Written by Paolo Azzoni / Maha Karim-Hosselet / Santus Kisoka / INSIDE Industry Association / Published on June 24, 2026

From 10 to 12 March 2026, the embedded systems market players gathered once again in Nuremberg for Embedded World, one of the world’s leading trade fairs for embedded technologies. With more than 36,000 visitors, over 1,200 exhibitors, representatives from more than 90 countries and five exhibition halls covering the entire spectrum of embedded technologies, the event confirmed its position as a key global meeting point for industry, research and innovation

A global marketplace for embedded technologies
Embedded World is often described as an exhibition. In reality, it is much more than that. It is a marketplace where technologies compete for attention, credibility and adoption. Companies come to showcase products, identify customers, establish partnerships and assess their competitive positioning. Research organisations come to demonstrate that their innovations can address real industrial challenges.

This distinction is important. Unlike many research conferences, where projects often present results primarily to other researchers, Embedded World exposes innovations to a much broader audience of industrial stakeholders, technology providers, investors and potential customers. Bringing research and innovation results into such an environment requires confidence, maturity and a willingness to engage directly with market realities.

For Europe, this transition from research visibility to market visibility is essential. Technological excellence alone is not enough. Innovation creates value only when it reaches adoption.

Building a European presence
Embedded World 2026 marked the third consecutive participation of INSIDE Industry Association, its members and the Chips JU demonstrating a sustained commitment to strengthening Europe’s visibility within the Electronic Components and Systems (ECS) ecosystem.

At the heart of this presence was a 128 m² pavilion bringing together sixteen European organisations from INSIDE community. The pavilion showcased expertise spanning chip design, artificial intelligence, embedded and cyber-physical systems, engineering automation, digital mobility solutions and other strategic technology domains.

More importantly, the pavilion represented far more than a collection of individual exhibitors. It provided a collective European showcase, demonstrating the richness, diversity and collaborative strength of the ECS community.

In an increasingly competitive global environment, visibility matters. Yet visibility alone is not enough. The real value of INSIDE pavilion lies in its ability to present Europe not as a set of isolated organisations, but as a connected ecosystem capable of delivering innovation across the entire value chain.

From visibility to impact
Throughout the three-day event, INSIDE pavilion became a busy spot for many demonstrations, networking activities and
business discussions.

INSIDE members interacted with industrial stakeholders, research organisations, and potential customers. There were many targeted meetings that allowed discussing future cooperation, business developments and market opportunities. The live demonstrations allowed visitors to see first- hand the latest technologies developed by INSIDE members and their potential use.

These results were much more than just raising visibility.

INSIDE members identified many promising business opportunities, many new customer contacts and discussions about future cooperation. In addition, the event was

helping achieve some broader European goals related to technological excellence, industrial competitiveness and faster implementation of innovations from research environments into practical application.

What is probably the key message of Embedded World is that innovation acquires its value through feedback from the market. It is important for technologies working well in the research environment to show their relevance in industrial domains. Events such as Embedded World provide us precisely this opportunity.

This is an important step in transforming research investments into industrial impact.

Supporting European SMEs on the global stage
A particularly important objective of this initiative is to support European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which represent the backbone of the Electronic Components and Systems community. For many SMEs, participating independently in a major international trade fair such as Embedded World can be challenging. Beyond the direct costs, companies must compete for visibility in an environment dominated by large multinational corporations with substantial marketing resources and established global brands.

INSIDE Industry Association helps to address this challenge by providing SMEs with a highly visible and credible platform from which to showcase their technologies, products and services. By participating as part of a coordinated European presence, INSIDE members benefit from increased visibility, access to a broader network of stakeholders and the institutional credibility associated with a recognised European initiative.

In this sense, this initiative is not only a showcase for technology. It is also a practical instrument for helping innovative European SMEs gain market exposure, establish new business relationships and transform research and innovation results into commercial opportunities.

Voice from the participating organisations
The feedback received from the participating organizations was very positive, and the following three themes kept recurring: visibility, collaboration, and credibility.

Several organizations stressed the advantage of being part of a collective European presence rather than a separate one. INSIDE pavilion allowed not only interaction with external parties but also collaboration among the players our ecosystem itself.

As Diego Grimani from Innovation River noted:
“Following an internal debriefing, we concluded that for Innovation River, Embedded World 2026 represented an unprecedented visibility opportunity. The event allowed us to meet many interesting people and organizations, and most
importantly it gave us the chance to introduce and present our company to a wider community. We sincerely thank you for the opportunity offered and for creating such a collaborative and dynamic environment.”

A similar perspective was shared by DAC. digital:
“Being part of the INSIDE Industry Association gave DAC.digital something that no trade show booth alone can provide: institutional context and the credibility that comes with it. Exhibiting at Embedded World 2026 under the INSIDE umbrella allowed us to show many years of engineering work across IoT, IIoT and multimodal agentic AI to the audience that understands it best.”

This sentiment was echoed by VERUM, who highlighted both the professional and collaborative atmosphere of the pavilion.
As they highlighted, “This year, the INSIDE booth was exceptionally versatile and full of familiar faces, which made it easy to spend the entire three days networking and sharing experiences within the booth itself. Embedded World resulted in several promising collaborations and interactions, and I can confidently say that these were three productive and well-spent days. The larger booth also attracted more attention to our stand, which was a great advantage. We are pleased to be part of INSIDE and grateful for the opportunity to showcase our company at Embedded World.”

These testimonials demonstrate one of the key aspects of the initiative: apart from individual business opportunities, INSIDE pavilion provides an environment where companies can showcase their presence within a wider perspective of European excellence and collaboration.

Looking forward
The success of Embedded World 2026 has already laid the foundations for an even more ambitious participation in 2027.
The next edition, which will coincide with the 25th anniversary of the event, will take place from 16 to 18 March 2027 in Nuremberg. Preparations are already underway with plans to expand INSIDE pavilion from 125 m² to 180 m², increase the number of participating members to more than twenty-four, strengthen marketing activities and further enhance the visibility of European innovation on the global stage.

Particular attention will be devoted to broadening participation across the ecosystem, including stronger engagement with the European Design Platform, Design Enablement Teams (DETs), European projects and industrial stakeholders.

The objectives remain clear: strengthen European visibility, expand the ecosystem, create new business opportunities and accelerate the path from innovation to industrial impact.

Embedded World 2026 demonstrated that Europe possesses world-class technologies, world-class expertise and a vibrant innovation ecosystem. Embedded World 2027 will focus on making these strengths even more visible, more connected and closer to the market.

Because ultimately, technological excellence achieves its full value only when it leaves the laboratory and succeeds in the marketplace.