There is news from the Vogel Communications Group (VCG) media network at the start of the year: In January 2026, the new media brand "Industrial Explorer" was launched (www.industrial-explorer.de).

The new digital portal was created within the MM Maschinenmarkt Group, a leading international specialist media outlet for industrial topics. In the future, the "Industrial Explorer" will serve as a hub and incubator for new technology topics and discussion formats. The broad-based topic portal aims to pick up on fast-moving trends, provide early editorial coverage, discuss them, and develop them further. The topics come from the large pool of participating editorial teams and industry experts in the VCG network. A total of around 40 media brands from the industrial, automotive, and IT sectors are affiliated with VCG.

In this way, Industrial Explorer adapts to the dynamics of B2B communication. "The new medium combines technological innovation with modern forms of communication," explains editor-in-chief Benedikt Hofmann: "On this platform, we can think two steps ahead and brainstorm with market players so that the industry can prepare for the right and important future trends in good time. We invite all true pioneers and trailblazers to join us. Everyone who participates will present themselves as innovators of the future."

In a second stage, the digital event "Industrial Explorer Days" will launch as a live event. What makes this special is that the different formats will be highly interconnected and given equal weight. The focus will be on interaction and collaboration.

What topics are covered?
The content represents a mix of different levels of maturity: from topics closely related to everyday working life to trends with a 5- to 10-year perspective. Key questions in the selection process include: Which topics need a home in order to make engagement interesting for customers? Where is there potential to establish our own products or events in the future? Where is the greatest potential for the industry?
Industrial Explorer is launching with the following topics:
• Artificial intelligence
• Cyber resilience
• Quantum computing
• Data rooms
• New materials
• Circular economy

"The leading platform concept is economically necessary. We collect good ideas and promote them to companies," explains Matthias Bauer, CEO of VCG: "Like a digital lab for new ideas, Industrial Explorer can accelerate innovation cycles through cross-industry idea transfer. We don't want product communication, we want idea communication. By placing good ideas in the broad field of industry, we encourage courage and confidence in the target groups for new topics that could become big and develop their own platforms."