Germany: Digitalisation in the healthcare sector

Europe’s most important get-together for the digital healthcare industry will be switching next year from Berlin to Munich. The market for software, hardware and services in this space is growing.

A few months ago the bvitg (the association of the German healthcare IT industry) and Messe München announced they would be working together to organise the DMEA. Europe’s leading event for the digitalisation of the healthcare sector will be taking place in Munich for the first time from 13 to 15 April 2027. Over 20,000 visitors and 800 exhibitors are expected. “The industry, researchers and actors such as doctors and health insurance funds operating autonomously, outside of centralised control, bring together their different sets of expertise and skills here for the benefit of customers and patients,” says bvitg chairman Matthias Meierhofer. At the same time, as Reinhard Pfeiffer and Stefan Rummel, the co-CEOs of Messe München, emphasise, “The DMEA stands for quality, competence and the exchange of innovations at the highest level. We are delighted to be continuing the development of the event together with the bvitg and the whole industry in Munich.”

This annual industry event offers those involved in practice, IT specialists, policy experts and business people a shared platform for exchange. The focus is on products, trends and innovations around digitalisation and IT in the healthcare industry. The organisers emphasise that the DMEA is a central hub for medical progress and digital health applications. The global market for software, hardware and services in this space is forecast to grow significantly: by substantially more than 20% by the year 2030. In Europe alone, the market is expected to be worth around 230 billion euros by then.

Messe München brings to the table many years of experience of organising leading global trade fairs – as well as its expertise in major international medical events. The bvitg, on the other hand, provides comprehensive industry-related expertise, its trusted brand and market knowledge. They emphasise that they will be working together to shape and develop the content, direction, agenda and organisational framework of the event in future. They also intend to continue to internationalise the DMEA. The industry fully supports this new direction, according to Messe München. Important industry representatives have welcomed it and stress the significance of having a central industry get-together: “The DMEA stands for digital healthcare, which is improving significantly throughout Germany,” observes Bernhard Calmer, the managing director of CGM Clinical Europe. “A location such as Munich combines that with one of the strongest ecosystems for high-tech and innovation in Europe – with hospitals, research institutes, medical technology, startups and industry all in one place.

Messe München and its various venues are looking forward to having a strong year for conventions in 2026, hosting some prestigious medical events including the Congress of the German Respiratory Society (DGP), ESCMID Global and the ESC Congress (www.messe-muenchen.de).