The 2023 edition consolidated the DroneShow, MundoGEO Connect and SpaceBR Show as one of the main technology events in the world. By integrating, in the same site, exhibitors and a programme of courses, seminars, forums and workshops about drones, geotechnology and space, it has become the largest meeting on the entire planet that enhances connections and business synergies between these sectors.
Over three days in May this year, the event organized by MundoGEO brought together 5,700 visitors from 33 countries and received 120 exhibitors at the Frei Caneca Convention Center, in São Paulo. It was such a success that the next edition will be held at Expo Center Norte, an even larger venue in the city of São Paulo, between May 21 and 23, 2024, with the expectation of receiving 7,000 people.
The growth of the event has been constant in recent years, including with results better than the pre-pandemic period. In 2019, for example, there were 3,800 visitors and 80 exhibiting companies, a number already surpassed in 2022 – 4,200 participants and 84 exhibitors – and surpassed again this year. It is worth mentioning that in 2020 and 2021 the editions were held in a 100% online format.
Integrated sectors
Part of this leap is due to the integration of the space sector to the event that already brought together companies, specialists and public entities of drones and geotechnology. SpaceBR Show started in 2021 with only online seminars. The following year, with the resumption of the face-to-face fair, it was possible to fully integrate the programme and the physical environment.
Despite three different names, to serve specific markets, it is just one event that takes full advantage of the synergy and connections between sectors. This is because drones, geotechnologies and space services and products are closely linked and it would not make sense to separate them. By integrating them, exhibitors and visitors end up winning.
“This decision [to integrate the space sector] was extremely correct, as they are all part of the same ecosystem. Currently there is a great complementarity between solutions based on satellites, which are increasingly accessible, and on drones”, comments the president of Visiona Tecnologia Espacial, João Paulo Campos. The joint venture between Embraer Defense & Security and Telebras, for example, operates strongly in the remote sensing and satellite development sectors.
“The decision to bring together geo, drones and space sectors at the same event was very correct. After all, the three segments deal with geo-information’, that is, ‘information with geographic context’. In the end, the difference is mainly in the origin of the information: terrestrial, aerial or orbital sensors. The goal is the same. The public has the opportunity to assess the state-of-the-art of these technologies in a single space and decide which ones make sense to adopt”, adds the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Santiago & Cintra and Geo Agri and Member of Board of Directors of SSCON, Eduardo Oliveira.
The company, by the way, has followed the fair since the beginning of the 2000s, when it still gathered only the geoinformation community, and followed a similar path. This is because it added drones and space solutions to its portfolio, just as it did with MundoGEO Connect when it integrated the first DroneShow, in 2015, and the SpaceBR Show in 2022.
The CEO of XMobots, Giovani Amianti, points out that the end customers of the three sectors are the same and what basically changes is the service method. “And having all the technologies together in a single event is interesting because it’s not a technology event per se. Of course there is an interesting segmentation of space, drones and geo, with players of the same segment together. But on the other hand, the fact that everything happens together helps because the customers are the same”, he says.
This aspect creates a favorable room for doing business between exhibitors and visitors. It is not by chance that there is, on the part of the visitors, a massive acceptance of the integration between the sectors. “According to our surveys, 97% of event attendees approve that we hold the events together, as many public and private companies, as well as service providers, need the use of integrated solutions for air, orbital and land surveys to capture reality, make analyzes and make decisions”, emphasizes MundoGEO CEO, Emerson Granemann.
Room for growth
The event organized by MundoGEO has always stood out regionally, in Latin America, but recent growth has gone beyond this geographic border. This year, for example, participants from the United States and several European countries, and even from China, visited the Frei Caneca Convention Center. In addition, in the programme of seminars and forums, speakers from other countries were present.
The numbers reached by the DroneShow, MundoGEO Connect and SpaceBR Show become even more relevant when compared to events held in economically stronger markets, such as the United States, Europe and Asia. In numbers of participants, it is among the seven largest events in the world in similar formats and themes, which demonstrates the strength of the trade fair and, mainly, the courses, seminars and forums.
“A very important point that solidifies our leadership in Latin America in the organization of fairs is the MundoGEO Portal, which publishes content in three languages and holds online events related to the areas of geotechnologies, drones, space, autonomous mobile robotics and eVTOL, keeping communities of professionals who belong to the productive chain of these sectors and their respective users engaged and updated”, points out Granemann.
The integration of the drone, geotechnologies and space sectors is the main highlight of the MundoGEO event and is what will allow it to continue growing in the coming years, including the possibility of adding new markets to the program. The first steps, by the way, have already been taken in 2023, with the holding of the 1st eVTOL Forum – Challenges and Opportunities and the 1st Mobile Robotics Forum, both within the main event, already anticipating the segments that will be more effectively present in 2024 and subsequent years.