Future Steel Forum 2020 – expect great things from virtual conference

The Future Steel Forum 2020 conference takes place next week (8-9 December) in cyberspace and promises to be an event to remember.

Organised by the long-established and well-respected Steel Times International magazine, published by Quartz Business Media, the Forum, which was established in June 2017, opening at the Sheraton Hotel in Warsaw, Poland, is now in its fourth successful year and is widely regarded as the first ever steel conference focused entirely on the subject of Industry 4.0 and the steelmaking process.

After two years at the Sheraton Hotel in Warsaw, the event moved to the Sofitel in Budapest, Hungary, last year and was expected to run in Prague during the summer of 2020.

COVID-19 put a stop to most conferences and exhibitions this year and event organisers have relied heavily upon the services of online conference platforms. The Future Steel Forum is no exception.

Matthew Moggridge, programme director for the Future Steel Forum and editor of Steel Times International, commented: "The Future Steel Forum has been popular among steelmakers from the first event in Warsaw back in 2017, and continues to be a calendar event for the industry. The fact that COVID-19 has prevented us from opening in Prague as we had intended this year, hasn't dampened the spirit of the event. The programme is just as hot this year – if not hotter – than in previous years and is jam-packed with leading steelmakers, production technology experts and academics in the field, all making ground-breaking presentations."

The 2020 virtual Future Steel Forum features keynotes from Dave Stickler, CEO, Big River Steel, and His Excellency Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi, CEO of Emirates Steel. There will be presentations from Sergey Detyuk, CEO of Metinvest Digital, and Igor Khlebnikov, head of digital technologies directorate at TMK, ArcelorMittal Global R&D, Japanese steelmaker Kobe Steel, Tata Steel India and many more, including big names from the world of steel production technology, such as Danieli Automation, SMS Digital, Primetals Technologies, PSI Metals and Fives Group.