itemdrop Wins 2026 UFI Digital Innovation Award

The German technology company has been recognised by UFI for an approach designed to improve event experiences while challenging a process that has remained largely unchanged for decades.

UFI, The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, has named itemdrop the winner of the 2026 UFI Digital Innovation Award, recognising a digital approach that the jury believes demonstrates how technology can create more effective and valuable experiences across the exhibition lifecycle.

This year's award focused on “Creating Better Event Experiences through Digital Innovation”, with UFI seeking solutions that use technology to improve the customer experience, create new value and demonstrate measurable return on investment.

Among a strong international field of entries, itemdrop emerged as the winner, with the jury particularly impressed by the simplicity and execution of its proposition.

“What struck the jury was its sheer elegance, a simple and beautifully executed idea that leaves you wondering why no one had done it sooner,” said Stephan Forseilles, Chair of the UFI Digital Innovation Working Group. “Against a strong field of entries from around the world, it was a reminder that the best innovation often looks obvious in hindsight.”

For itemdrop, the recognition provides an opportunity to bring its approach to a global exhibition industry audience.

“This award gives us the attention to tell our story on a worldwide stage and gives the industry the nudge it needs to finally question a process that has run unchanged for 50 years,” said Felix Duscha, Co-Founder of itemdrop.

The award reflects a broader shift in the way digital innovation is being assessed across the exhibition sector. Rather than technology being valued simply for its novelty, UFI's 2026 theme placed emphasis on whether digital solutions can produce tangible improvements for customers and measurable value for organisers and other stakeholders.

That focus on practical impact is increasingly relevant as exhibition organisers look beyond digital features and platforms towards solutions that can address established operational processes, improve the visitor and exhibitor journey, and ultimately contribute to event performance.
 

A strong field of international entries

The jury also recognised Snöball, RX and Hangzhou Expo Group (杭州市会展集团) as finalists for this year's award.

Their inclusion reflects the breadth of digital innovation now being developed across the exhibition industry, with technology increasingly being applied to different stages of the event lifecycle and to the experiences of exhibitors, visitors and organisers.

The UFI Digital Innovation Award forms part of the wider UFI Awards programme, which each year recognises projects across areas including digital innovation, marketing, sustainable development, operations and services, people and culture, and industry partnerships.

The winning and selected projects are subsequently made available through UFI's Best Practices Library, extending the value of the awards beyond the recognition itself and allowing exhibition professionals around the world to examine approaches being developed elsewhere in the industry.

For a sector in which established processes can remain in place for years, the itemdrop win also underlines an important point about digital transformation: innovation does not necessarily require complexity. Sometimes its value lies in taking a familiar process, questioning why it still works the way it does, and redesigning it around the needs of today's event participants.

The 2026 UFI Award winners will be formally recognised during the 93rd UFI Global Congress, taking place from 2–5 November 2026 in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
 

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