Standards for global development

IEC e-TECH

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How does IEC work contribute to global development? E-tech delves into the major theme of this year’s General Meeting (GM) in Hamburg, with a special focus on Germany’s contributions.

Each developing country faces its own unique set of challenges. But international standards have a critical role to play in ensuring new technologies, such as clean energy, are applied to  meet those challenges in the most effective and economic way possible.

Germany is a key player

Germany is the world's largest contributor to international development aid, making EUR 26 billion (over USD 29 bn) in public development funding available in 2025, according to the OECD. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) is the federal enterprise responsible for development.

Among the schemes it supports is EnDev (Energizing Development), a global partnership that has helped bring modern energy services to more than 36 million people around the world. “Quality standards and conformity assessment are critical to expanding access to clean energy technologies across developing markets,” says Till Serafimov, Technical Lead at EnDev. “Consumer trust is fundamental to market development. People will only adopt technologies if they believe they are safe, reliable and effective.”

The sustainable energy transition depends on technologies such as solar and wind power being safe, efficient and interoperable wherever they are deployed. “Whether a system is being used in Namibia or in Germany, common standards can help provide a basis for achieving shared goals with those technologies,” says Henrike Gördes, Head of Governance at DKE, the German National Committee of the IEC and host of this year’s IEC GM in Hamburg.

Contributing to global development starts with international cooperation, she says. “Standards developed in isolation cannot address technologies and supply chains that are increasingly cross border. International cooperation, participation and exchange are the foundation for developing standards that can support global development.”

EnDev’s standards-based approach to development

Funded by Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland and coordinated by GIZ and RVO, EnDev works to improve access to clean cooking technology and renewable electricity through a market-based approach. Rather than focusing solely on technology deployment, the programme seeks to build sustainable energy markets that can continue to grow independently. “Our core objective is to promote functioning markets,” explains Serafimov. “We believe that private sector-led market development is the most efficient and durable way to scale clean energy technologies.”

Standards and product quality sit at the centre of this strategy. “In many countries, early experiences with poor-quality cookstoves or solar products damaged consumer confidence and slowed market uptake. Without performance and safety standards, products can enter the market without adequate testing, damaging consumer confidence and, ultimately, slowing down market development.”

From clean cooking stoves to solar power

As a result, EnDev has invested heavily in strengthening testing infrastructure, standards development and certification systems. In Rwanda, for example, EnDev supported the Rwanda Standards Board , an ISO member, in developing testing capacity for clean cookstoves. Through investments in laboratory facilities, staff training and institutional development, certification timelines were reduced from around six months to just a few weeks. EnDev aligns its clean cooking work with international standards such as ISO 19867‑1 for biomass cookstoves and has supported similar initiatives in Madagascar, Benin, Sierra Leone and Bangladesh.

The organization is also increasingly focused on electric cooking (eCooking) which is gaining momentum as a pathway to cleaner household energy use. “eCooking can be emissions-free at the point of use,” Serafimov explains. “However, the growth of eCooking also requires the development and enforcement of appropriate technical standards.” EnDev works with organizations including Modern Energy Cooking Services, CLASP and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to promote standards for electric cookstoves and other energy efficient appliances across several African and Asian markets.

IEC is also supporting clean cooking on the ground. One of the projects of the organization’s Impact Alliance aims to accelerate access to clean cooking solutions in communities that need it most. “Household air pollution, mostly from cooking smoke, is linked to around 3,7 million premature deaths a year. Cleaner technologies such as electric cookstoves exist, but limited access to electricity remains a major barrier to their use. We aim to bring standardization and conformity assessment more prominently into this sector to ensure more people have access to clean cooking solutions,” says Dr Matthew Doherty, Senior Advisor for the IEC Impact Alliance.

Another Impact Alliance project is with Differ Community Power (DCP), an international provider of solar energy services, which repurposed used electric car batteries to revive dead or dormant solar panels at rural schools and health centres in Kenya. This scalable project is designed to connect communities and reduce e-waste at the same time.

Quality assurance is especially important in the solar sector. EnDev supports internationally recognized certification schemes such as VeraSol for pico-solar products and solar home systems, based on IEC Technical Specification 62257­­‑9‑8. The IEC 62257 series of technical specifications cover recommendations for small renewable hybrid systems for rural electrification. The series has been recognized by both the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the World Bank. The series can be accessed by developing nations at a much-discounted price.

IECEE, the IEC System of Conformity Assessment (CA) Scheme for Electrotechnical Equipment and Components, addresses 23 different product categories, including solar PV parts and modules, while IECRE, the IEC System for Certification to Standards Relating to Equipment for Use in Renewable Energy Applications, provides third party certification and testing services for all power plants producing, storing, or converting energy from wind, marine and solar PV energy. “The standards assess product quality and safety through rigorous testing,” Serafimov explains. Products are evaluated for durability, battery performance and safety, helping consumers distinguish reliable products from lower-quality alternatives.

“From EnDev’s perspective, conformity assessment is not simply a regulatory requirement," he says. “It is a core market-development tool. Without trusted testing and certification systems, consumers lose confidence, quality companies struggle to compete, and market growth is ultimately undermined.”

Digital product passports can be a tool for global development

The key contribution to cementing and progressing a global industrial circular economy is the Digital Product Passport (DPP), for the time being mostly a European initiative. DKE has contributed significantly to driving its development and, now, its adoption. Its potential depends on creating a trusted, interoperable infrastructure that works internationally.

“The DPP is an enabler of trust, particularly trust in data,” explains Gördes. “The innovation is not simply the passport itself but the infrastructure behind it. DPP is a trusted and interoperable way of exchanging information about products.” The passport is expected to provide information about a product across its lifecycle and supply chain - where materials and components come from, how a product was manufactured and other relevant information, including how it operates and when it may need to be reviewed.

A product may contain multiple materials and components, each with its own origins and supply-chain information. A DPP could create greater accountability in production. “A DPP is not a solution to every problem in global supply chains,” she says. “What it can do is provide better access to information. If someone wants to examine particular aspects of a product - its environmental impact, for example, or the people involved in its production - the DPP could provide access to relevant information from which conclusions can be drawn.”

DKE’s role is to contribute to that international standardization process, while working with government ministries and regulators. A significant step came with the inauguration of the new joint committee between ISO and IEC on DPPs, IEC/ISO JTC 5. “The challenge now is to build consensus,” Gördes says. “Different regions and markets have different views about what the initial focus of a DPP should be, what information should be transmitted and how the underlying infrastructure should operate. Regulators and stakeholders in Europe and Asia, for example, may have different requirements and expectations.”

Bringing those perspectives together will be essential if the DPP is to support different markets while maintaining international interoperability. “The real value lies in creating infrastructure through which information can be exchanged consistently and accessed by those who need it,” she says.

EnDev has not worked on DPPs in the EU regulatory sense. However, many elements of its work are aligned with the DPP logic: digital product and sales data, operational monitoring, traceability for results verification and after-sales information. All essential in a global development perspective.

 

Call my agent! Agentic AI begins buying media advertising

IBC

AI agents have the potential to automate media transactions at scale but today’s focus is less about fully autonomous workflows and more on experimentation and efficiencies.

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Agentic AI is rapidly gaining traction across connected TV (CTV) advertising, particularly behind the scenes where it is helping broadcasters and streaming platforms automate operational workflows, improve efficiency and accelerate new business models. However, according to executives from Bitmovin, Yospace and FreeWheel the industry is still in the early stages of understanding how agentic AI will fit into premium video buying and selling.

James Varndell, VP Product at Bitmovin, says operational adoption has accelerated significantly over the past six months.

“We're seeing agentic AI being used to speed up content preparation and enable more dynamic business models,” he explains.

A recent Bitmovin activation with Australia's Nine Entertainment is one example. The broadcaster wanted to introduce ad-supported streaming services and FAST channels alongside its subscription offering. Using AI tools, Nine analysed a library of approximately 17,000 assets to identify optimal ad break locations.

“Doing that manually would have taken a huge amount of time,” said Varndell. "By using AI agents, they were able to process the content much faster and launch their new ad-supported business significantly sooner.”

This shift reflects a broader trend across the industry.

“Rather than teams doing all the analysis themselves, agents are increasingly performing the analysis and then advertising teams review the output. It helps organisations move faster and operate more efficiently.”

According to Jeff Ellin, VP of Product Architecture at FreeWheel, the industry is still working through some fundamental questions around agentic buying and selling.

“People are trying to figure out what inventory they want to make available and what buyers actually want agents to do,” he says. “Do buyers want quick forecasts? Do they want to execute campaigns? Update campaigns? The idea of agents talking autonomously with each other is very real and will scale over time, but it's still very early.”

Testing the possibilities

FreeWheel, a Comcast-owned advertising technology company, participated in a proof-of-concept with NBCUniversal, agency RPA and Newton Research. Announced in January, the initiative demonstrated what the companies described as the first cross-platform agentic media buy spanning both linear television and streaming inventory. The initial execution centred on premium sports inventory, including NBC's Sunday Night Football.

Current implementations remain largely one-to-one. Buyers and sellers are building agents, connecting them and learning from initial deployments.

“Everyone is testing,” he says. “Some buyers are quite bullish on it, while others are more cautious.”

For live sports in particular, fully autonomous decision-making remains some distance away.

“The idea of agents autonomously agreeing a price for premium CTV inventory around something like SNF is not where the market is today,” Ellin says. “For lower-value, long-tail inventory, that might make more sense. For premium sports inventory, that's a very different conversation.

“Live sporting events are difficult to scale programmatically because of the speed and scale required," Ellin explains. “Sports actually became a really good use case because if I can sell inventory more directly and reduce reliance on SSPs and DSPs along the way, I may be able to solve some of those scaling challenges.”

Historically, a buyer might contact a sales representative to secure inventory. In the agentic workflow, a buyer interacted through a conversational interface, specifying the inventory requirements. The seller-side agent returned available inventory, and the buyer was able to complete the transaction through the automated workflow.

“The execution of the ad was exactly the same as it is today on Peacock,” says Ellin. “What changed was the way the transaction happened.”

New ad formats emerge

The real opportunity emerges when contextual intelligence is combined with live sports and emerging advertising formats such as squeeze-back ads. Unlike traditional overlays, squeeze-back ads resize programme content without obscuring it.

For example, AI could detect key moments during a football match, such as player substitutions, and trigger contextually relevant advertisements displayed alongside the live content.

ITV trialled the concept in during the 2026 Six Nations, where 20-second ads popped up during natural stoppages such as scrums. Even though this occurred just once per half reaction from fans was negative. The format was widely described as intrusive, with some supporters warning it risked damaging the viewing experience.

“Doing contextual analysis on live content introduces additional challenges, particularly around latency," Varndell says. “But we're seeing the technology mature quickly, and I expect we'll see more of these workflows move into live environments over the coming year.”

L-shaped squeeze-back ads positioned to the left or right of content and framed ads surrounding programme content are just two of a number of new standardised ad formats for CTV, being developed through IAB Tech Lab.

“The formats themselves have now been agreed," says Paul Davis, Head of Marketing at Yospace. “The work taking place this year is around creating the mechanisms required for trading, ad serving, measurement and reporting."

A key addition is dynamic QR code functionality, which introduces new attribution capabilities for television advertising.

“This allows advertisers to create a direct call to action and obtain a level of attribution that TV has previously lacked,” Davis explains.

The appeal of direct transactions

One of the biggest attractions of agentic buying is the possibility of creating more direct relationships between buyers and media owners.

“The way digital buying scaled outside of direct sales created a number of intermediaries," Ellin says. “The compelling idea for publishers is that if buyers can come directly to them at scale, some of those middlemen can potentially be removed.”

The result could be lower transaction costs, improved transparency and a greater share of media spend reaching publishers.

“Buyers traditionally want to get as close to the inventory source as possible,” he says. “You reduce the chances of fraud, technical issues and unnecessary hops in the supply chain.”

However, removing intermediaries also creates new challenges.

One example is frequency management. Today, buyers often use DSPs to control audience reach and frequency across multiple publishers. If transactions become entirely direct, each publisher would only manage frequency within its own environment.

“If I buy through a DSP across multiple publishers, I can control reach and frequency centrally," Ellin says. “If I go directly to individual publishers, I lose some of that control. These are exactly the kinds of problems the industry is trying to solve.”

Human oversight remains essential

Despite growing excitement around autonomous systems, most organisations remain risk-averse and want humans involved in decision-making.

“I don't see people simply letting agents run completely autonomously,” Ellin says. “Everything needs a human in the loop.”

AI can help scale monitoring processes to prevent unsuitable ad placements across vast content catalogues but even when AI agents are involved, “I still see humans making the final decision,” Varndell says. “The technology improves efficiency, but final sign-off typically remains with people.”

For many companies, practical workflow improvements are proving more attractive than full autonomous buying. Examples include campaign troubleshooting, delivery diagnostics and forecasting.

“Rather than having someone manually pull logs and investigate issues, AI can present what is wrong and suggest ways to fix it,” Ellin says. “Those are the kinds of use cases people are far more willing to adopt at scale right now.”

AI Connectors boost analytics

One area seeing particularly rapid progress is analytics.

Varndell highlighted recent developments around Model Context Protocol (MCP), which standardises how AI systems access and interact with data sources.

“AI systems can now connect directly to data through plug-ins and connectors," he explained. “We've built connectors for both ChatGPT and Claude.”

Bitmovin recently announced its availability as a Claude Connector, enabling users to query video and advertising data directly from within Anthropic's AI assistant.

According to Varndell, this dramatically lowers the barrier to data analysis.

“People who aren't data scientists can work with advertising data simply by asking questions rather than exporting spreadsheets and building complex formulas.”

The technology is particularly valuable for correlating data from multiple sources, such as video players and ad servers, helping organisations identify discrepancies and uncover performance insights more quickly.

Ellin says FreeWheel invested heavily in APIs allowing customers to build applications and workflows on top of FreeWheel's platform rather than relying entirely on its user interfaces and product roadmap.  

Recently, FreeWheel expanded this foundation through MCP-based infrastructure that enables AI agents to interact with platform services. The company is exposing these capabilities directly while also integrating AI-driven tools into existing user interfaces for customers not yet ready to build their own agents.  

“We want clients who are embracing AI to have complete flexibility in what they build,” Ellin says. “But we're also building similar capabilities directly into our platform for people who still prefer to work through a UI.

“Historically, software was built for departments,” he says. “What excites me is allowing individual users to create solutions that match exactly how they work.”

Two people in the same ad operations team may complete the same task differently. Through AI-enabled infrastructure, each could create personalised tools while still achieving the same business outcome.

Ellin says, “We're very bullish on what organisations and individuals will be able to create over time, beyond just agentic buying and selling.”

Relationships drive success in Latin America

AV Magazine

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Close relationships with local suppliers, distributors and contractors can save a project from catastrophic failures in Latin America

Stretching from Tijuana in Mexico to Ushuaia in the southern tip of Argentina, Latin America is a huge region for which there is no ‘one size fits all’. The entire region is dynamic but exhibits different potential and characteristics depending on where you look. The clearest signal is the industry’s own, the first InfoComm América Latina, held in Mexico City in 2025, sold out. This October’s edition has expanded floor space by around 60%.

“Brazil and Mexico have a large volume of projects with very high demands and requirements,” offers Adi Neves at DPA Microphones. “Argentina, Chile and Colombia exhibit the same demands, among fewer projects. Central America is growing; Panama leads the corporate market and Guatemala benefits from a strong Houses of Worship vertical as it has some of the Americas’ largest sanctuaries. Colombia and Chile drive some of the largest growth in the area, supported by progressive business outlook and foreign investments.”

AVIXA analysis
AVIXA’s 2025 analysis forecasts Latin America CAGR at 4.3% through to 2030, against 3.9% globally and 3.6% for North America, for a market worth around $14bn. Demand concentrates in conferencing and collaboration, the largest category; security and surveillance, the fastest-growing; live events and digital signage.

“Two things hold it back: tariff and currency complexity, and the fact that AV and IT expertise have historically sat in separate organisations,” says Moises Montano, sales director, Netgear Enterprise. “I would not put that second one on the integrators. Our job as manufacturers is to make configuration simple enough that networked AV behaves correctly without deep networking knowledge.”

Camila Otero for Lightware judges Latin America as “demanding, price-sensitive and highly competitive, but increasingly strategic,” adding, “Mexico leads in scale; Brazil offers major potential despite import complexity; Colombia, Chile, Peru and Costa Rica continue to create strong opportunities.”

Speaking for Renkus-Heinz, western regional sales manager, Garrison Parkin reckons the region is in a “rebuilding phase” with a significant number of AV projects underway. “The market is more competitive than ever, with more integrators and manufacturers chasing these opportunities.”

Keeping pace with North America
North America leads the world in almost all areas of technology and how it is deployed across applications. “What we’re seeing now is Latin American countries working to keep pace with these developments,” adds Parkin. “In some of the smaller markets, we’re seeing strong activity in the corporate sectors. Local and regional government also represents an important area of opportunity.”

“What really resonates with AV project teams in LatAm are IP/IT-specific education and proofs of concept that demonstrate the potential and resilience of networked solutions,” finds Chris Scheck, head of marketing content at Lawo. “We are in talks with customers in Paraguay and Venezuela whose junior engineers are eager to learn as much as they can [to] promote IP networking internally. Like elsewhere in the world, the younger generation is ready for IP.”

Mexico
As the most North America-adjacent market, integrators in Mexico work to US timelines and procurement norms. AVIXA estimates the size of the Mexico market at roughly $3bn, growing at above 5% a year through to 2028.

The country hosted 13 World Cup matches across venues in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey this summer. “The Estadio Azteca came out of an 18-month rebuild that touched almost everything an AV integrator cares about,” Montano says, citing a superior wi-fi footprint, exterior screens and a 340-speaker sound system.

Guadalajara took on an extensive upgrade of its own, though Monterrey needed comparatively little. “All of it was specified for the highest-pressure broadcast month in world sport, and those venues will run league football and concerts on the same systems for years.”

Mexican AV culture is “mature”, according to Lightware which has strengthened relationships with Tecso Pro, Meitec Led and Centro de Conectividad across ProAV and IT channels.

From Leyard’s perspective, AV is undergoing a process of expansion and maturation. “Although each country has different levels of maturity, we are seeing a common trend,” says LatAm CEO, Odair Tremante.

“Customers, integrators, and specifiers are becoming more discerning. Hybrid collaboration, virtual production, retail media, real-time monitoring, and immersive experiences are already driving investment in countries such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Argentina.”

He believes a significant share of future AV investment will be connected to the modernisation of infrastructure and experience-driven spaces across airports, stadia, arenas, museums and corporate environments.

“We expect increasing integration of LED with architecture, data, management systems, and AI,” he says. “This comprehensive approach will enable the development of more functional and intelligent spaces – and even cities – in which technology responds to the real needs of both operations and
people.”

Live experiences culture
Jorge Sobenes, sales director, Ross Video confirms the rapid shift to experience-driven environments. “Live experiences have always been central to Latin American culture. Today, organisations are investing in higher-quality, immersive environments while still demanding simple-to-operate solutions that deliver long-term value within local budgets.

Following the World Cup, “which highlighted the importance of world-class venue technology,” Ross expects continued investment across sports venues, museums, shopping centres, and entertainment destinations.

“Organisations are looking to create more immersive experiences, making integrated AV, production and control technologies key differentiators.”

Bogotá, Santiago, and São Paulo are scaling electric bus fleets and modernising metro and terminal infrastructure. “Each programme carries digital signage, passenger information, and command-and-control requirements,” says Montano.

AWS has committed more than $4bn to a data centre in Chile and Google has opened one in Mexico. “These are IT projects, but each comes with a network operations centre and ProAV control rooms,” says Montano.

No single formula
Outside the larger markets, opportunities abound. “Some of the most significant opportunities in my career have come from countries that competitors chose to overlook,” Montano shares. “That has always struck me as a gift to whoever is willing to show up.”

Guatemala “works as a regional gateway,” he notes, with integrators there often covering several Central American countries from one office. Ecuador is “early stage but structurally ready,” (the Smart City Ecuador initiative to deploy smart technologies across municipalities, is endorsed by the Ecuadorian Municipal Association and the Inter-American Development Bank). Paraguay may be a “modest economy”, but Asunción hosted an edition of the ALOOH LATAM Forum in 2025, and a local industry that “is organised well beyond its size.”

Montano concludes, “In all three, one well-executed reference project can define a brand’s reputation for years, and the right distributor relationship in a neighbouring hub can open several countries at once.”

There is no single formula for Latin America, Karim Galib, Barco’s sales director emphasises; “Successful strategies need to be localised.

“In markets such as Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, AV is becoming increasingly strategic. The conversation is moving beyond hardware and individual meeting rooms toward user experience, interoperability, standardisation, business outcomes and employee satisfaction and retention.

“Central America markets can be surprisingly attractive. Although smaller in scale, they have sophisticated enterprise, financial services and hospitality customers. These markets are highly relationship-driven and channel-led, making strong local partnerships particularly important.”

Jay Wallace, who handles sales for Clear-Com, has seen increased business in practically all regional markets. The company provided an Eclipse matrix for a broadcast client in Paraguay and is working on a large industrial intercom system in Ecuador.

“We’re installing multiple FreeSpeak II wireless systems for a nuclear power plant service in Argentina, a large matrix intercom for a HoW in Brazil, and solutions for a corporate client in Mexico.”

Higher education is a strengthening vertical for Lightware, especially in Colombia. “Our proof-of-concept deployments have helped universities validate interoperability, reduce technical uncertainty and turn ideas into real projects,” explains Otero. “This approach has contributed to several opportunities within Colombian higher education. We are also seeing momentum in Brazilian universities around AV-over-IP and more flexible learning environments.”

Brazil
All user interfaces and codes must be rewritten in Portuguese for devices operating in Brazil, notes Neves, but Portuguese-speaking in a sea of Spanish language markets is the least of the territory’s distinctions.

“Brazil is a world unto itself,” affirms Montano. “The language barrier only exists for companies that refuse to learn the market and hire locally. The channel is large, sophisticated, and self-contained, and operationally it is the most complex.”

AVIXA ranks it the region’s largest, so the prize is proportional to the effort. “The scale of its projects often match mature markets,” reports Sobenes.

Respondents insist Brazil should be treated as a distinct market within Latin America. “The country has continental dimensions, a specific tax structure, its own import processes, and regulations that can vary between states and municipalities,” notes Tremante.

Sao Paulo’s Clean City Law, for example, establishes specific rules for outdoor advertising and directly affects DOOH projects.

“In addition, serving such a vast territory requires access to technical support, spare parts, and qualified partners across different regions.”

The level of tariffs applied to goods entering the country means excessive bureaucracy and high import taxes.

“This can make US-manufactured technology significantly more expensive,” says Parkin. “As a result, our activity there is currently more limited than in some other Latin American markets.”

Tariffs can “push customers toward cloud or locally assembled COTS [commercial off the shelf] solutions, driving manufacturers to shift focus toward software-based, recurring-licencing models,” reports Jason Barden, Riedel Communications’ sales director.

That said, the Brazilian market is also the most diverse, “with projects from corporate buildings to higher education facilities, and a healthy HoW segment,” says Neves.

The first Latin America country to complete an analogue shutoff by 2016, Brazil is now redesigning its terrestrial transmission system for deployment of TV3.0 (DTV+), for 4K transmission, immersive audio, and broadband-integrated interactivity.

“Expect demand for native UHD and HDR content, plus more advertising production as broadcasters personalise delivery,” Barden says. Ahead of the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, hosted across eight Brazilian cities, expect deployments spanning broadcast centres, LED displays, security command centres and 5G infrastructure.

“The Women’s World Cup will almost certainly drive important investments in and around stadiums, public-viewing areas and in broadcast,” confirms Scheck. “Without doubt, Brazil has the highest adoption rate of ST2110 technology. In other Latin America countries, usually for budget reasons, clients prefer to evolve their infrastructure in small steps.”

Don’t view 33 as one
The reality, Scheck warns, is Latin American countries “tend to differ quite significantly, and the political and economic climate in the region is often unpredictable, with sometimes stark currency fluctuations against the dollar and the Euro. Carefully tailoring the solutions to your potential customers is therefore of the utmost importance.”

It’s self-evident that Latin America should never be approached as a single market but as 33. “Success depends on understanding each country’s business culture, procurement process, and regulations,” says Barden.

Aside from Brazil’s taxation regime, Argentina recently eliminated its SEDI import licensing scheme which means advance import declarations are no longer required, but Mexico requires NOM [compliance and safety marking] certification for importers.

“Local partners help manage these differences, but cultural understanding matters more,” Barden says.

“Companies investing in partner enablement and ongoing customer engagement will outperform those relying on occasional visits.”

“Don’t treat [Latin America] as one market,” urges Galib. “Technology matters, but trust, relationships and long-term commitment remain fundamental to doing business successfully across the region.”

The most important advice from Parkin is “be present. It’s important to spend time with customers, integrators and distributors while building direct relationships rather than simply taking orders from a distance.”

“This requires a long-term commitment,” says Tremante, “understanding the particularities of each country, developing partners, training teams, and maintaining technical support and component availability after delivery. It means taking responsibility for the outcome, supporting the customer’s evolution, and remaining accessible throughout the project’s entire lifecycle.”

Patience is the key for Wallace. “Expect long sales cycles. Be prepared to spend time on the ground to listen to the client and learn their workflow. This is an exciting and interesting part of the world. Anticipate complications and embrace the challenge.”

Montano advises, “Learn the market before you try to sell into it. In a relationship-driven market, reputation is the whole business, and nothing damages it faster than being visibly behind.”

Finally, don’t be afraid to push high-end solutions. Neves advises, “Even a small portion of a large population can prove to be a valuable revenue generator.”

 

Regions: AV UK’s cautious optimism

AV Magazine

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While the UK has baked under multiple heatwaves, the AV business environment of ‘cautious optimism’ is defining the temperature in a country where building and venue upgrades and refurbishments are driving investment. 

Bryan Davies, regional sales manager for Ross Video, effectively sums up the consensus: “The UK ProAV climate feels cautiously positive.”

“People are spending, but they’re being more considered with it,” agrees Craig Storey, CEO at Lightware Visual Engineering. “Projects still need to show a clear return, whether that’s improving collaboration, making offices work harder, or helping education spaces stay relevant and attractive.”

Pufferfish CEO Stephen Patterson dubs the market cautious but creative. “UK budgets are being scrutinised more closely, but there is still a strong appetite for AV that genuinely earns its place.”

Opportunities for growth
Both Anthony Hammond, consultant at Jigsaw24, and Arthur Brockhoff, regional sales, PlexusAV, say the current climate feels challenging.

“Where I see growth is in the crossover between professional video production and ProAV as well as in building solutions that prioritise low ecological impact,” Hammond says.
Brockhoff highlights “strong opportunities, particularly around projects where organisations are growing, consolidating, or investing in new environments.”

Ferdinand Van de Blaak, sales at Matrox Video, welcomes the UK’s “resilience” with organisations “increasingly focused on future-proofing their AV infrastructure,” as does Riedel’s local sales manager, Jamie Buckley. He says, “While the past couple of years have been impacted by inflation and supply chain pressures, we’re now seeing greater stability and renewed confidence in long-term investment.”

Nonetheless the cost of services is rising constantly. “This has a significant impact on smaller opportunities and support service costs,” reports Hammond. “There are pockets of prosperity in the corporate market, particularly in tech, fintech and startups, where I see the most opportunity. This is largely in the overhaul of meeting rooms and event spaces.”

Davies finds cost awareness part of every AV conversation, but the tone is constructive. “Customers are planning carefully, seeking long-term value and choosing systems that are scalable, efficient and easier to operate,” he says. “In many cases, that is strengthening the business case for ProAV.”

A major factor is the increased global demand for chipsets which is putting pressure on supply chains. “For AV this means vendors need to take a more strategic approach to forecasting and stock planning, ensuring they can support product roadmaps and customer requirements as technology continues to evolve,” Brockhoff says.

Value above cost
Guy Phelps of LED manufacturer Leyard Europe notes UK customers increasingly asking about European-made solutions to support shorter lead times, sustainability objectives and reduced project risk.

“The UK market remains highly focused on value rather than simply lowest cost,” he adds. “While economic pressures are increasing competition, customers continue to consider the long-term impact and return on investment of their technology decisions.”

There are more positive outlooks. Storey says inflation has eased recently, and supply chains are better than they were, “but labour, shipping, energy and specialist components still put pressure on margins and timelines”.

Patterson finds pricing “relatively stable”, although component supply remains something to watch. “Freight costs continue to fluctuate, but we are not currently seeing significant pressure there. With the broader cost of doing business continuing to rise, we would expect wage pressures to become a bigger consideration over the next 12 to 24 months.”

Strength in depth
Respondents are far more positive about the UK’s strength in depth of its creative and content ecosystem. “We have world-class capability across broadcast, live events, theatre, museums and heritage, and that influences how clients approach AV,” says Patterson. “The starting point is often the story and the audience experience, with technology following to bring that vision to life. Rather than beginning with a specification, clients are typically asking how they can create impact and engagement.”

Storey agrees; “What stands out in the UK is how mature and relationship-led the market is. Buyers tend to be knowledgeable, expectations are high, and there’s a strong focus on reliability, service and long-term support rather than just buying technology for the sake of it.”

Davies thinks the UK has achieved balance. He says the country “combines a great understanding of broadcast with live-event pragmatism” and that there is a general focus “on resilient, multi-use spaces, lean crews and fast content turnaround.”

Taking an early lead
As one of the most densely populated AV markets in the world, the UK’s domestic culture of early adoption sets it apart from other European regions, says Richard McLean, commercial manager, d&b UK. “It’s a highly professionalised, fast moving environment where new technologies are tested, integrated and scaled quickly.”

Utelogy’s EMEA MD Jonathan Mangnall reckons the UK has “a distinct AV personality… combining a mature, engineering-led integrator culture with one of Europe’s fastest shifts toward IT-centric, software-defined AV. “Organisations are early adopters of open standards, data-driven operations, and managed services, with little appetite for proprietary lock-in,” he adds.

Stephen Rhead at Sonos points out that the UK has a strong custom integration channel, “whereas in parts of Northern Europe installation in these environments is more often handled by electricians.”This can influence both system design and the extent to which professional solutions are specified, he says.

Hospitality is the standout vertical for Sonos and operators report sustained demand for refurbishments. “Although compared with France or Germany, the UK has less emphasis on outdoor hospitality spaces, which reduces the demand for external audio solutions,” he says. “Retail activity remains more limited, with some projects paused or reduced in scope due to tough trading conditions, whereas hospitality continues to generate consistent AV opportunities.”

Reimagining the workplace
It’s apparent that significant activity stems from the workplace as organisations balance hybrid models with renewed focus on office engagement. “This is driving investment in collaboration spaces, digital signage and technologies that improve the workplace experience,” notes Phelps.

Emphasising “flexibility” Danielle Myburgh, sales director, Pixel Global AV says, “The office is no longer competing with home working by simply offering desks. It needs to offer collaboration, creativity, mentoring and connection. That is driving investment in better meeting spaces, improved hybrid experiences and more adaptable environments.

“The UK market has always had a strong focus on user experience and integration. There is a real appreciation that AV is not just about installing equipment; it’s about creating spaces that work for the people using them.”

The ‘light commercial’ market presents a “mixed picture” for Sonos, as rising costs and reduced spend put retail shops, small offices, cafes and restaurants under pressure. “We’ve actually been seeing increased investment from operators who are refurbishing and upgrading venues,” Rhead says.

Refurb and return to work
The strongest activity at Lightware is around workplace change and education. “A lot of businesses are using office moves, refurbs and return-to-work plans as a chance to rethink how teams actually use the workplace,” Storey reports.

In the mid-term he thinks investment will be driven by “corporate real estate changes, hybrid working, campus upgrades, sustainability targets” and the need to make physical spaces more valuable.Certain areas of legislation and regulatory mandates such as the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) and Martyn’s Law (Terrorism Protection of Premises Act) are driving substantial budgets across many sectors which partially pertain to AV solutions.

“I believe the continued growth and demand for EN54 certified systems for life safety, CRA and Martyn’s Law will together forge monumental spending in AV across many sectors ensuring security and safety for public buildings and spaces for many years to come,” assures James Kennedy, operations manager, Peavey Commercial Audio. The MoD budget “will certainly” see increased injection of funds within the next two years resulting in “plenty of facilities and projects that involve elements of AV.”

The proposed 100,000-seat Manchester United ‘New Trafford’ stadium which is estimated at an eye watering £2bn will encompass all of these disciplines at great scale.

Ross’ Davies also spies strong activity in corporate spaces, sports and education. A recent London financial-services project turned an
under-used auditorium into a revenue-generating events space. Ongoing investment at Principality Stadium in Cardiff reflects the sports trend towards synchronised graphics, LED and data-rich matchday presentation. Confetti X in Nottingham shows universities investing in world-class esports production.

Multi-operational venues
Beyond these Ross projects, the major UK drivers are creative-economy policy and destination venues. The Creative Industries Sector Plan, London Olympia’s £1.3bn redevelopment and Bristol’s 20,000-capacity Aviva Arena all point to demand for production, display, control, networking and content systems, Davies says.

The appetite for upgrading arena and sports stadia is picked up elsewhere. Kennedy thinks the “high concentration of elite-level sports stadia sets the UK apart from anywhere else in Europe. “There is a real competition and demand for sports clubs to outdo each other on stadium spec and size and the budgets are getting bigger!”

The Tottenham Hotspur stadium is among those to have set the benchmark for large entertainment spaces. “There’s a real surge in embracing AV technology in the sports and entertainment sectors in the UK mostly driven by private funding,” Kennedy says.

Use multiple spaces
Sound is a crucial component of any venue, especially in house systems capable of supporting diverse programming.

“The shift toward multi-purpose operation is a necessity as running costs rise and revenue models broaden,” says McLean who identifies fixed installation as the strongest growth area for d&b. It recently equipped Venue Cymru’s (Llandudno) multiple spaces with a range of kit.

We’re also seeing notable activity in the small to mid scale venue segment. These spaces are increasingly opting for premium audio to attract higher calibre creatives and encourage repeat audiences.”

Netgear’s sale director Jordan Hobday is most upbeat. He sees the UK leading in the convergence of AV, IT, and broadcast systems onto shared IP infrastructure. “What was once a discussion is now being written into project specifications, driving a new wave of networked AV deployments. Demand is holding up well, and the pipeline going forward looks solid, particularly in live events and education, where projects that stretched post-pandemic are now completing or moving into the next phase.”

He goes further, “London and Manchester together represent a density of production facilities, touring companies, and iconic venues that have no real equivalent elsewhere in Europe.”

Couple that with continued inbound studio and streaming platform investments and major venue and facility modernisation programs and it all points to sustained infrastructure spend. Increasingly, that infrastructure is converged.

Devolution in AV
As the country welcomes a new PM promising to prioritise regions and cities outside the capital it’s worth mentioning that AV UK does not mean London.

“Absolutely not!” exclaims Kennedy. “There are many examples of marquee AV projects across the UK that significantly contribute to the overall nationwide spend.”

The planned Universal United Kingdom Resort in Bedfordshire is a prime example of major private capex spend outside of Greater London.

 

Why does pixel pitch matter?

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Pixel pitch directly affects how an LED display looks, how close people can stand to it, and how much the installation costs. It is one of the most important specifications when selecting an LED video wall, influencing image quality, viewing comfort, resolution and budget.

According to industry forecasts, the global video wall market, valued at US$12.16 billion in 2025, is expected to reach $38.45 billion by 2035, driven by digital signage, corporate communications and smart-city initiatives. As LED displays become increasingly common, understanding pixel pitch is essential.

“Pixel pitch is ultimately about what the audience sees,” says Mike Bernhardt, Director of Product Management, Christie. “Because it influences image sharpness, resolution and how close viewers can get before individual pixels become visible, it's a key decision in ensuring an LED display delivers the experience that both its environment and content demands.”

What is pixel pitch?

Pixel pitch is the distance between the centres of adjacent LED pixels, measured in millimetres. A display with a 1.2mm pitch places pixels much closer together than one with a 3.9mm pitch. Closer spacing creates greater pixel density, allowing the display to reproduce finer detail.

Smaller pitches produce smoother images because individual pixels are harder to distinguish. Larger pitches offer fewer pixels per square metre but can perform perfectly well when viewers stand further away.

Fine-pitch LED video walls are generally considered to fall between 0.7mm and approximately 2.9mm, while standard pitches are typically 3mm and above.

Viewing distance is the key factor

The nearest viewer is often the most important consideration when choosing an LED display. If someone stands too close to a display with a wide pixel pitch, individual pixels may become visible, making the image appear coarse. Fine-pitch displays maintain image integrity at shorter distances.

A boardroom screen viewed from two metres away typically needs a finer pitch than a display in an atrium, arena or transport hub, where audiences stand further back. Likewise, a home cinema LED wall generally requires a finer pitch than a screen in a large entertainment space.

Once you understand how far away the viewers will be, you can easily calculate the pixel pitch, as this AVIXA ready reckoner explains.

However, the content being displayed matters too. A restaurant showing moving video can often use a wider pitch than a control room where operators must read detailed information throughout the day. Similarly, digital artwork in a hotel lobby places different demands on a display than financial data on a trading floor.

Considerations of cost and performance

Don’t assume that the smallest available pixel pitch is necessarily best. Finer pitches produce more detailed images but can increase system complexity and cost because they require a much higher density of LEDs. In many installations, audiences cannot perceive the additional detail, making the extra investment difficult to justify.

For example, an LED wall suspended above spectators in a large venue may perform perfectly with a wider pitch because viewers are far enough away that individual pixels remain indistinguishable. Paying significantly more for a finer pitch would offer little practical benefit.

The advice is to match performance to the intended application, viewing distance and content.

Pixel pitch in virtual production

Pixel pitch becomes especially important when LED walls are used in virtual production. Here, digital cameras capture the LED volume, which serves as both a filmed backdrop and a lighting source. If the pitch is too large (as seen by the camera, not the naked eye), individual LEDs may become visible on camera, creating a distracting grid effect (known as moiré).

Fine pitches help preserve image realism, allowing cameras to move closer to the wall without revealing its structure. However, this a highly technical area and matters are rarely that simple. The rendering engine and LED processing chain, the wall’s refresh rate and camera colour science all contribute to the final image. INFiLED warns against specifying the finest pixel pitch to the exclusion of other variables.

“A production running a 1.2mm LED wall though an under-powered render pipeline will produce worse results than one running a 2.0mm wall through a well-engineered properly calibrated system with adequate GPU resources.”

In practice, it advises, “overbuying” pixel pitch in virtual production wastes budget from components that have a more direct effect on final image quality.

Choosing the right pitch

Whether the application is a boardroom, retail space, hotel reception, control room or virtual production studio, pixel pitch is a key ingredient in determining how effectively an LED display performs in practice.

The right choice balances viewing distance, content requirements, image quality and budget. When these factors are carefully matched, viewers never need to think about pixel pitch. They simply see a clear and engaging image, which is the goal of every successful display project

What is a digital twin?

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A digital twin is a live virtual model of a real‑world space, system or workflow, continuously updated with data so it behaves like its physical counterpart. For AV end‑users, this means a digital twin is a functional, data‑driven environment that mirrors how a venue, campus, building, city, immersive installation or product actually performs, and how it will respond under future conditions.

Understanding the digital twin

A digital twin blends spatial information, sensor inputs, control data and operational behaviour into one coherent model. A digital twin gives users the power to run simulated experiments repeatedly under real-world conditions, while testing subtle refinements to each and every test parameter. As the physical environment changes (such as lighting levels, occupancy, acoustics, device status) the twin updates in real time, allowing users to observe, test and optimise without interrupting live operations.

Digital twins are used across sectors such as corporate estates, education,  industrial parks, smart cities, themed entertainment, and product design. They help organisations understand how spaces evolve, how people use them, and how systems behave under different conditions.

“Extended reality (XR), volumetric media, and digital twin visualisation are converging with AV systems to create shared spaces that span physical and virtual worlds,” states Craig Park, Director of Digital Experience Design at engineering and architecture firm Clark & Enersen, in an AVIXA Xchange post. “In these environments, audiovisual infrastructure does not simply support experience – it becomes the medium of experience itself.”

Key AV uses of digital twins

Digital twins support a wide range of AV workflows:

• R&D and prototyping – Engineers can trial new concepts, test environmental responses and refine designs before any physical build.
• Modelling and simulation – Sightlines, acoustics, lighting, projection, content playback and spatial media can all be tested virtually.
• Workflow testing – Teams can rehearse show sequences, control logic, sensor interactions and user journeys inside the twin.
• Monitoring and diagnostics – Device health, environmental conditions and system performance can be tracked continuously.
• Optimisation – Spaces can be tuned for energy efficiency, crowd flow, media behaviour and operational resilience.
• Design and planning – Integrators can validate layouts, test equipment positions and demonstrate concepts to stakeholders.

These capabilities make digital twins a powerful tool for reducing risk, improving accuracy and shortening project timelines.

Applications across AV environments

Education campuses

Universities and colleges use digital twins to model room utilisation, test AV upgrades, plan hybrid-learning environments and optimise energy use. A campus?wide twin becomes a shared reference point for AV, IT and facilities teams.

Corporate and industrial spaces

Digital twins help organisations understand how meeting rooms, collaboration zones and control rooms are actually used. They support predictive maintenance, workflow optimisation and long?term lifecycle planning.

Smart cities

City-scale twins integrate transport, public screens, wayfinding, civic communication and environmental data. AV systems become part of a wider digital ecosystem that adapts to crowd movement, events and changing conditions.

Urban design

On one of ISE 2026's Tech Tours, architectural consultant Nate Robert-Eze explained how a digital twin of luxury residential Antares Barcelona was created using VR and AI to help customers explore the facility, from anywhere in the world.

Product development

Manufacturers and designers use digital twins to model material choices, energy consumption, thermal behaviour and lifecycle impact. This supports more sustainable product development and helps organisations meet environmental targets.

Immersive and themed environments

Digital twins allow teams to choreograph show sequences, test interactive elements, model audio behaviour and preview media changes long before installation.

Automotive design

Digital twins are being widely adopted throughout the automated vehicle industry. Digital twins allow complex systems to be modelled, tested and refined in secure, interactive and immersive environments.

Why digital twins matter

AV systems are now deeply interconnected with networked media, sensors, building systems and user behaviour which require deeper planning and continuous optimisation. Digital twins give end-users a clearer, more predictable way to manage this complexity.

Growing system complexity is one factor accelerating adoption. Another factor is sustainability and lifecycle expectations. Twins help organisations reduce waste, energy use and travel while supporting long?term asset planning.

As a result, the digital twin market is expanding rapidly. A Fortune Business Insights report expects global value to reach to reach US$384.79bn by 2034, with smart cities, aerospace, healthcare and manufacturing driving growth.

AVIXA also forecasts adoption to grow steadily over the next decade with control systems leading the way in early digital twin integration, followed by visual and audio systems as hardware becomes more networked and cloud-friendly. By the early 2030s, AVIXA predicts that most Tier 1 immersive installations will maintain some form of operational digital twin.

For AV end-users, digital twins offer clarity, confidence and control. They make it possible to preview experiences, optimise performance, and ensure systems behave exactly as intended - regardless of scale, dynamism and complexity.

What is an immersive experience?

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An immersive experience is one that surrounds a person so completely – visually, physically, or emotionally – that they feel present inside a different reality. It replaces passive watching with active involvement, drawing people into a world that responds to their movement, choices, and senses. In other words, an immersive experience makes you feel part of the story rather than simply observing it.

Understanding immersion

Immersive experiences work by engaging multiple senses at once. Instead of relying on a single screen or static display, they can combine sound, light, movement, and interaction to create environments that feel alive. This can happen in digital spaces, physical rooms, or hybrid environments that blend both. The aim is always the same: to create a strong sense of presence and emotional connection.

Key technologies behind immersive experiences

Modern immersion is powered by a range of technologies that help build responsive, multi-sensory environments:

• Spatial audio – Sound placed in three-dimensional space so it appears to come from specific directions, creating a lifelike acoustic environment.
• Haptics – Tactile feedback such as vibration or pressure that adds a physical dimension to digital experiences.
• Projection mapping – Turning walls, floors, or objects into dynamic visual surfaces.
• Mixed, augmented, and virtual reality – Tools that overlay or replace the physical world with digital content.
• LiDAR and motion tracking – Systems that detect movement and position, allowing environments to react to audience behaviour.

Any mix of these technologies allow creators to build spaces that shift, respond, and evolve in real time.

Key pro AV applications

Immersive experiences are now central to many professional AV environments, transforming how audiences learn, explore, and connect. AVIXA expects immersive experiences to outperform the entire Venues and Events market, which is already growing by as much as 4.6% CAGR.

Exhibitions use interactive displays, spatial audio, and projection to turn static collections into living narratives. Visitors can explore history, art, or science through multi-sensory storytelling.

Artists (including Coldplay) and music festivals (such as Tomorrowland) increasingly use responsive environments, dynamic lighting, and spatial sound to create live performances where audiences feel part of the action.

Immersive rooms support training, presentations, brand and education experiences. They help audiences retain information by engaging them physically and emotionally.

“Immersive technology is rapidly becoming one of the most exciting formats for corporate events,” says Richard Watkins, founder of Immersive Studio, citing free-roam VR experiences, interactive escape rooms and treasure hunts. “Today’s audiences are increasingly looking for experiences rather than presentations. Instead of simply unveiling a product on stage, brands are creating immersive environments where attendees can interact directly with products and services.”

Across these sectors, immersion is used to deepen engagement, improve understanding, and create memorable experiences.

The evolution of immersive experiences

One recent report valued the global immersive entertainment market at $168.5 billion in 2026 and on course to reach over $1000bn by 2033. It found that consumers are moving from passive viewing to active participation and are willing to pay more for interactive, sensory-rich experiences.

What was once expensive, complex, and limited to high-end film or television is now accessible to a wide range of creators and venues.  At the same time, new technologies are evolving immersive experiences to include active audience participation.

An example is MASS, a research-led live performance developed through the CoSTAR National Lab. In this project, audiences moved freely through the space, triggering sound and visual effects as they walked. LiDAR sensors tracked their position, while real-time systems translated their behaviour into changes in the environment. As a result, every performance was unique – shaped directly by audience interaction.

This shift – from fixed staging to responsive environments – marks a new phase in immersive design. Experiences are no longer simply shown to audiences; they are co-created with them.