Speaking at UFI's Shanghai Congress, UBM's Tim Cobbold and GES' Jason Popp said data and health and safety are issues the exhibition industry has not gotten to grips with.
Cobbold said his concern was to use technology that was practical for exhibitors and visitors now, and worry less about whether the data would be useful later. "Data is a real challenge and I suspect a lot of companies are a long way from complying to the laws. And, they keep changing," he added.
Popp added that he was seeing consolidation in the organiser market, and data was not yet understood or handled effectively in the industry.
"We don't want data on individuals, we want group data so it's in our favour to protect people's anonymity," added Cobbold.
On the topic of health and safety, meanwhile, Cobbold said the industry has an obligation to provide the best possible environment. "There's a gap between the rhetoric and the action," he added.
Popp added that the industry was inherently fraught with dangers. "We have forklift trucks, we work at height and there's a lot of risks."
