Recap: SmartX Workshop at Textile Wearables in the World of IoT conference
The second SmartX workshop was organized in conjunction with Centexbel’s “Textile Wearables in the world of IoT” conference in Liège, Belgium on the 1st of October 2019.
The event was attended by a variety of industry experts, including innovators, designers, creative labs, technology providers, and economic promoters. Speakers from prominent research institutes, universities, and companies in the field of textiles addressed several timely topics, most notably “challenges in the textile application of electronics and IT for smart textiles and wearables in the context of a connected world.” [Read more about the conference in the article by one of SmartX partners, Sourcebook.]
During the workshop, participants learned how SmartX plans to select development projects to support in the field of smart textiles. The programme will fund up to 40 innovators over the next three years, aiming to bridge the industrial manufacturing gap that currently exists between a plethora of design prototypes and the growing market interest in smart textiles and wearables. [The Expression of Interest call is now open.]
The SmartX consortium was very proud to include a much-appreciated presentation by Mr. Andreas Lymberis, Head of the Wearables & Bioelectronics sector at DG CONNECT within the European Commission. Mr. Lymberis shared his views on the strategy to use in order to boost European leadership in the fast-evolving world of wearables. He also gave a sneak preview of the future opportunities offered by the Horizon Europe programme, which will succeed the Horizon 2020 programme in 2021.
SmartX Workshop at the Textile Wearables in the World of IoT conference
During the second part of the workshop, three companies were given the opportunity to share their experience with the development of smart textiles. Tajima demonstrated how they develop new types of embroidery machines to allow large-scale industrial manufacturing of smart textiles that incorporate electronic components. VdS Weaving and Desimone shared their experiences in finding the right partnerships to take the development of smart textiles from the prototype stage to the next level.
The conference concluded with a networking session.
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