▲ The scene of the 2019 Hong Kong International Lighting Exhibition (Photo: Jung-Bae Kim)     ©World Lighting News.

●Written by : Jung-Bae Kim / Publisher & Editor. Lighting Critic.

The 2020 Hong Kong International Lighting Exhibition Spring Edition is an international-scale lighting exhibition hosted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Bureau (HKTDC) and held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center (HKCEC) on April 11th. .

The exhibition features a platform for commercial, architectural, industrial, residential and decorative lighting, parts, components and accessories, lighting equipment and systems.
The strength and characteristic of this exhibition is that it is an effective exhibition that connects East and West, Asia, America and Europe. It is derived from the geopolitical characteristics of Hong Kong.

As we already know, Hong Kong has grown into an intermediary trading base, taking advantage of the fact that it is on the way to China and Japan from Europe. Hong Kong's historicity is well maintained in modern times. The best demonstration of this is the various exhibitions in Hong Kong. One such exhibition is the Hong Kong Spring International Lighting Fair.

The Hong Kong Trade Development Bureau (HKTDC), which hosts the exhibition, provides exhibitors, buyers and visitors with the perfect venue for business negotiations, up-to-date market information exchanges and business contacts at world-class events.

◆ Summary of 2020 Exhibition

Meanwhile, at the 10th Hong Kong Spring International Lighting Fair held in April last year, more than 1,435 exhibitors from 9 countries and regions participated. In addition, more than 20,000 buyers from 124 countries and regions attended the fair.

The ten most visited countries and regions were mainland China, the United States, Taiwan, India, Korea, Australia, Russia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Malaysia.

This year's Hong Kong International Lighting Fair is comprised of various themes including advertising display lighting, chandelier avenues, IP district business, commercial lighting, decorative lighting, horticulture lighting, lighting accessories, residential lighting, smart lighting and solutions, technical lighting, trade services and publishing. do. Especially for urban and architectural lighting. The use of smart lighting is expected to increase as the move to smart homes and smart cities accelerates.

This year, the show will also host a series of events, including the Asia Lighting Forum, bringing together heavyweight professionals from professional organizations including the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, CREE, DEKRA, Microsoft, Philips, OSRAM and Hong Kong Highways Department.

Meanwhile, the HKTDC has seminars on smart lighting, connected lighting and IoT, applications for the latest technologies and industry prospects, and artificial intelligence and smart lighting to learn how AI can help improve smart lighting. Experts from the ZigBee Alliance, Alibaba AI Lab, iFLYTEK, JD Smart, ZTE, Tuya Smart and YEELIGHT were invited to discuss.

Last year, world trade was sluggish due to trade wars between the United States and China and the downturn in European markets. For this reason, lighting companies in Asia, as well as the US and Europe, have had difficulties.

How will this situation change this year? Lighting companies around the world are expected to see the direction of the change at the Hong Kong Spring International Lighting Fair in April. That's why this year's show is particularly interesting.

◆ Three points of 2020 Exhibition

So where should exhibitors, buyers, and visitors pay attention to this year's Hong Kong Spring International Lighting Fair? The points are summarized as follows.

The first is how much artificial intelligence and lighting will be combined. Today's high-tech companies are flocking to artificial intelligence (AI). Artificial intelligence is a technology that combines big data and sensor technology to detect changes on its own and solve problems autonomously. This is a technology that has evolved one step further than the Internet of Things (IoT) that connects things and smart systems that use information and communication technology.

Therefore, how this artificial intelligence technology can be combined with lighting is expected to become an important task in the future of lighting. This year is expected to suggest the direction of the development of artificial intelligence lighting as its first year.

Second is smart lighting. Lighting systems combined with artificial intelligence will inevitably have to move toward smart lighting. If artificial intelligence corresponds to the brain, the hands and feet are the smart system.

The smart system here is not simply an existing smart system at the level of exchanging and controlling information using information and communication technology. It refers to a smart system as a "problem solving solution" that operates by itself and moves like a person without people. In other words, the era of unmanned automated smart systems will open. How will lighting change on this side? This year, the Hong Kong Spring International Lighting Exhibition is expected to provide the first step.

Third is Hong Kong's position in the global lighting industry. Since last year, there have been severe protests in Hong Kong. This situation affects Hong Kong's economic, industrial and social stability. In other words, Hong Kong's position as an intermediary trade hub may be weaker than in the past.

In this regard, what will the Hong Kong Spring International Lighting Fair look like this year? That is something we should pay attention to at the Hong Kong Spring International Lighting Fair this year.