AI, automation, and sustainability in the industry

Fair These will be the focal topics of the Hannover Messe

2024-02-22 Source: Press release from Deutsche Messe AG | Translated by AI 5 min Reading Time

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For the Hannover Messe, artificial intelligence is the key to a competitive and sustainable industry. Other topics visitors can look forward to.

At the press preview for the Hannover Messe 2024, there was a first comprehensive outlook on the topics and exhibitors of the fair.(Image: German Trade Fair plc) — At the press preview for the Hannover Messe 2024, there was a first comprehensive outlook on the topics and exhibitors of the fair.
(Image: German Trade Fair plc)

Strengthening competitiveness, protecting the climate, promoting prosperity – these are the major tasks that the industry faces today, according to Deutsche Messe AG. Innovative technologies are the key to overcoming these challenges. Jochen Köckler emphasized in the context of today's Hannover Messe Preview that although the challenges of the present are palpable for the industry as well, he sees no danger of deindustrialization in Germany. Instead, he emphasizes the importance of seeing the tasks at hand as opportunities.

The Hannover Messe aims to help companies answer the following questions: How can companies efficiently use automation, artificial intelligence, renewable energies, and hydrogen? And how can the looming deindustrialization of Europe be countered?

"In Hannover, technologies and solutions are presented that enable the industry to produce in a competitive and sustainable manner. The fair focuses on intelligent and CO₂-neutral production, AI, hydrogen, and cross-sector energy solutions," said Jochen Köckler, CEO of Deutsche Messe AG. "Our exhibitors will show that competitive industrial production in Europe is possible. However, this requires a regulatory framework that promotes innovation and entrepreneurship."

According to him, the solution lies in the interplay of automation, digitalization, and electrification, broad cross-industry and international collaboration, as well as a clear political course. Köckler: "With the keynote theme 'Energizing a Sustainable Industry', 4,000 exhibitors, high-caliber representatives from politics and business, and the partner country Norway, the Hannover Messe 2024 is the ideal platform for this."

More than 300 economic policy delegations are expected at the fair. It will be opened by Chancellor Scholz, who, along with the Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, will inaugurate the Hannover Messe. Furthermore, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Robert Habeck, will use the leading industrial fair to exchange views with representatives of the business community. "If substantial and lasting production and investment are to take place in Europe, then the bureaucratic burden must urgently be reduced, for example by faster planning and approval processes," Köckler appeals.

Among the exhibiting companies are global tech giants such as Accenture, AWS, Bosch, Dell Technologies, Google, Microsoft, SAP, Servicenow, Schneider Electric, or Siemens, as well as medium-sized technology leaders like Beckhoff, GP Joule, Ebm-papst, Ericsson, Festo, Turck, Harting, Ifm, Igus, Lapp, Pepperl+Fuchs, Phoenix Contact, Rittal, Schunk, SEW-Eurodrive, Wago, Wibu, or Ziehl-Abegg, renowned research institutes such as Fraunhofer or the KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), and more than 300 industrial startups.

Artificial Intelligence: The next level of industrial digitalization

For more than a decade, the Hannover Messe has seen itself as the most important fair for the digitalization of industry. With artificial intelligence, the next level of industrial digitalization is now being reached. It revolutionizes the industry by making processes more efficient and enabling new value creation. By using AI, companies can reduce development times as well as save resources and energy. Fabian Bause from Beckhoff Automation argued in his keynote at the preview to demystify AI and understand it as a tool, among other things for more automation. This allows people to focus on other tasks – such as the transition to a greener industry.

"The speed at which AI solutions are finding their way into the industry is breathtaking. Companies must invest now and, above all, introduce their employees to the opportunities offered by AI; otherwise, they will be left behind by the competition," Köckler emphasizes. "AI is the key to a competitive and sustainable industry."

At the Hannover Messe, concrete applications are on display: robots that can be controlled by voice, machines that automatically detect errors, or systems that reduce downtime through predictive maintenance. Köckler: "Generative AI will soon be able to design machines. This will lead to a fundamental change in the occupational profile of engineers."

When will the hydrogen economy arrive?

With the increasing use of volatile renewable energy sources, hydrogen as the suitable energy carrier for an emission-free economy is coming more and more into focus. In Hannover, around 500 exhibitors from the hydrogen and fuel cell sector are showcasing their solutions. Thus, according to its own claims, the Hannover Messe is the world's largest and most important fair on the subject of hydrogen.

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Köckler: "Hydrogen offers enormous opportunities as the green energy carrier. However, the current pace of implementation and scaling is insufficient." Establishing a hydrogen economy now requires bold political decisions in the regulatory area, intensive research and development for swift implementation, and the establishment of the necessary infrastructure for scaling. Only then can viable business models be established.

"At the Hannover Messe, we show what is technologically feasible, and we create the framework in which politics and industry can discuss and hopefully decide on a concrete roadmap towards a functioning hydrogen economy," says Köckler.

Partner country Norway

Norway is using the world stage of the Hannover Messe to present itself, among other things, as an innovative and reliable energy partner. The partner country's motto is "Norway 2024: Pioneering the Green Industrial Transition". With this, Norway aims to underline its claim to play a key role in the development of solutions in the field of renewable energies, CO₂-neutral production, carbon capture, and the digitalization of the industry. H.E. Laila Stenseng, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway in Germany, referred to the urgency of the ecological transformation. This year's partner country of the fair wants to act together with Germany as a pioneer in the industry.

At the "Renewable Dialogue – North Sea Energy Hub" conference on April 23, politicians and experts from Norway and Germany will discuss the energy transition, focusing on political frameworks as well as technological developments and applications. Köckler: "In Europe, Norway is a powerhouse for energy and digitalization. And it fits perfectly with the Hannover Messe."

European Union: Strong economic alliance

Two months before the elections in Europe, the European Union presents itself at the Hannover Messe as a strong economic alliance. Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, opens the program with a speech at the opening ceremony on April 21. The EU program during the fair includes the conference "Investing in European Industry" on April 22, where industry representatives can discuss topics such as the Green Deal with EU politicians.