What it's digital signage today? and what will it be tomorrow?

garantire che i dati di terze parti siano al sicuro. La GDPR e gli altri temi relativi alla privacy dei dati sono obbligatori già da anni e gestiti professionalmente dalla stragrande maggioranza del mercato. I consumatori rimangono riluttanti a condividere informazioni private con rivenditori e altre organizzazioni, ma questo differisce sostanzialmente da paese a paese. Torniamo all’ambiente. L'agenda delle aziende IT sembra coinvolgere sempre più spesso i temi della sostenibilità ambientale. Il green signage, allo stato attuale delle cose, non è un’opzione, è essenziale. Ciò implica un aumento dell'efficienza energetica, una riduzione dell'impatto ambientale (produzione, materiali, logistica) e un consolidamento dell'economia circolare (uso più lungo dei dispositivi, ristrutturazione, riparazione e sostituzione). Attualmente, l'80% della carbon footprint del settore viene prodotta durante la costruzione: è questa la leva principale per migliorare la sostenibilità.

A due anni dall'inizio della pandemia, quali sono le principali innovazioni e limiti nel nostro utilizzo della tecnologia? Come sono cambiate le richieste degli utenti? È interessante notare che il comportamento degli utenti è cambiato molto meno di quanto ci aspettassimo inizialmente. I touch screen vengono nuovamente utilizzati per ordinare cibo nei fast food, ai clienti piace tornare nei negozi fisici, e gli ambienti offline e online (tramite digital e mobile signage) devono essere completamente integrati. I consumatori si aspettano un’esperienza senza interruzioni su tutte le piattaforme. Oggi, tuttavia, i budget sono più limitati, e la crisi energetica, oltre alla guerra in Ucraina, sta danneggiando l'economia globale. Le sfide economiche hanno sostituito i problemi della pandemia, e questo sta avendo un effetto a catena sugli investimenti nel DS.

Quale sarà il futuro delle tecnologie XR, AR e VR? La realtà aumentata (AR) è un partner ideale per il DS, in quanto collega il mondo reale e virtuale, riunendoli in nuovi concept utili per tutto il comparto (si pensi solo ai camerini virtuali creati dai grandi rivenditori di moda). La realtà virtuale (VR) si è invece rivelata più difficile da implementare nei punti vendita e negli spazi pubblici; forse questo cambierà con la crescente popolarità del Metaverso. 

Digital Signage Summit Europe 2022

What is Digital Signage today? And what will it be tomorrow?

Raffaele Pavoni

Integrated digital signage is becoming crucial in an increasing number of markets. System integrators, Cloud platforms, software: everything seems to be being redefined, but towards what scenario? This is the starting question of the Digital Signage Summit Europe 2022

The DDS took place in Munich between 6 and 7 July, organised by Invidis Consulting and Integrated Systems Events, which returned to taking place in person, after the hiatus of the last two years. As usual, the programme took place over two days offering various "tracks", including green trends in the DS and industry trends, and a lot of networking with over 15 partners, including Wapiiti, Samsung, Sharp / NEC, LG , Brightsign etc. The basic idea of this edition was the "business-critical" nature of Digital Signage, that is the belief that Digital Signage has become an integral part of many and very different business models, and that the technological requirements to be met have become higher than in the past. At the same time, market demands are increasingly specific, and an increasingly customised offer is required to respond effectively.

Florian Rotberg and Stefan Schieker, presidents of the DSE, have no doubts: emblematic, say the two, are the breakdowns

of Digital Signage at Gatwick airport (London), at a McDonald's in Munich, at a train station in Tehran. All these examples have led to the temporary closure of the service, and show us the strategic importance of the Digital Signage industry as a decisive factor for the fate of your business. In this sense, Schieker notes, change is not inherent so much in technologies as in their role within a working, social, or relational context in a broad sense. In this direction, for example, the theme of the API (Application Programming Interface) also goes, recurrent and perceived as central by many of the participants of the German event, as well as that of the socalled "failure-proof" technologies, capable of communicating and repairing remotely a possible system error. Add to this, then, the short-term challenges, such as the problems of the supply chain and inflation, which lead to further questioning about the long-term evolution of a sector that has already profoundly changed compared to a few years ago. What began as a "hang-and-bang" market has in fact developed into complex Connected Signage systems (DS 3.0), up to the now so-called "Digital Signage 4.0". In this sense, it becomes necessary both to monitor the current state of consolidation of technologies and markets, and to rethink the new role of integrators and IT departments, and the business models that seem more viable in the direction of more simplified and accessible technological systems. There is a running theme of environmental protection and the reduction of consumption, always under the stimulus of the international crisis in progress. Particularly interesting, in this sense, is the panel "Repair, reuse, refurbishment - Reinventing the hardware life cycle", where it is assumed that CEOs usually know IT costs very well, but hardly anyone knows energy costs. This will definitely have to enter the managers' agendas in the very short term. The Market Compass section is also new and interesting, which offers in-depth geographical information on the countries of Northern Europe, on the DACH (German-speaking) areas, on North America, on the Middle East and on the “post-Brexit” United Kingdom. Also important are the "Deep Dives" on metaverse and green signage, as well as the panel on IoT sensors and the socalled pDooH (programmatic Digital Out of Home), an evolution of DooH that aims to automate the process of purchasing, selling, and delivering digital products on screens. Finally, the Strategy Awards were assigned, an annual award that celebrates excellence in the sector in six categories ("shared spaces", "green signs", "business critical", "innovation", "rising star", "sector leadership").

Interview with Florian Rotberg We talked about the key areas of this with Florian Rotberg, so let’s heat from Florian

DSS EUROPE 2022 represented an opportunity to re-discuss the present and the future of the rules and protocols of the DS. What is the state of the art? What challenges await companies in the coming years? DSS Europe was a great opportunity for the industry to meet and discuss not only the major issues relating to Digital Signage, but also the opportunities. There are three key areas that emerged during the summit. The first is that hardware technology is becoming a commodity with ever tighter market margins, and companies must increasingly look to software and services to differentiate themselves. These offerings will help them add value and deliver creative solutions that allow their customers to thrive. The second challenge for our industry is the new competition underway, which however can also be seen as an opportunity. Integrators and pan-European companies such as M-Cube, Trison, Mood Media and Zeta Display are building international networks, and there is also a lot of competition coming from IT integrators (especially in corporate projects). Finally, we also see competition from customers' IT departments themselves, as DS is becoming business-critical, and customers want to manage these perceived essential systems internally. Finally, the third major topic of the DSSE was green signage. More and more customers are looking for sustainable ways of running their business, and the DS industry must take responsibility for providing answers. During DSS Europe we talked at length about the solutions and projects that are setting the benchmarks for green signage in the sector. What do you think will be the business model of the future? In particular, are the P&P (plug and play) features of certain products effectively redefining the market? What is the role of systems integration departments in this new scenario? While P&P (or All-in-One) has become common in the company (collaboration, meeting room solutions, etc.) it is less so in retail, DooH and other vertical integration systems. There is great potential for LED screen All-in-One (AiO) solutions, which offer more flexible installation options. However, standalone LED solutions can be quite expensive as an option, and more limiting when it comes to planning and installation. This is especially true within corporate projects, where most LEDs follow a standard resolution and aspect ratio, and the main content is often comprised of PowerPoint presentations or Excel files. In most other applications, AiO is not really a viable solution, as the complexity lies more in integrating a backend platform (ERP, CRM) and monitoring and maintaining networks than installing the visual solution. The added value for the integrators concerns the concept design, the integration of third-party platforms and the assistance and maintenance: these are the services that are, overall, most recurrent.

During the summit, there was talk of Artificial Intelligence linked to the DS, what is the main objective of these technologies? Their ability to learn from user behaviour and data. The main advantage of AI is that it is a continuous learning system, which allows us to combine multiple data sources and helps us develop solutions to better satisfy customer requests and user behaviours.

Speaking of data: is there a growing demand for this type of service (data mining, database systems, etc.) or is the DS becoming more “institutionalised” and brand awareness oriented? What is your opinion on this topic? Data collection and analysis has become a fundamental requirement for leading an effective business and making strategic decisions. However, most companies have more data than they can analyse. We believe it will become essential to better understand the insights behind this data: not trying, in other words, to empty the ocean with a spoon, but to find smarter ways to know what to look for within this vast sea.

How has the Taiwanese microchip crisis triggered or is likely to trigger problems in the supply chain? The microchip crisis will continue until 2023, but supply constraints are much less severe than six months ago. For advanced semiconductors there are no problems, but the availability of entry level CPUs is still critical. However, as the Western world heads into a recession over the next few months, we will see a drop in CPU demand which will therefore improve availability across the board.

Is there a big gap between the proposals of the companies and the digital culture of the users, be they companies or professionals in the sector? Absolutely yes. Most DS use cases are still very basic and not sophisticated enough. In fact, at the beginning of the process, many customers ask for creative and totally connected concepts. Once they realise that much of the work consists in continuously feeding the system with content and data, they generally opt for a simpler solution. The exception to this is large corporate customers with a professional back-end infrastructure, which then can provide the necessary manpower, data and budget. What are the biggest data security challenges? Is this a topic that end customers really care about or is it something businesses need to worry about in order to maintain a reputation? Cyber security is always very important when data is processed and the DS is no exception. As a result, pressure is growing on DS vendors to certify their operations (ISO 27001) to ensure third-party data is secure. The GDPR and other data privacy issues have been mandatory for years and professionally managed by the vast majority of the market. Consumers remain reluctant to share private information with retailers and other organisations, but this differs substantially from country to country. Let's go back to the environment. The agenda of IT companies seems to involve issues of environmental sustainability increasingly more often. Green signage, as things currently stand, is not an option, it is essential. This implies an increase in energy efficiency, a reduction of the environmental impact (production, materials, logistics) and a consolidation of the circular economy (longer use of devices, renovation, repair, and replacement). Currently, 80% of the sector's carbon footprint is produced during construction: this is the main lever for improving sustainability. Two years after the start of the pandemic, what are the main innovations and limitations in our use of technology? How have user requests changed? Interestingly, user behaviour has changed much less than we initially expected. Touch screens are being used again to order food in fast food outlets, customers like to return to brick-and-mortar stores, and offline and online environments (via digital and mobile signage) need to be fully integrated. Consumers expect a seamless experience across all platforms. Today, however, budgets are more limited, and the energy crisis, as well as the war in Ukraine, is damaging the global economy. Economic challenges have replaced the problems of the pandemic, and this is having a ripple effect on investment in the DS. What will be the future of XR, AR and VR technologies? Augmented reality (AR) is an ideal partner for the DS, as it connects the real and virtual world, bringing them together in new concepts useful for the whole sector (think only of the virtual dressing rooms created by large fashion retailers). Virtual reality (VR), on the other hand, has proved more difficult to implement in retail outlets and public spaces; perhaps this will change with the growing popularity of the Metaverse. 

DS Business critical: per saperne di più

Parte di questi temi sono oggetto di un volume liberamente scaricabile dal sito dell’associazione. Nel report sono disponibili analisi di mercato relative a molti più paesi rispetto al passato, con un focus speciale su USA e Canada. La sezione Tecnologia è dedicata ai più importanti sviluppi dell'anno, con un capitolo sui sistemi SoC e software. Nella sezione DooH, l’attenzione è invece rivolta agli scenari futuri di Smart City e Programmatic. In Digital Signage 101, infine, è stata compilata per la prima volta una guida per i clienti finali, in particolare per quanto riguarda il settore della vendita al dettaglio. Si tratta, in definitiva, di uno strumento utile per chiunque intenda approcciarsi al mondo del Digital Signage con una consapevolezza delle evoluzioni del mercato, nonché delle tecnologie esistenti e in fase di lavorazione.

DS Business critical: find out more

Part of these issues are the subject of a volume freely downloadable from the association's website. Market analysis is available in the report for many more countries than ever before, with a special focus on the USA and Canada. The Technology section is dedicated to the most important developments of the year, with a chapter on SoC systems and software. In the DooH section, the focus is instead on the future scenarios of Smart City and Programmatic. Finally, in Digital Signage 101 it was compiled as a guide for end customers, particularly with regard to the retail sector. Ultimately, it is a useful tool for anyone who intends to approach the world of Digital Signage with an awareness of market developments, as well as of existing technologies and in the process of being worked on.