Collaborative thought-leadership platform for industry
At the start of the year, there is news from the media network of Vogel Communications Group (VCG): In January 2026, the new media brand “Industrial Explorer” was launched (www.industrial-explorer.de).
The new digital portal was developed in the environment of the MM Maschinenmarkt Group, a leading international specialist publication for industrial topics. In the future, “Industrial Explorer” will serve as a hub and incubator for new technology themes and discussion formats. The wide-ranging portal aims to pick up fast-moving trends, cover them editorially at an early stage, discuss them and develop them further. Its topics come from the large pool of participating editorial teams and industry experts in VCG’s network. Around 40 media brands from the business sectors of industry, automotive and IT are affiliated with VCG in total.
“Industrial Explorer” is responding to the dynamics of B2B communications in this way. “The new medium combines technological innovation with modern forms of communication,” explains Editor-in-Chief Benedikt Hofmann: “This platform gives us the opportunity to think two steps ahead alongside market players and brainstorm, so that industry can prepare for the right and important future trends in good time. We invite all genuine pioneers and trailblazers to join us. Everyone who takes part can position themselves as a future innovator.”
In a second phase, the digital event “Industrial Explorer Days” will launch as a live event. What makes it special is that the different formats will be closely interconnected and given equal prominence. The focus is on interaction and collaboration.
What topics are covered?
The content spans different levels of maturity: from topics close to everyday professional life to trends with a five- to ten-year outlook. Key questions in the selection process include: Which topics need a home to make engagement attractive to clients? Where is the potential to establish dedicated products or events in the future? Where does the greatest potential for industry lie?
“Industrial Explorer” launches with these topics:
- Artificial intelligence
- Cyber resilience
- Quantum computing
- Data spaces
- New materials
- Circular economy
“The platform concept is not just strategically important – it is vital for the wider economy. We gather good ideas and promote them to companies,” explains Matthias Bauer, CEO of VCG. “Like a digital lab for new thinking, ‘Industrial Explorer’ can accelerate innovation cycles through cross-industry knowledge transfer. We want to communicate ideas, not products. By bringing good ideas into the wider industrial landscape, we want to inspire our target groups to embrace new topics – that may one day grow and develop their own platforms.”
