USA - The Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) is claiming record attendance of just under 20,000 at its 25th annual tradeshow.
John Williams, a spokesperson for the National Training and Simulation Association (NTSA) which organises the event, said 592 exhibitors from the corporate, academic, research, healthcare and military participated between 29 November and 2 December at the Orange County Convention Center. Of these, 10 per cent were from outside the US and 60 counties were represented.
“I/ITSEC is attended exclusively by business professionals, scientists and researchers, and military and national security personnel,” Williams explained. “While we of course market I/ITSEC in many ways, record attendance comes down to realisation on the part of the industry and all related to it that this is the one event you must attend to be in the game. That is driving increases in the number of exhibitors, exhibit space and attendance for us each year.”
Williams said a major development this year was an expanded range of simulation, modelling and virtual reality applications on the show floor to reflect increased interest in technology as a learning tool.
“We have dramatic growth in healthcare and critical care medicine, hospital operations and administration, training for operation of unmanned platforms and robotics, serious games, disaster planning, archeology, materials science, construction, city emergency planning, weather analysis and forecasting, cultural and linguistic training, and military applications,” he said. “This growth explosion accounts for all the new technology on the floor.”
Earlier this week, Orange County Convention Center announced it would host the National Association of Home Builders’ International Builders’ Show (IBS) from next year for a two-year run.
