Engagement Technologies and Data Aggregation stand out as Key Learnings from ISE 2023

Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), the world’s largest AV and systems integration exhibition took place in Barcelona, Spain earlier this year, and showcased global leading technology innovators and solutions providers across the industry.

Kevin Bierman, Head of Digital Signage at Moving Tactics, South Africa’s leading digital signage solutions company, and member of the Global Signage Alliance (GSA), attended this year’s ISE where he led a Tech Talk as part of the official ISE program on ‘Developing New Revenue Streams with Engaging Digital Signage’. “ISE 2023 was an eye-opener and we experienced first-hand the latest technology solutions and emerging trends within the industry. The biggest key takeaway from ISE 2023 was the engagement technology that’s being brought into play. Serving as data collection points, the use of engagement pieces such as touchscreens, interactive sensors, queue management and camera technology in brick-and-mortar environments create bidirectional data feeds. This data, collected in real-time, can be used to create more personalised in-store experiences for customers,” says Bierman.

With a plethora of technologies being used as engagement pieces in-store, what surprised Bierman most at the ISE was that, until recently, there wasn’t one supplier or sensor technology that was able to collect data from these various engagement pieces within a physical space and aggregate it. “We did find one company that offers this solution, and we are very excited that we have been able to sign up as their reseller in Southern Africa.

“In much the same way that data is collected and utilised online, this aggregation tool can provide retailers, business owners, and brand and marketing managers with similar analytical data and capabilities, but in a brick-and-mortar environment. This will provide them with a better understanding of their walk-in customers and what they are engaging with at any given time and help pinpoint their marketing initiatives more effectively,” explains Kevin Bierman.

“Another key takeaway from ISE 2023, was the realisation that as a South African-based business in an emerging market, we are already utilising the best technology to the best of our ability. We excel at utilising best practices from Europe and the best-in-breed technology and adapting them and finding innovative solutions to the challenges we face in our local environment in Africa, and we’re able to do this more cost-effectively and efficiently,” adds Bierman.

Among the latest trends at the exhibition was sustainability. Bierman concludes, “In a not-so-green industry, it was great to see an emphasis on sustainability and the approaches that larger technology suppliers are taking to deliver more sustainable and environmentally friendly digital signage solutions. One stand that really stood out to us was Samsung’s, whose eco-conscious efforts include utilising recycled materials from old products and ocean-bound plastics across their products”.