From 9 to 11 May next year, LABVOLUTION 2023 in Hannover will demonstrate its development into a new hub for the topics of laboratory digitalization, artificial intelligence and sustainability.

As a recognized trade fair for laboratory equipment and automation, LABVOLUTION reflects the events of the past years in a special way: The Corona pandemic caused a forced hiatus of the event in 2021 and, at the same time, significantly shorter innovation cycles for the industries that traditionally present themselves at LABVOLUTION.

Carola Triebsch, LABVOLUTION Project Director at Deutsche Messe, sums up the consequences of the past months' events: "There are so many new developments around the smart lab – especially in the fields of digitalization, artificial intelligence and sustainability, which are important across all areas of life – that everyone is eagerly looking forward to the first regular LABVOLUTION after four years".

For the exhibitors of the laboratory world, the significance of the LABVOLUTION is just as crucial as the proven trade fair infrastructure in Hannover. In this context, Konrad M. Wagner, Managing Director of LDB Labordatenbank GmbH, emphasizes above all the role of LABVOLUTION as a business platform: "In 2023, LABVOLUTION is the most important trade fair for generating leads and meeting contacts in the laboratory sector. The good accessibility in Hanover thereby attracts customers, which we would otherwise not meet at trade fairs."

For Christian Völk, Marketing Manager at DÜPERTHAL Sicherheitstechnik GmbH & Co. KG, the mainfocus is on networking opportunities: "The LABVOLUTION enables us to have a focused exchange with users on the latest digital developments in the laboratory". Völk also points out one of the highlights of the upcoming LABVOLUTION: "Especially in the context of the smartLAB, new solutions are prominently showcased and we can actively discuss the current trends with visitors in a practical way."

smartLAB presents new prospects for the laboratory world

As a special display on the laboratory of the future, the smartLAB provides a realistic vision of future working environments for researchers, development departments and quality managers, in which artificial intelligence will play a decisive role in turning smart laboratories into game-changers. For next year's smartLAB, renowned partners from science and industry are joining forces for the fourth time to show the professional world both groundbreaking and practice-oriented examples from the fields of automation, information technology, sensor technology and big data.

This year, the main partner for the smartLAB is SmartLab Solutions, a team from Dresden whose focus is on the planning and realization of all-in-one solutions in laboratory digitalization. "The smartLAB at LABVOLUTION 2023 will offer new perspectives on current challenges to the world of laboratories," announces Carola Triebsch. "We are thus creating a magnet for visitors which will also give laboratory equipment suppliers access to new target groups. In this way, we are fulfilling one of the most important tasks of a trade fair: Bringing people together to solve challenges ahead in a joint effort." There is a great willingness to invest, especially in the IT sector.

According to the current Fall Economic Barometer 2022 of the Association of Independent Testing Laboratories (Verband unabhängiger Prüflaboratorien, or VUP), almost half of the respondents (45%) report that they plan additional investments. At the same time, the survey reveals a growing concern about a potential energy crisis and the increasingly limited availability of laboratory supplies – issues for which well-implementable answers must be found by the industry at LABVOLUTION 2023.

Guest appearance in Hanover for Berlin's Gläserne Labor Akademie

The foundation for this is in place – with smartLAB but also with Gläserne Labor Akademie (engl. Transparent Laboratory Academy), short GLA, from Berlin, Germany. Because the GLA will take up the central topics of digitalization, miniaturization and sustainability with a Laboratory 4.0 workshop at LABVOLUTION 2023. The offer is aimed primarily at technical employees and laboratory technicians in the life sciences, who can not only attend the workshop and trade fair free of charge, but will also receive GLA certificates for completing the workshop.

The GLA has been organizing in-service qualification with seminars, workshops and laboratory internships for natural scientists and technical employees in the life sciences for more than 20 years. With its attractive location at the Berlin-Buch campus, the GLA is in the direct vicinity of around 60 innovative biotech and medical technology companies and renowned research institutions such as the Max Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association and the Leibniz Research Institute for Molecular Pharmacology (FMP). The GLA, which is thereby optimally integrated into the research universe, plays a central role for three days in Hanover.

Labs are no longer working properly without software

Like the GLA, the Software and LIMS Area is also one of the highlights of LABVOLUTION 2023. This area for laboratory information and management systems – LIMS for short – organized by LABORPRAXIS does justice to the development that labs can no longer work without software. Whether it is a LIM system, an electronic lab book or data evaluation software – modern laboratories can only work efficiently with special programs. A comprehensive overview of the current state of laboratory software will be provided in the Software and LIMS Area by expert and manufacturer presentations, which will show the potential of laboratory digitalization from the user's point of view.

Future can only be shaped with sustainability

Because the issues of the laboratory sector cannot be viewed in isolation from the rest of the world, the Sustainability Day, which will once again be held at LABVOLUTION, is becoming increasingly important. The Sustainability Day, featured in cooperation with the Freiburg-based NIUB sustainability consultancy – NIUB stands for Nachhaltigkeit (sustainability), Informieren (inform), Umsetzen (implement), Begleiten (accompany) – will work together with LABVOLUTION visitors and exhibitors to find answers on how the laboratory sector can take responsibility for our society.

The contributions that can be made in the laboratory to enable future generations to live in an ecologically healthy and fair world will thus become a central theme of LABVOLUTION 2023 in Hannover.

The next LABVOLUTION will be held from 9 to 11 May 2023 at the Hannover Exhibition Centre.

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