If Integration Becomes the Priority

Digitalization and system integration are reshaping the landscape of trade fairs. While this may sound like an axiomatic statement, it is, in fact, a simple observation.

For decades, we have clung to the myth of hyperspecialization, fragmenting the market into countless silos that, even visually, evoked separation, lack of communication, and apparent self-sufficiency. Education itself aligned with market demands, promoting professionals who knew everything about a specific aspect of a problem but, almost always, lost sight of the bigger picture, even losing the sense of what they were doing and, in many respects, their sense of responsibility.

It was as if we had suddenly rebuilt the Tower of Babel, with a multitude of professionals speaking different languages and no longer communicating with one another.

Without realizing it, we rediscovered a common language through the digital revolution. The advent of binary language highlighted the need for integrating various systems—a hallmark of today’s complex ecosystems. In many ways, integration has quickly become more important than the individual elements of the system it oversees.

This shift has also transformed our approach to what we once called “trade fairs.” Today, we may need to consult the dictionary to redefine them, as they have become, above all, places where integration is tested—large laboratories involving entire supply chains.

One response to this need is MIBA, which, not coincidentally, omits any reference to fairs in its acronym and instead emphasizes “alliance.” But an alliance for what purpose, and why?

An alliance to represent the concept of integration that underpins modern construction, where building envelopes and systems interact seamlessly, aiming decisively at efficiency and innovation. An alliance because no one can single-handedly construct such a complex representation, and only the physical proximity of professionals from various fields can create that positive spark and bring about the necessary and indispensable integration, fostering a true professional community.

The challenge is one that tests your mettle, as it involves setting aside some successful events to create a new one—a conceptually new event that is infinitely more open to the future.

This is our challenge. This is what we successfully launched in 2023 and have been refining, improving, and opening to an increasingly European perspective for over a year, as befits Milan—a continental capital of innovation.

In Milan, this November, the challenge will be to shed an outdated framework that no longer fits and embrace a broader, forward-looking vision—one that is more “necessary.” A vision capable of helping us understand what we are doing and why.