation.”
Alan Kaufman, president, DynaScan said: “DSS Europe is a very important event for us. It reassures us that we are moving in the right direction. We need validations like the ones we get from events like DSS Europe, otherwise we sit in a bubble and lose our connection to the market.”
This year’s line-up included Google ChromeOS as headline sponsor, Lenovo, Intel and Google ChromeOS as premium event partners, M-Cube as badge & technology sponsor, as well as Framen as stage sponsor.
Craig Francis, digital signage partner manager and product expert, Google ChromeOS EMEA, commented: “I think DSS Europe is one of the key moments in our calendar for digital signage. It’s great to meet all of our friends, colleagues and partners here. It’s so great to learn what’s happening in the industry, and really just to see what opportunities there are to collaborate together and how to grow the ecosystem as a partnership.”
For a final exclusive industry insight, attendees were given first access to the newly released invidis Yearbook, featuring market intelligence and a focus on the topic “Signage & Software” with comparative analysis and detailed background information. The invidis Yearbook is available in English and German.
To celebrate individuals and organisations for strategic excellence within the digital signage industry during the past 12 months the invidis Strategy Awards returned for its third year at DSS Europe.
This year’s awards winners included PPDS/Deutsche Telekom for their introduction of a ‘green’ ePaper DooH screen, Broadsign for adopting the Green Software Foundation’s practices for greener software, Sphere Entertainment / The Sphere Las Vegas for revolutionising how society perceives and interacts with advertising, Visual Art / Signage Player for their future-proof CMS, Trison for being an industry deader, Samsung VXT for being a true innovative digital signage platform, Nexmosphere as a rising star in the industry, and Andy Bohli, CEO of Imaculix/Cingerine for being a disrupter in the industry.
Florian Rotberg, managing director of invidis and summit co-chair concluded: “This year’s summit has reached new heights, with an outstanding level of invaluable industry knowledge presented, exchanged and demonstrated across the incredible two-day event. As the premier strategy conference for digital signage and DooH, we have wholeheartedly succeeded in bringing yet again another unmissable event, unravelling the major trends and showcasing the revolutionary technology that will influence our industry for the year ahead.”
