BetonTage 2021: Specialized Congress and Exhibition 100 % online
This year, the BetonTage will celebrate its digital premiere. The industry congress of the precast concrete industry will take place from 23 to 26 February 2021, exclusively online. As with numerous other events during the corona pandemic, the organizer decided to choose a safe alternative to a face-to-face event. By transforming the technical program and the accompanying exhibition into digital format, visitors will now have the opportunity to attend the program of lectures virtually, by visiting the exhibition and by networking via the interactive communication platform. The unique quality of the industry meeting can then also be experienced in a digital version.
Keynotes point the way
Digitization presents a major challenge to all companies. But it also offers a wide range of opportunities from which one should not turn away. The keynote speaker Dr. Jörg Wallner from the 2b AHEAD ThinkTank in Leipzig, Germany, will show how digital transformation can be successfully mastered. Co-keynote speaker Prof. Dr.-Ing. Manfred Curbach, of Dresden Technical University, will also think about the future. The “pope of carbon-concrete” will advocate climate-friendly and resource-preserving construction and in his address will reverse the James Bond credo “The world is enough – about the physical world of tomorrow,” which is his title.
Another highlight and look beyond the horizon of the precast industry is the “Special Contribution” on the second congress day. In his address “Leadership does not die,” the noted coach Peter Holzer will sketch out the requirements placed on companies in difficult times.
Look into the future
The technical program of the 65th BetonTage will beheld under the motto “Intelligent building – megatrends in concrete” and comprises more than 100 contributions, which are presented in the digital plenary and several parallel sessions. In the plenary sessions “Environmentally sound building with concrete,” “Potentials of concrete elements of tomorrow” and “From research to practice – focus on the construction site,” industry experts will provide information about pace- setting developments. Lectures on new concretes, innovative additions to concrete and production methods will show possibilities for sustainable building.
Structural concrete elements in focus
The plenary sessions on structural precast construction, lightweight concrete and cast stone as well as concrete products for road, landscape and garden construction will provide important stimuli, specifically for the precast concrete industry. Discussion will take place here, for example, of developments such as the use of R-concrete, infra-lightweight concrete and UHPC. In addition, selected project reports will demonstrate the wide range of design possibilities and innovative applications of precast concrete elements. At the same time, the plenary session “Economy and law” will take up economic and legal questions.
Future Day Construction Industry
The Future Day Construction Industry on 25 February 2021 will function as a joint knowledge platform for construction companies and their partners in precasting. It will again be held jointly with the construction industry and, among other topics, will report on the megatrends of carbon concrete and 3D printing. Decarbonation of cement, serial building and the use of BIM are also on the agenda. In the afternoon, parallel plenary sessions with lectures on building, underground and sewer construction will be offered.
Architecture and structural design
The fourth congress day is set aside for the market partners from architecture and structural design. Following the keynotes that the prominent Swiss architect Max Dudler, among others, has been invited to give, the Concrete Information Center awards the Concrete Architecture Prize – for the first time within the framework of the congress. The four prize-recipient firms will present their award-winning buildings in the plenary session “Concrete in architecture” in the afternoon. There will once again be a special session for the target group of structural designers.
Guest region South Tyrol
The guest region presents the partner of many years “South Tyrol Concrete.” The region that many admire especially for its magnificent countryside, practices an exceptionally creative use of the construction material concrete. “For this reason, the lectures focus on architectural highlights and digital precasting.
New partners and sponsors
The Federation of the German Construction Industry (HDB) is new co-sponsor of the BetonTage and contributes to the program. On 24 February 2021, HDB Vice President Dr. Matthias Jacob will discuss the perspectives of the construction industry in Germany after the corona crisis. He will be preceded by Dr. Jörg Krämer, Chief Economist of Commerzbank, who examines the overall economic effects of the crisis for Germany and Europe. The partnership with solid UNIT makes an economic policy statement for the network for innovative building with mineral construction materials.
Virtual trade show
The BetonTage will be accompanied by an exhibition of the supplier, engineering and software industry. The companies present their products and services for the first time on their virtual stand and, from there, interact with the visitors.
“The more than 100 exhibitors that continue to support us, as well as the abundance of innovative topics of the presentations, made us decide to hold the 65th BetonTage as a virtual congress. With this step we open up new paths for the future, leading up to a hybrid event format with which we can establish a permanent link between the analog and the digital worlds,” says Dr. Ulrich Lotz as Managing Director of FBF Betondienst GmbH.
For the program and all information on the congress go to www.betontage.de.
