ExCel London has been selected to host the world-leading International Conference on Robotics and Automations (ICRA) in 2023.
Beating tough competition from rival cities, the Royal Docks venue will welcome 4,000 of the world’s top experts and researchers in Artificial Intelligence and robotics for the four-day gathering.
The flagship event is estimated to bring a £13 million economic benefit to London and the UK.
The city’s bid was fronted by Professor Kaspar Althoefer from Queen Mary University of London. Bid supporters also included the Mayor of London, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kings College London, Imperial, UCL, The Alan Turing Institute and Cognition X, as well as some of London’s top AI companies such DeepMind and Shadow Robot.
The conference will see delegates take part in interactive workshops, tutorials and networking events at venues across the capital, including the Science Museum, Westminster Abbey and the Shard.
Conference organisers, from IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, say they will place a strong emphasis on developing the next generation of talent with a number of activities aimed at children aged seven and 12 years old to raise enthusiasm for STEM subjects. These activities will include robot competitions between schools in the UK.
London has emerged as leader in hosting some of the world’s biggest tech events and conferences with the recent London Tech Week attracting more than 55,000 delegates and 300 events across the city. Meanwhile, ExCel will also host the financial services and fintech conference SIBOS in September 2019 with a theme of ‘thriving in a hyper-connected world’.
Andrew Swanston, of ExCeL London, said, ‘We recognise that technology does and will continue to play an increasingly important role in delivering world class events. ICRA will provide a fascinating insight into the role of AI and Robotics, and we are excited to see what we can learn from the content. We look forward to working with IEEE to create a truly memorable experience for their delegates.”