From AI to Sustainability: New Business Events Standards

From A for automation to U for urbanisation – last year’s FMS research process had started out by taking a close look at 13 megatrends as drivers of change, with a focus on how those trends bring about change in the business events ecosystem.

Tilman Naujoks (Fraunhofer IAO) kicked off the FMS online event on 27 January by providing an overview of these megatrends and introduced a heat map that illustrates how the 13 megatrends change the event lifecycle. This heat map identifies “hot spots“ with high relevance and a strong impact as well as “cold spots“ with less relevance. “We already know that AI, sustainability and demographic change impact on business events. However, it is essential to look at these factors in a broader context and identify other possible drivers of change,“ says Dr Stefan Rief, Head of the Organisational Development and Work Design Research Unit at Fraunhofer IAO. “This also reveals previously unknown trends that need to be equally considered.”

Recognising and Embracing Business Opportunities
The key questions of what will remain, disappear and newly emerge in the future of business events was then discussed by an interdisciplinary expert panel: astrophysicist Dr Tobias Moldenhauer (sci-an GmbH), digital nomad and management consultant Leonie Müller and Mathias Sondermann (Senior Director Experience Excellence, SAP) analysed and discussed the results based on their very specific perspectives and experiences.

Finally, the online attendees – logging in from six continents – were given an outlook on a total of five business opportunities that were identified and empirically evaluated in the course of the FMS research process. These product ideas were developed on the basis of the identified market changes, discussed with experts and are rooted in the heat map hot spots. Ideas such as “ExpertDetect”, a platform for speaker research, “EventTwin”, a digital twin for efficient event planning, or “LearnLoop”, a tool for the automated dispatch of learning nuggets, have the potential to add value to the business event ecosystem in the long term.

“The latest FMS research results emphasise once again that we need to remain flexible and adaptable in order to meet changing market conditions. The future of business events and the success of Germany as a destination for meetings and conferences relies on innovative solutions, the integration of technology and the consideration of the needs of different generations,” adds Matthias Schultze, Managing Director of the GCB.

A management summary with the key research results of FMS 2024 can be downloaded free of charge here. The complete Fraunhofer IAO research report will be published in February and can be requested from the GCB via email at info@gcb.de

Outlook 2025
In its 2025 research phase, the Future Meeting Space innovation network is focusing on the relationship between the two megatrends AI/automation and demographic change. The aim is to develop solutions that can help organisations deploy their professionals efficiently while at the same exploit the potential of automation. One of the key questions to be answered is which tasks and processes can be meaningfully automated using AI and robotics without compromising the quality and experience that business events provide.