The Story of ISE

Integrated Systems Europe

Integrated Systems Europe began life in 2004, with the first edition of the show being held in Geneva, Switzerland. It hosted 120 exhibitors and attracted 3,500 visitors. Most importantly, it laid the foundation for unprecedented growth for the annual show over the years.

Fast forward 16 years, and ISE 2020 attracted more than 1,300 exhibitors and over 116,000 visits to its final edition at the RAI Amsterdam.

ISE is now recognised as the largest AV and systems integration show in the world. It is the European destination for an industry that is truly global. If you have business to do in any of the many market segments that make up this dynamic industry, you’ll want to be part of ISE – either as an exhibitor or an attendee.

As the show has grown, it has naturally changed and evolved. What started out as a temporary shop window for 120 companies is now a multi-faceted, four-day event that features a huge show floor, comprehensive education and professional development programmes, conferences, world class speakers and a multitude of affiliated and partner events.

ISE has helped formulate the systems integration industry and increased collaborative approaches across a wide range of complementary technologies.

The show’s growth has been steady and sustainable. Five years after launching, ISE 2009 welcomed over 560 exhibitors and almost 25,000 visitors. By 2012, the number of exhibitors broke 800 and more than 40,000 people attended the show. ISE 2016 hosted over 1,100 exhibitors and more than 65,000 visitors. The growth continued in subsequent years, when yet more records were broken.

Though the numbers and figures give a good indication of the show’s success and its importance to the industry, they don’t tell the whole story. As ISE has grown, so too have the layers of its offer. While its role as a showcase for the industry’s latest products and solutions remains at its core, it has developed into a platform for sharing ideas and insight – not just from within the AV industry but from other industries that cross it.

The organisation behind ISE – Integrated Systems Events LLC – is a joint venture between AVIXA and CEDIA, the two leading industry associations for the global audiovisual industry. It is very important to all of the organisational parties that ISE serves the industry in the best way it possibly can and that it remains strong, so that it can continue to support the industry – the companies and the people that populate it.

Maintaining its reputation for connecting new technologies, companies and end-user industries, ISE will continue to look for ways of improving and developing, in order to present innovation across its show floor, education programmes, conferences and beyond.

In 2021, the ISE exhibition will relocate to the Fira de Barcelona exhibition complex.

Dates for the 2021 show were rescheduled to June 1-4 in light of concerns around the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The show will return to its traditional February timing for 2022.