drupa next age to Give Young Innovators a Global Platform

The special show drupa next age (dna) puts the newcomers and young talents of the print and packaging sectors very much in the spotlight. The ‘drupa dna Deep Dive’ interview series already now provides initial insights into this unique special feature at drupa 2024.

With great ideas but small budgets, many fledgling companies may not find it easy to make the right contacts and establish their exciting and pioneering solutions on the market. Keeping this in mind, drupa has created a special platform – drupa next age (dna) – specifically for this target group, where newcomers, young talents, start-ups, and established companies can network on a level playing field, find matching cooperation partners, and swap innovative business ideas. For many participants this is the opportunity to introduce themselves to an international expert audience for the first time.

Together with the International Circle of Educational Institutes for Graphic Media Technology and Management (IC), the Stuttgart Media University offers a contact point for alumni, students, and trainees. Potential junior staff and students have the opportunity to exchange ideas with the employers of the future and familiarise themselves with draft concepts and best cases.

New business, networking, and discussion

The dna exhibition area in Hall 7 provides a global platform for discussions on technologies and tools, as well as with people who are driving the industry forward and opening up unique opportunities for printing technologies along the entire value chain. Especially for newcomers the integrated dna stage featuring presentations, panel discussions, and interviews is the ideal forum to win over investors with new business models, product solutions, and technologies. Focal themes of dna include Additive Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Business Intelligence, New Materials, Platform Economy, Predictive Maintenance, Printed Electronics, Remote Services, New Business Models, and Process Design.

Here, drupa has enlisted the support of two strong partners – Deborah Corn and Frank Tueckmantel – both with many years of industry expertise for the operational support, organization, and moderation of the trend forum for cross-sectional technologies.

Design awards for creative youngsters

Two exhibitions will prove real eye-catchers at drupa next age.

As part of a competition, students majoring in ‘Communication in Space’ at the Academy for Fashion & Design in Düsseldorf have created fascinating paper-based artworks on the topic ‘Anamorphosis’, specifically for drupa 2024. A total of eight teams took part. The winning artwork made up of 102 square pixels measuring 11 metres by 8 metres will be presented in the Süd Entrance of the Exhibition Centre, with the other submissions on display at the drupa next age area.

The creative results of the second contest ‘Future of the Print Industry’ can also be admired here. Along with Fritz-Henßler-Berufskolleg (FHBK) – the Dortmund-based vocational college – drupa has invited media design trainees as well as design technology assistants to illustrate the future of the printing industry and the primacy of sustainability as a poster campaign or a video project. The winners of the competition will be chosen and announced at drupa and all submissions be showcased at the drupa next age area.

drupa dna Deep Dive interviews now online

As of today, the ‘drupa dna Deep Dive Interviews’ have already whet the appetite for what drupa next age has in store, helping you secure a head start for a successful future in graphic communication.

Under the heading ‘drupa dna Deep Dive’ all dna participants will be interviewed by Deborah Corn and Frank Tueckmantel in the run-up to the trade fair, including Dr. Anastasios E. Politis and Gunter Huebner (IC educators), Dominic Harris (CarbonQuota), Aous Mansour (Gomake), Samir Husni (Mr. Magazine), Christoph Clermont and Christoph Schacht (Printess), Andrea Abeln and Thomas Schnettler (locr GEOservices & MAPS), and Kit and Kasper Tomshøj (PrintVis). The drupa dna Deep Dive series of interviews is available for download at drupa.com