Greetings, and welcome to the first edition of AV Integration Magazine by Pro-Systems for 2019.

There is little debate that the internet has had a bigger impact on human civilisation than any other innovation in recent history – and I am not alone in believing that the digital age is only in its infancy. Rapid developments in computing and digital technologies continue to drive demand for smarter audiovisual solutions and automated control across every conceivable industry and vertical market. AVIXA forecasts significant growth for the professional AV industry in its 2018 industry analysis report (IOTA), with a compound annual growth rate of 4.3% expected over the next five years. These are, therefore, interesting times for the professional audiovisual and information communications industries.

In this issue, we take a look at emerging trends that are expected to direct the professional AV and information communication industries over the next few years. As the industry prepares to descend on the RAI in Amsterdam between 5 and 8 February for Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2019, it will be interesting to see what the world’s leading manufacturers of professional audiovisual and collaboration technology will bring to the market.

I strongly suspect that the majority of new products will not only reflect what is possible with the latest in manufacturing, computing and networking capabilities, but also the changing needs of end users in the digital age and I look forward to bringing you all of the news from the world’s leaders in professional AV over the next few weeks.

If you or your colleagues will be attending ISE, please contact me at editor@pro-systems.co.za and share your experience of the show with us.

Regards
David Cornwell and the AV Integration team