SPS Italia:
innovation hub for business
SPS Italia: automation, digital technology, AI, and skills take center stage at the fourteenth edition
From May 26 to 28, Fiere di Parma will once again host SPS Italia, the leading trade fair for automation and digital technology for industry, now in its fourteenth edition. The event will feature its traditional exhibition layout: six pavilions showcasing the best technologies and solutions for the industrial world. Digital District has also been confirmed, with a demonstration area divided into four sections: Academy, Start-up, Industrial IT&AI, and Focus AI. The latter space is consolidated with a view to the opportunities for integration between artificial intelligence and robotics in production processes.
As every year, the fair will not only be an exhibition showcase, but also a qualified opportunity for dialogue and in-depth discussion on the most strategic issues for manufacturing.
Among the topics at the center of the conference program: AI Agents, Cybersecurity, Robotics & Physical AI, Software-defined manufacturing for greater flexibility in production, ESG Environmental Social Governance – sustainability as a pillar of industrial planning.
SPS Italia: innovation travels through the districts
The journey to the fair begins in just a few weeks with SPS Italia On Tour, a series of regional meetings dedicated to the themes of digital transformation applied to industry. This year, the initiative will once again visit some of Italy’s main manufacturing districts, promoting dialogue between companies, the manufacturing world, and innovation players.
• Bologna, February 25, 2026 – Fondazione MAST (MAST.Academy) “Automation, sustainability, and quality: the three drivers of Made in Italy competitiveness”
• Modugno (Bari), March 25, 2026 – MASMEC “Towards the sensitive factory of the future: the factory that feels, sees, thinks, and optimizes”
• Vercelli, April 28, 2026 – Amazon European Operations Innovation Lab “AI, robotics, automation, and energy management: the synergy between technology and skills for Operations 5.0”
Sps Italia, the protagonists’ comments
During the trade fair press conference, Donald Wich, CEO of Messe Frankfurt Italia, stated: “SPS Italia is a benchmark for companies that focus on technology and on updating people and skills to face a complex present, made up of challenges but also opportunities to be seized and exploited. Automation, digital technology, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, training, upskilling, and reskilling remain the main themes of the event and the On Tour program, which consists of three stages across the country. Dialogue with the network remains the main lever for creating initiatives that can inspire and accompany Italian small and medium-sized enterprises on an essential path of digital transformation.”
Andrea Bianchi, President of ANIE Automazione, added in his speech: “According to the Association’s preliminary figures for 2025, our market recorded a 4% increase in turnover compared to the previous year. Expectations for 2026 indicate substantial continuity, albeit in a context of limited visibility characterized by elements of opportunity and factors of uncertainty: on the one hand, the tail end of the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) and favorable rates support investment, while on the other hand, ongoing exogenous disruptions and the new Transition Plan influence the behavior of entrepreneurs and require a cautious approach when making any forecasts. Despite this, industrial automation continues to stand out for its dynamism, innovative capacity, and variety of applications: digitalization and Industrial AI, a virtuous integration of technology and human skills, remain among the main drivers of growth. The 2026 edition of SPS Italia will offer exhibitors and visitors a concrete opportunity to observe the transformations underway and those still in their infancy, as well as to discover how automation technologies enhance human capabilities and support key sectors across the board in our country.
The Scientific Committee of SPS Italia
Carlo Marchisio, President of the SPS Italia Scientific Committee, introduced the group: “The Scientific Committee of the SPS Italia trade fair is composed of universities, industry experts, end users, and machine manufacturers from some of Italy’s leading manufacturing companies. The working group defines the topics of the Scientific Conferences, whose best papers are awarded each year at the fair with the SPS Award Roberto Maietti. Founded in 2010, it initially consisted of 21 members (OEMs, end users, and teachers), and today has over 190 members. The Committee is very active: three meetings are held each year at the participating companies’ plants, with visits to the production areas. These are opportunities for cultural and professional growth on the topics of digitization and automation. In addition, “virtual lessons” are organized on highly topical issues such as AI and cybersecurity. In 2023, some members of the Committee launched the Position Paper project with the aim of identifying the needs of Italian businesses and promoting a technological paradigm shift. The initiative continued in 2024 and, in 2025, through the Tech ‘n Go formula, the ‘pills’ of the Scientific Committee. Today, the Position Paper 2025 is also available as a book.”
Position Paper: the book presented at the Sps Italia press conference
SPS Italia will be an opportunity to present a new Position Paper, a document that aims to offer companies useful guidelines for navigating the technological landscape.
Four main topics have been chosen for this edition:
• Governing complex systems: rules, standards, and trust as the invisible infrastructure of innovation;
• Architecture decides: from the field to the cloud, integration, responsibility, control;
• Automation and control: advanced robotics in complex socio-technical systems;
• Understanding in order to decide: metrics, KPIs, and the critical role of people in digital industrial systems; Edited by members of the Scientific Committee, the project is expanding with the presentation of the book “Evolving Technologies and Skills for Digital Factories,” which brings together the experiences, expertise, and insights of its authors.
Federico Milan, Digital Innovation Manager at Breton and member of the Scientific Committee of SPS Italia, presented the Position Paper: “In recent years, industry has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies, from advanced automation to artificial intelligence. This evolution has brought great opportunities, but also a growing complexity of production systems, which is often underestimated. The issue is no longer just what technology is capable of doing, but how it is governed, understood, and integrated into decision-making processes. The 2026 Position Paper stems from an observation: today, the real critical factor is not innovation itself, but trust in the systems we are building. This trust is based on readable architectures, clear rules, consistent metrics and, above all, on people who are able to interpret and guide technology in an informed manner.”
“For this reason,” Milan continued, “the work in progress does not start from ready-made solutions, but from structural questions. The goal is to offer industry not a list of technologies, but a framework for making better decisions, avoiding simplifications and implicit delegations. In a context of profound transformation, managing complexity becomes the real competitive and cultural lever.”
SPS Italia UP Challenge. Applications now open
For the third year running, the SPS Italia UP Challenge is promoting young start-ups that propose creative and feasible ideas in the field of technology and applications. Applications are open for just a few more weeks, until February 20. At stake is the chance to be among the three finalists who will be able to experience the trade fair with a fully equipped stand in the Start-up area. The winner will be announced at the fair.
Upskilling, reskilling, and orientation to new professions
Innovation is evolving rapidly, and updating skills remains a priority for SPS Italia with an exhibition space designed for those who work or aspire to enter the world of advanced manufacturing. Among them are over 5,000 students from universities and technical institutes who participate every year in Parma in workshops and meetings in the Next arena and in “Lessons at the Fair” at exhibitors’ stands. The project is active 365 days a year thanks to the educational talks of SPS Italia Academy On Tour in major Italian universities.
She SPS Italia. A path of shared growth
Throughout the year, She SPS Italia also hosts Morning Dates. These are informal meetings hosted by partner companies to rethink the future with respect for gender diversity. Since 2021, a close-knit and connected community has been sharing stories of female mentorship in the field of innovation. The most significant stories receive the She SPS Italia Award at the fair in the categories of female entrepreneurship, social sustainability, mentorship, and empowerment.
The academic world at Sps Italia
Emanuele Frontoni, Full Professor of Computer Science at the University of Macerata and co-director of the VRAI Lab: “At SPS Italia 2026, we will tell concrete stories of the adoption of artificial intelligence within industrial contexts, going beyond abstract or purely technological narratives. The focus will be on real experiences in which AI is integrated into production processes as an enabling component of a broader vision of Physical AI, capable of operating in close connection with machines, plants, sensors, and cyber-physical systems. Physical AI is not limited to analyzing data retrospectively, but interacts with the physical world in real time, helping to make processes more adaptive, resilient, and sustainable. Through these cases, SPS Italia will be an opportunity for everyone to show how the adoption of AI is not an end in itself, but a gradual path of industrial transformation, in which technology, organization, and people evolve together, generating measurable and lasting value for businesses.”
From left: Emanuele Frontoni (Full Professor of Computer Science at the University of Macerata and co-director of VRAI – Vision Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Lab) and Marco Bentivogli (National Coordinator for Italy, Expert in innovation policies). With them, on the right, Daniele Lopizzo, Show Director of Sps Italia.
