NextGen Signage drives The DSS 2026 agenda and speaker line-up

The DSS 2026 has unveiled its agenda and speaker line-up, bringing together global digital signage and DooH leaders to discuss the future of the industry. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the event will take place on 20–21 May at the Hilton Munich Airport and focus on the theme “NextGen Signage.” The conference will feature keynote sessions, panel discussions, and expert talks covering AI, cybersecurity, retail media, sustainability, and digital signage market trends across regions including Europe, the Americas, and India.

Industry experts and executives from companies such as Creative Realities, Spectrio, Siemens AG, Intuiface, and Screenly will share insights on the challenges and opportunities shaping the market. Topics like AI-driven retail media, digital signage consolidation, operating systems, cybersecurity risks, and green signage strategies are expected to drive discussions. Attendees will also gain access to networking events, the invidis Strategy Awards, and the launch of the invidis Yearbook through The DSS App.

The DSS, the premier international strategy conference for digital signage and DooH professionals, has revealed its speaker line-up and agenda highlights. Presented by invidis consulting in collaboration with Integrated Systems Events, The DSS aims to convene industry perspectives on how businesses are adapting to rapid structural and technological change.

Marking its 20th anniversary, the two-day programme at the Hilton Munich Airport (20–21 May) will feature keynotes, panel discussions and expert-led sessions focused on strategic and technological shifts.

Framed around “NextGen Signage”, senior executives from across the global digital signage ecosystem will examine the key forces reshaping the global market, including economic pressures, industry consolidation, intensifying competition, commoditisation, and the accelerating impact of AI.

Speaker & agenda highlights for 2026 include:

• invidis Keynotes & 20th Anniversary Moments: kicking off The DSS is invidis Keynote ‘NextGen Signage’ by Florian Rotberg, Managing Director of invidis and Stefan Schieker, Senior Partner of invidis, setting the event agenda and providing a clear view of where the industry currently stands. This will be followed by a second keynote ‘20 Years of Digital Signage’ reflecting on the past two decades of defining moments in the industry as well as what the future entails. Plus, evening networking and celebrations at Airbräu.
• Market Update: DACH, Americas, India and Europe are some of the territories addressed throughout the two days. Panel discussions include ‘The European Leaders Panel: Outgrowing Local Markets – The New European Way’ and  ‘DSF Forum: Tariffs, Turmoil, Takeovers: The Real Challenges Facing the Americas’, a panel including Tamara Bebb, CEO at Spectrio and Rick Mills, CEO at Creative Realities to examine forces such as tariffs and AI reshaping digital signage.
  Jonas Lagerqvist, Deputy CEO and CFO at Vertiseit and Erik Wolff, COO ICT at Econocom will also delve into the deals, tensions, and trade‑offs behind digital signage consolidation, and what it means for valuation, innovation, and the future shape of the ecosystem.
• Operating Systems & Cybersecurity: the era when digital signage systems could operate without serious cybersecurity consideration is over. The session ‘Cybersecurity in Digital Signage – Unpatched, Unsecured, Unprotected’ will confront the uncomfortable truths surrounding this topic. Other sessions include OS selection and update policy, governance, resilience and risk, plus how platform choices influence security posture and total cost of ownership.
• AI Spotlight: taking a new format for 2026, the AI spotlight will invite speakers to the stage individually to address their specialised topic and how developments in generative, analytic and agentic AI are affecting this. Speakers include Rick Mills, CEO at Creative Realities, Andy W. Bohli CEO at Imacuklix AG/Cingerine AG, Mathieu Yerle CEO at Intuiface, Viktor Petersson CEO at Screenly and Ron Levac, Managing Partner at Global Technology Investments LLC.
• Retail Media: sessions focus on experience and growth opportunities across sectors, including the role of retail media networks and intersection of signage, adtech, audiences, analytics and commercial models. Jan Schoenmakers, Managing Director at HASE & IGEL explores how AI is transforming in‑store data from fragmented and underused into a powerful driver of insight, accountability, and commercial growth for retailers and brands in his session ‘Predict, Target, Monetize: The New AI Retail Playbook’.
• Green Signage: turning sustainability into a measurable operating discipline including energy efficiency, lifecycle optimisation and reporting. Jesco Dayen, Siemens AG and others will outline how green signage is moving from concept to commercial reality in the session ‘The New Relevance of Green Signage’.
• Tech Dialogue: Comprising of 10 dedicated sessions, the Tech Dialogue track is designed for technologist specialists, with sessions focusing on critical technology conversations that are influencing the industry, such as ‘The AI Tech Stack’, ‘The Architectural Shift’ and ‘Standardisation vs Complexity’.
• Industry Recognition: invidis Strategy Awards & launch of the invidis Yearbook.

The agenda and speaker line-up are now available on The DSS App, which can be downloaded from Google Play and the App Store. The app is the central place to browse sessions and speakers, bookmark favourites, and manage your personal schedule. It also allows attendees to request meetings during the summit and automatically add them to their agenda.

Florian Rotberg, Founder & Owner, invidis consulting GmbH, comments: “In our 20th year, The DSS returns to Munich with a programme that reflects where the market is heading into a new phase. The speaker line-up and agenda address the topics industry leaders are dealing with right now.”

Mike Blackman, Managing Director of Integrated Systems Events, concludes: “The DSS has always been a forum where decision-makers come together with leading speakers to navigate a rapidly changing landscape. We’re proud to partner with invidis again and look forward to welcoming the industry to Munich in May.”