Elche to host UITIC congress
The International Union of Shoe Industry Technicians (UITIC) has announced that it is to hold its XVI International Footwear Congress in Elche, Spain.
UITIC hopes to attract in excess of 300 footwear manufacturers and professionals from Spain and abroad to the event, which will take place on October 16-18, with the main focus of the meeting geared towards the advantages of technology in the design, production and trading of footwear.
Commenting on the topics set to be discussed at the congress, Dr César Orgilés, president of UITIC, stated that the event will thoroughly assess the advantages of technology in all phases of the footwear industry, taking the consumer as the starting point, focusing on improved comfort and services, with each session categorised into five different sections: Consumer, Product Innovation, Technology, Management and Sustainable Development.
The Consumer session will present an overview of the market in light of the increased globalisation of the sector, considering consumers’ needs and how footwear companies can respond to these demands; the Product Innovation session will focus on the need for anti-counterfeiting devices in footwear, due to reduced customs controls and the measures currently being taken in different countries; the Technology session will look at the implementation of new innovations from the design stage through to commercialisation; the Management session will look at different business models and will present several case studies as well as focusing on the use of information and communication technologies for the exchange of information within the footwear value chain; and finally the Sustainable Development session will discuss critical substances in footwear production as well as possible alternatives for recycling covering new regulations such as the French “eco-tax” relating to the collection of used shoes.
