Let’s talk about it

In industry, politics and the media, at meetings, confe­rences and trade fairs, there’s no way now of ignoring digitalisation and the Internet of Things (IoT). In November 2018, BMA hosted a symposium under the motto “Smart enough? The sugar industry in the digital age“.

It is not enough for businesses to support the development and use of digital technologies. They also need to talk to their business partners – to identify shared opportunities, build networks, and forge collaborative partnerships.

Hence BMA’s invitation to the one-day symposium. Around 70 people from four continents came to Braunschweig, including decision-makers from the sugar industry, as well as IT, marketing and legal experts. The symposium agenda approached digitalisation from different angles. It met the expectations of developers and users, and addressed the legal framework, which sets limits to progress here and there.

The symposium also focused on the development of the smart4sugar platform from BMA. This illustrated beautifully to our guests the opportunities offered by digitalisation projects, in terms of adding value and offering new business models. The presentations were followed by ­animated discussions between the speakers, with plenty of opportunity for many questions from the audience.

So what have we learned? First of all, that digitalisation is, in fact, well under way in some places. And that it offers many opportunities for the sugar industry – you just have to grab them. Just like BMA.