The Things Conference 2026 Preview with Felix Heins

The Things Conference 2026 is moving beyond its LoRaWAN roots and positioning itself as a broader meeting point for the IoT and edge ecosystem. In a new Elektor TV interview, Felix Heins, Head of Partnerships at The Things Industries, explains how the event has changed, why working demonstrations are central to this year’s program, and what first-time visitors should expect. Elektor has also published an earlier conference preview with additional event details.

The Things Conference 2026 Moves Beyond LoRaWAN

The conference began in 2018 around The Things Network and a community experimenting with LoRaWAN. Heins says the conversation has matured with the technology. Instead of arguing over which wireless technology is superior, developers and companies are increasingly asking which technology fits a particular problem, how deployments can scale, and whether systems will still deliver reliably five or ten years from now.

That shift is reflected in the 2026 program. The event now brings together multiple wireless and IoT communities rather than treating LoRaWAN as the only center of gravity. The official program includes connectivity, edge AI, embedded systems, energy-efficient designs, security and compliance, and strategy. Standards bodies and open-source organizations involved this year include the LoRa Alliance, Bluetooth SIG, Wi-Fi Alliance, Z-Wave Alliance, Eclipse Foundation, and Zephyr Project.

Put Your Demo Where Your Mouth Is

This year’s theme is deliberately blunt: “Put Your Demo Where Your Mouth Is.” Heins says the idea is to cut through roadmap promises and sales presentations by asking participants to show technology that actually works now. A live demonstration can fail, of course, but that is part of the point. For engineers, it provides a much clearer picture of what is usable today than another slide describing what might ship next year.

The broader mix also makes comparison easier. Visitors can see different approaches to connectivity and IoT deployment side by side, then talk directly to the people building them. Heins describes the conference as a “community of communities,” where neighboring ecosystems can compare solutions instead of fighting over a single winner.

A More Focused IoT Event

Heins expects roughly 2,500 visitors over the two days. That is substantial, but still much smaller than the giant trade shows where finding the same person twice can become a project of its own. He says the scale leaves room for repeated conversations with exhibitors, developers, and decision-makers, including at the afterparty on the first evening.

For first-time attendees, his advice is simple: attend both days and plan ahead. The conference app can be used to filter sessions by theme and technology, while three parallel agenda tracks and workshops with limited seating make some advance curation worthwhile. Previous conference talks are also available online for anyone wanting context before arriving.

The Things Conference 2026 takes place on September 22–23 at De Kromhouthal in Amsterdam. Current program and ticket information is available from the event organizers.