AI agents and the future of work
Agents and copilots that augment people, explainable to the people who use them and accountable for what they decide.
Scale what matters.
Industry rebuilt for human-centricity, sustainability and resilience
The global platform where Industry 5.0 ideas are exchanged, tested and scaled. Convened by Sustainable Intelligence, the Forum brings cities, companies and researchers together to turn human-centric, sustainable and resilient industry into measurable commitments, funded pilots and lasting partnerships.
i5Dialogues in 2027, then i5Forum 2028, the Forum’s flagship summit. Host city to be announced.
How host city selection worksAbout the Forum
Industry 5.0 puts people, the planet and resilience at the centre of technology. The World Industry 5.0 Forum is where that becomes measurable: positions you can compare, commitments you can track and pilots you can scale.
Read the full story →Three days and a residency
The programme will be refined in 2027 with the host city’s preferences.
Vision and alignment
The host city opens the summit and the venue becomes a living lab.
- Host city welcome and charter announcement
- Opening conversation: from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, with people, AI and the planet as co-workers
- No-slides provocations and moderated debate
- Breakout circles across the six tracks
- Living-lab tours and a digital twin sprint
- Reverse pitches: cities and companies state their needs
- Evening reception
Build, scale and commit
Proofs, deals and public commitments.
- Lightning talks: build, test, scale
- Deep-dive labs and bootcamps in parallel
- Impact deal room with pre-booked 1:1 meetings
- Capital and grants forum
- i5Awards finals
- CEOs and mayors roundtable: measurable actions for the next 12 months
- Host city charter signing and partner agreements
Training and site visits
- MorningMicro-credential training and i5Certification exams.
- AfternoonGuided visits to the host city’s green transition (energy and buildings, port and logistics, circular food, transition planning).
Residency Programme in the Host City
Companies and researchers stay on to turn agreements into local research and development.
- Technology partnership talks with local companies and institutions
- Joint R&D and pilot projects with the host city
- Matchmaking with local SMEs, universities and investors
- Progress reviewed at the next edition
One main forum, six tracks
Human-centric industry in the age of AI
Robotics and physical AI
Collaborative, humanoid and autonomous robots working safely alongside people in factories, ports and cities.
Energy, climate tech and the circular economy
Clean energy, efficient production and circular materials, with impact measured and verified.
Digital twins, data and resilient supply chains
Twins, data spaces and secure infrastructure that keep value chains running through disruption.
Industry focuses across all tracks
- Advanced manufacturing
- Energy and buildings
- Ports, logistics and mobility
- Food, agriculture and bioeconomy
- Health and life sciences
- Finance, tokenisation and capital markets
- AI infrastructure: data centres, compute and edge
- One-person companies (OPCs) and AI-native businesses
- Forward-deployed engineering (FDE) and AI integration
- Public services and govtech
- Creative and cultural industries
- Skills and education
Labs, sandboxes and bootcamps
Hands-on formats where participants build, test and decide, instead of only listening.
- Impact deal room
- Digital twin sandbox
- Tokenisation bootcamp
- Energy transition lab
- Resilience war-game
- Interoperability plugfest
- Food Futures Lab
- Reverse pitches
- Audit in a day
- Student challenge
- Nature credits simulation
- Edge AI bootcamp
- AI agent sandbox
- Robot safety cell
- FDE sprint
Cut emissions first. Measure openly. Report everything.
A core theme of the Forum, and a live demonstration of how a major event can cut, measure and report its emissions.
The summit is designed to cut emissions first, measure its footprint in real time and invite every participant to help reduce it. Remaining emissions are addressed by financing verified climate projects, reported separately and never counted as reductions.
- 90%Waste diverted from landfill
- 50%+Plant-forward menus
- 0Paper, everything is digital
- 100%Recyclable or reusable materials
- Renewable electricity at the venue where available
- Farm-to-venue traceable meals
- IoT sensors for energy and waste
- Digital twins for food and energy flows
- Real-time footprint dashboard
- Smart lighting
- Green eater
- Travel light
- Waste saver
- Climate supporter
Your points
55
- Plant-based lunch+10
- Arrived by train+20
- Refilled your cup+5
- Sorted waste correctly+5
- Supported a nature project+15
Collective goal7,200 / 10,000
At 10,000 points, a sponsor funds a local climate project.
Food Futures Lab
Taste, learn and connect: every meal shows its estimated carbon and water footprint.
Triple-impact meals
Each dish balances planet, people and prosperity, with local and seasonal sourcing.
Minimising food waste
Portions are optimised, surplus is donated, and a live dashboard shows food diverted.
The Forum’s food and hospitality standard is co-developed with our founding partner VM Konference.
Host an edition. Keep the legacy.
The flagship summit moves to a new city for each edition. The host city gains more than visitors for a few days: a measured baseline, a charter with its name on it, and local programmes that continue after the delegates leave.
What the city gets
- Edition naming
- The edition carries the city’s name, with an option to host again.
- Host city charter
- Led by the mayor, signed on stage, with 12-month measurable actions.
- City baseline
- A free i5Benchmark assessment, published as the city’s i5Index position.
- Local legacy
- An SME readiness cohort, student challenges and municipal pilots.
- Impact report
- Visitor nights, spending and media value, measured after the event.
Selection timeline for the 2028 edition
Now to early 2027
Expression of interest
Cities and regions tell us they’re interested, and we send the host city prospectus.
Q1 2027
Introductory call and rapid city assessment
A call with the city team and a short assessment of readiness, venues and the local ecosystem.
After the assessment
Formal host invitation
We send the city a formal invitation to host the edition.
Q2 2027
Site visit and terms
We visit venues with the city team and agree roles, budget and legacy programmes.
By June 2027
Memorandum of understanding
In time for the city’s 2028 budget planning.
Q4 2027
Host city and dates announced
The host city and dates are announced together.
i5Awards
Recognising measurable progress, not promises. Every entry is scored on the five i5Benchmark dimensions, finalists present live on day two and an independent jury chooses the winners.
Breakthrough Startup Award
Early-stage teams with proof their solution works in practice.
- Human Experience
- Sustainable Practices
- Resilience & Adaptability (lead dimension)
- Responsible Innovation (lead dimension)
- Accountability
Highlighted: lead dimensions for this award.
Live pilot, committed customers, credible path to scale.
Transformative Enterprise Award
Established companies with verified change across operations.
- Human Experience (lead dimension)
- Sustainable Practices (lead dimension)
- Resilience & Adaptability
- Responsible Innovation
- Accountability
Highlighted: lead dimensions for this award.
Before/after evidence, workforce involvement, supply-chain reach.
Pioneering City and Region Award
Public bodies delivering measurable public value.
- Human Experience (lead dimension)
- Sustainable Practices
- Resilience & Adaptability
- Responsible Innovation
- Accountability (lead dimension)
Highlighted: lead dimensions for this award.
Citizen participation, open data, replicable by other cities.
Accountable AI Award
AI in real use that people can understand, question and correct.
- Human Experience
- Sustainable Practices
- Resilience & Adaptability
- Responsible Innovation (lead dimension)
- Accountability (lead dimension)
Highlighted: lead dimensions for this award.
Explainability to affected people, human oversight and redress, documented risk management, data provenance.
Outstanding People-First Design Award
Work, products and places designed around the people who use them.
- Human Experience (lead dimension)
- Sustainable Practices (lead dimension)
- Resilience & Adaptability
- Responsible Innovation
- Accountability
Highlighted: lead dimensions for this award.
User co-design, accessibility and inclusion, safety and wellbeing outcomes.
Extraordinary Gen Award
For the next generation of builders, and for what they build with generative AI: young founders, students and early-career teams whose generative-AI applications are already in real use.
- Human Experience (lead dimension)
- Sustainable Practices
- Resilience & Adaptability
- Responsible Innovation (lead dimension)
- Accountability
Highlighted: lead dimensions for this award.
Real users, demonstrable benefit, transparent use of generative models, safeguards in place.
Early-stage teams with proof their solution works in practice.
- Human Experience
- Sustainable Practices
- Resilience & Adaptability (lead dimension)
- Responsible Innovation (lead dimension)
- Accountability
Highlighted: lead dimensions for this award.
Live pilot, committed customers, credible path to scale.
Established companies with verified change across operations.
- Human Experience (lead dimension)
- Sustainable Practices (lead dimension)
- Resilience & Adaptability
- Responsible Innovation
- Accountability
Highlighted: lead dimensions for this award.
Before/after evidence, workforce involvement, supply-chain reach.
Public bodies delivering measurable public value.
- Human Experience (lead dimension)
- Sustainable Practices
- Resilience & Adaptability
- Responsible Innovation
- Accountability (lead dimension)
Highlighted: lead dimensions for this award.
Citizen participation, open data, replicable by other cities.
AI in real use that people can understand, question and correct.
- Human Experience
- Sustainable Practices
- Resilience & Adaptability
- Responsible Innovation (lead dimension)
- Accountability (lead dimension)
Highlighted: lead dimensions for this award.
Explainability to affected people, human oversight and redress, documented risk management, data provenance.
Work, products and places designed around the people who use them.
- Human Experience (lead dimension)
- Sustainable Practices (lead dimension)
- Resilience & Adaptability
- Responsible Innovation
- Accountability
Highlighted: lead dimensions for this award.
User co-design, accessibility and inclusion, safety and wellbeing outcomes.
For the next generation of builders, and for what they build with generative AI: young founders, students and early-career teams whose generative-AI applications are already in real use.
- Human Experience (lead dimension)
- Sustainable Practices
- Resilience & Adaptability
- Responsible Innovation (lead dimension)
- Accountability
Highlighted: lead dimensions for this award.
Real users, demonstrable benefit, transparent use of generative models, safeguards in place.
How judging works
- Open call
- Evidence check on the five dimensions
- Independent jury scoring (research, industry, public sector; conflicts declared)
- Finalists present live on day two
- Winners announced, criteria published
i5Dialogues 2027
We spend 2027 building the first edition in public, through smaller gatherings that test the format, find speakers and prepare host cities.
Policy roundtable
The Host City Programme is presented to the European Industry 5.0 community.
City dialogue day
A first city baseline, an SME workshop and an open session for residents.
Online series
One track per session every two months, recorded and published.
Every seat a voice.
No high stage and no audience in the dark. Participants work in circles of eight to twelve, at eye level, each on a real challenge brought by a city, a company or a research team. Roles rotate every session, so everyone proposes, questions, records and connects.
- ProposerPitches a solution or idea to the circle.
- ResponderAsks the clarifying questions that sharpen it.
- ScribeRecords what the circle decides and why.
- ConnectorLinks the circle’s work to the other circles.
Circle steward: a real challenge
Part of a working ecosystem
i5Ecosystem
i5Forum: The stage
Where the ecosystem meets cities, industry and research, in a new host city each edition.
i5Benchmark: The method
Transparent indicators and evidence requirements across five dimensions.
i5Index: The map
Validated positions of organisations, cities and regions, revealed live on stage.
i5Certification: The proof
Structured assessment and certification for organisations and practitioners.
i5Academy: The skills
Online Industry 5.0 learning for people and companies.
What the host city keeps
The summit lasts three days. The ecosystem stays.
- A measured baseline: an i5Benchmark assessment and a published i5Index position.
- Local skills: i5Academy courses and i5Certification for local organisations and practitioners.
- Lasting partnerships: companies and researchers who stay through the Residency Programme in the Host City to build pilots locally.
UN SDG Acceleration Actioni5Benchmark is approved by UN DESA as an SDG Acceleration Action and published on the UN SDG Actions Platform as #SDGAction49212.- European Commission Industry 5.0 Community of PracticeThe Forum’s convenor, Sustainable Intelligence, is a member of the European Commission Industry 5.0 Community of Practice as a private research institute, and a member of the European AI Alliance.
- ICMA Principles observerSustainable Intelligence is an observer of the Principles administered by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA).
Founding Partner · Hospitality and Events
Partner with the first edition
Partners don’t just buy visibility. They join a system with evidence, certification and a network of cities behind it.
| Benefit | Founding PartnerA three-edition commitment, with a title later partners can’t buy | Strategic PartnerOne edition | Track PartnerOne track | Community and academicIn kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent founding partner recognition | Included | Not included | Not included | Not included |
| Main stage slot each edition | Included | Not included | Not included | Not included |
| Observer seat in host city selection | Included | Not included | Not included | Not included |
| i5Benchmark assessment with a published i5Index position | Included | Included | Not included | Not included |
| Priority in the impact deal room | Included | Included | Not included | Not included |
| Co-host a track with its academic lead | Included | Not included | Included | Not included |
| Shape the case selection | Included | Not included | In its track | Not included |
| Showcase space | Included | Included | Included | Not included |
| i5Index listing | Included | Included | Included | Not included |
| Panel seat | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Speaking slots in labs, circles and bootcamps | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Co-author published evidence from pilots | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Recognition as a Forum partner | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Request the partner pack | Research |
Founding Partner
A three-edition commitment, with a title later partners can’t buy
- Permanent founding partner recognition
- Main stage slot each edition
- Observer seat in host city selection
- i5Benchmark assessment with a published i5Index position
- Priority in the impact deal room
- Co-host a track with its academic lead
- Shape the case selection
- Showcase space
- i5Index listing
- Panel seat
- Speaking slots in labs, circles and bootcamps
- Recognition as a Forum partner
Strategic Partner
One edition
- i5Benchmark assessment with a published i5Index position
- Priority in the impact deal room
- Showcase space
- i5Index listing
- Panel seat
- Speaking slots in labs, circles and bootcamps
- Recognition as a Forum partner
Track Partner
One track
- Co-host a track with its academic lead
- Shape the case selection: in its track
- Showcase space
- i5Index listing
- Panel seat
- Speaking slots in labs, circles and bootcamps
- Recognition as a Forum partner
Community and academic
In kind
- Panel seat
- Speaking slots in labs, circles and bootcamps
- Co-author published evidence from pilots
- Recognition as a Forum partner
How partners can get involved
The Forum curates the programme and connects each partner to the right sessions, speakers and sites.
- Propose speakers and experts for the Forum to programme
- Bring real challenges and pilot sites
- Host site visits, labs or side events, coordinated by the Forum
- Involve student teams and research
- Open your networks of suppliers, members and partner cities
Shape the Forum’s research agenda.
We are inviting universities and research institutes to co-lead the Forum’s tracks, labs and certification, and to turn its pilots into published evidence.
What is the World Industry 5.0 Forum?
A global platform where Industry 5.0 ideas are exchanged, tested and scaled. It brings cities, companies, researchers and investors together around real challenges, and asks every participant to leave with something measurable: a commitment, a pilot or a partnership. The Forum runs i5Dialogues in 2027 and its first flagship summit, i5Forum 2028.
What do you mean by Industry 5.0?
Industry 5.0 builds on the digital and automation gains of Industry 4.0 and adds three priorities: industry that is human-centric, sustainable and resilient. In practice that means technology designed around the people who use it, operations that respect planetary limits, and supply chains and organisations that can absorb shocks. The Forum focuses on turning those priorities into results you can measure.
Who is behind the Forum?
The World Industry 5.0 Forum is convened by Sustainable Intelligence ASBL, a Belgian non-profit association. Sustainable Intelligence is a member of the European Commission Industry 5.0 Community of Practice as a private research institute, an observer of the Principles administered by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), and a member of the European AI Alliance. As part of the i5Ecosystem, the Forum presents the ecosystem’s tools on stage, including i5Benchmark, i5Index, i5Certification and i5Academy, so that progress can be measured, compared and improved with the same method across organisations, cities and regions.
What makes the format different?
Most sessions run as circles, labs and clinics rather than keynotes. Participants work in small groups at eye level on challenges brought by cities, companies and research teams, with rotating roles so everyone contributes. Every edition ends with measurable commitments, and progress on them is tracked until the next edition.
When and where is i5Forum 2028?
i5Forum 2028 is the first edition of the Forum’s flagship summit: three days of labs, circles, deals and training, followed by a Residency Programme in the host city. The host city is selected during 2027 and announced together with the dates. Sign up for updates to hear first.
Be there from the start.
Programme news, host city updates and the call for contributions, a few times a year.