How the exhibition business is changing: digital transformation using the example of Kazan Expo

Digital technology is what is changing the Kazan Expo exhibition center. In 2020, Wi-Fi was upgraded - the transition to the 6th generation is underway. In the future, they are considering the introduction of security gateways (to protect the network) and even plan to use artificial intelligence to solve some problems. All this is part of the center's large digital transformation project.

Kazan Expo Exhibition Center

Huawei helps to introduce modern technologies at Kazan Expo. After all, the task is not the easiest. The exhibition complex is one of the largest in the Russian Federation (143 thousand square meters), unites three large pavilions and an open platform. Therefore, to avoid difficulties, competent technical support was required - IT specialists needed to understand how to work with new equipment in the shortest possible time.

Project Technical Details

During the digitalization of the Kazan-Expo exhibition center, a modern fail-safe IT infrastructure was created using Huawei's best practices for this type of facilities. The infrastructure is based on the S12700 switches, the choice of which was due to the scalability and requirements of the required bandwidth. According to the hierarchical architecture, the S5730 series switches were connected, which served as inputs for the wireless data network, video surveillance network, computing power and user segment.

"The wireless network is a very complex installation," Huawei says. - So there are many different types of premises on the site, from simple office to exhibition areas with a height of 12 meters. Therefore, it was necessary to select the most suitable solution for each location. AP4000/AP7000 points and access points with High-density functionality were used. To ensure information security, the latest ITU NGFW USG was used, with the help of which all data flows within the expocenter are monitored. "

As of August 2020, Huawei equipment, which was previously installed as part of the digitalization project, is already being actively operated. More than 300 high-speed Wi-Fi points operate on the territory, which are capable of providing 4 thousand connections at once. There is a video surveillance system - 1090 cameras with night vision. The received data are sent to the security point, where they are synchronized with the programs of law enforcement agencies.

And a special eSight system works, which responds sensitively and instantly to emergency situations. It monitors IT infrastructure. There are also computer systems, uninterrupted energy supply, efficient data storage and transmission systems.

The department of IT "Kazan Expo" has large-scale tasks. After all, the organization of international exhibitions and conferences of different levels of complexity requires modern equipment.

The exhibition business has a special specificity. The location should be specially equipped so that visitors can not only be attracted, but also surprised. For example, virtual reality tools are in demand. This increases infrastructure requirements. Visitors are attracted to communication using online platforms and social media. And this is an increased load on the center's systems (throughput, speed, reliability).

For example, the already introduced digital equipment made it possible to successfully organize the event WorldSkills 2019 - the 45th International Professional Excellence Competition, which was attended by 270 thousand people.

We understood that there will be a lot of young people who do not represent their lives without Wi-Fi, "says Konstantin Nikoshin, director of the Kazan Expo IT department. - The bandwidth of the communication channel was about 20 Gbit/s, the number of online connections when visiting 3 thousand people was about 5-7 thousand. During the peak load, the throughput was about 4 Gb/s.

Another event where digital equipment passed a successful test - hackathon, in 2019. It was even included in the Guinness Book of Records as an event that was attended by the largest number of computer scientists (more than 3.5 thousand people). The local network was created as soon as possible - literally three days before the event.

Freelance situations also arose on the hackathon. For example, one team could be offended and drown out the Wi-Fi network or even ruin the results of another team. But all these issues were quickly resolved by specialists thanks to the latest equipment and specialized software.

Therefore, the already introduced solutions that were used for Kazan EXPO have been tested in practice. The updated infrastructure allows you to conduct large-scale events that are effective for business. At the same time, the exhibition complex is served by only 2 system administrators and 4 administrators for minimum equipment configuration.

Шаблон:Quote 'The technique does not require additional attention - there are no hangings or failures, "said Konstantin Nikoshin. - Information technology for business is not an auxiliary tool, but a driving force.