Autonomous Technologies: A Growth Sector Between Two Worlds

EU member states are realigning their security architecture and, according to the Council of the European Union, already spent €343 billion on defense in 2024 – a 19% increase year on year. In Germany, defense spending is set to rise to around €108 billion annually by 2026 and to just under €153 billion by 2029, according to the Ministry of Defense. More than just driving the actual production of defense equipment, these billions also fuel research, industrial development and new value chains.

This development is particularly evident in dual-use technologies, meaning those technologies that can be deployed in both civilian and security-related contexts on land, at sea, in the air or in space. Their technological foundation – which includes sensor technology, software, data processing, connectivity and artificial intelligence – makes them applicable in a wide variety of fields. This versatility also boosts their economic relevance.

Whether they’re used in industry, logistics, infrastructure or disaster response, these technologies are particularly valuable in situations where human intervention is dangerous or difficult: “After floods, fires or landslides, uncrewed systems can initially provide a situational overview, assess damage and explore hard-to-reach areas without immediately endangering emergency responders,” explains Dr. Gerald Wissel, Chairman of the Executive Board of UAV DACH, the leading European association for uncrewed aviation.

That’s why this topic is more than just a technological trend for North Rhine-Westphalia. The state boasts many of the conditions that are crucial for autonomous and uncrewed technologies: More than 2,200 kilometers of highways, 17,600 kilometers of federal and state roads, approximately 6,000 kilometers of railways, and 720 kilometers of waterways combine to establish North Rhine-Westphalia as a tightly interconnected transportation and logistics hub. On top of that, the Rhine – one of Europe’s most important waterways – runs right through the region.

Duisburg demonstrates just how real this potential is: With the world’s largest inland port, a direct route to Rotterdam, some 300 transport and logistics companies, and approximately 52,000 jobs directly or indirectly dependent on the sector, the city concentrates infrastructure, industry and applications in a single compact area. Complementing those advantages are NRW’s industrial strength, application-oriented research and international logistics – precisely the factors that facilitate the transfer of new technologies into real-world applications.

In a densely populated and traffic-congested state like North Rhine-Westphalia, autonomous systems can have a particularly tangible impact. Dr. Frédéric Kracht from the Duisburg-based Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems (DST) shares an illustrative example: “Currently, only about 5% of freight in North Rhine-Westphalia is transported via waterways, yet we could easily double that volume on the Rhine.”

A market that thrives so heavily on applications, technology transfer and networking simply needs a platform to showcase technologies, find matching partners and foster dialogue. And that’s exactly where XPONENTIAL Europe in Düsseldorf comes in.

 “From the very beginning, our ambition with XPONENTIAL Europe has been to showcase the entire spectrum of uncrewed and autonomous systems, plus robotics, as a cross-industry field of innovation on a central platform,” explains Malte Seifert, the director of Europe’s leading trade show for robotics and autonomous systems.

Today, this “entire spectrum” also includes security-related applications, which are gaining visibility both on the exhibition floor and in the conference program. Seifert makes it clear that “while XPONENTIAL Europe remains a technology trade show, it reflects the reality of the market more comprehensively than ever before.”

A platform like this is strategically important for Düsseldorf and North Rhine-Westphalia. “Innovation happens when you can touch and understand things – whenever technologies become visible, tangible and debatable,” says Rear Admiral Christian Bock, head of the Bundeswehr’s Erdinger Innovation Center for Uncrewed Systems. That is precisely why XPONENTIAL Europe matters so much: The show brings visibility to a growth sector that is rapidly gaining technological and economic significance for North Rhine-Westphalia and far beyond.