29 Sep to 1 Oct 2026
RAIN in Action 2026, Madrid Featured
RAIN in Action is the RAIN Alliance’s annual gathering of the UHF RFID ecosystem: three days of end-user case studies, live technology demonstrations and hands-on workshops. After a sold-out 2025 edition in Amsterdam, the 2026 summit moves to Madrid, one of Europe’s most active RAIN markets, and runs alongside the ECR Loss RFID Innovation in Retail Summit (retailer sessions, by invitation).
The speaker roster spans the whole chain, from chipmakers to inlay and label makers, readers and software, through to the end users deploying at scale, including Amazon, UPS, IKEA, H&M, Decathlon, Primark, JD Sports and Texas Children’s Hospital.
Agenda
Tuesday 29 September 2026 - Pre-conference workshops
- Four parallel tracks: Vienna, Oslo and Madrid rooms, plus ECR Retail Loss (retailers only)
- 09:00 Encoding Workshop part 1 | Technical Briefing Breakfast Meeting | RAIN Enabled Smart Phones Workshop
- 11:00 Break, exhibits, RAIN Experience Lab and Innovation Stage
- 11:30 Encoding Workshop part 2 | Radio Regulations Need to Know | RAIN Sensing in Action
- 11:30 ECR track: Retailer RFID Snapshot and Table Discussion
- 13:00 Lunch, exhibits, RAIN Experience Lab and Innovation Stage
- 14:00 Healthcare Workshop part 1 | RAIN RFID Manufacturing Quality Workgroup: progress update and next steps | Tyres Workgroup face-to-face
- 14:00 ECR track: Keynote (Decathlon) and RFID store visits
- 15:50 Healthcare Workshop part 2 | eWaste Workgroup | RAIN reader tag data interpretation and how it supports DPPs
- 15:50 ECR track: RFID store visits and debriefing
- 17:00 Evening reception. ECR track: keynote (VFC) on deploying RFID in retail, then informal retailer networking and Dragons' Den until 22:00
Wednesday 30 September 2026 - Conference day one: from infrastructure to impact
- 08:00 Registration and exhibits open
- 08:50 Plenary opening keynote: Madrid, 2026, the year infrastructure became impact
- 09:20 Keynote: the next 100 billion tags, why collaboration will define the future of RAIN
- 10:00 Panel: closing the loop, RAIN in action across retail, recycling and the green transition
- 11:10 Keynote: the identity layer for a trillion products, what item data must become by 2030
- 11:30 Keynote: VFC's connected inventory engine, end-to-end visibility powered by RAIN RFID
- 11:50 Keynote: from the European AI Continent Action Plan to the Apply AI Strategy
- 12:15 Keynote: professional rule-breaking vs robots
- 14:00 Afternoon splits into the Retail Track (Convencion) and the Transforming Healthcare Track (sponsor: Fresenius Kabi)
- 14:10 Retail: panel on from pilot to platform, navigating the RAIN RFID retail maturity journey
- 14:40 Retail: frictionless retail checkout experiences with RAIN RFID and AI
- 15:40 Retail: lessons from RAIN adoption in unattended retail, and RFID under the waterline, the hidden complexity in large-scale deployments
- 16:20 Retail: panel on the future of retail with RAIN-enabled smartphones and consumer devices
- 14:10 Healthcare: plugging the leakage, the financial imperatives driving RAIN in pharmaceutical supply chains
- 14:50 Healthcare: orthopaedic implants can talk, can we trust them? RAIN sensors beyond feasibility
- 15:40 Healthcare: tracing excellence at La Paz University Hospital, and real-time medication visibility
- 17:10 Evening reception
Thursday 1 October 2026 - Conference day two
- 09:00 Morning splits into Manufacturing and Industrial Operations, and Digital Product Passport, Circular Economy and Sustainability
- 09:05 DPP: the RAIN DPP evolution model, from mandate to margin, unlocking DPP value with RAIN RFID in textiles
- 09:15 DPP: keynote on navigating the future, DPP, sustainability and the EU regulatory landscape
- 09:50 DPP: panel on digital product passports and the global regulatory landscape
- 09:15 Manufacturing: connected escalator handrail, maximising uptime through minimal predictive maintenance
- 09:35 Manufacturing: how Christie Lite unlocked operational efficiency with customised RAIN RFID tags
- 09:50 Manufacturing: 1:59:30, how RAIN RFID stopped the clock on the sub-two-hour marathon
- 10:45 Supply Chain, Logistics and Transport track opens (sponsor: PAL Robotics)
- 10:45 Supply chain: closing the gap between system and physical inventory in distribution centres
- 11:15 Supply chain: asset visibility across a distributed service network, a scalable on-demand linen hire model
- 11:45 Supply chain: UPS on moving from a scanning network to a sensing network
- 12:00 Supply chain: moving at IKEA scale, automating pallet inventory across the world's largest home furnishing retailer
- 13:30 Closing plenary: future outlook and future technologies
- 13:55 What is government affairs, from the Washington Beltway to the Brussels bubble
- 14:15 Asian market outlook
- 14:35 Panel: the perception layer, identification technologies and the rise of physical AI
- 15:05 Panel: the tag that stays and the tag that leaves cleanly, RAIN tags for embedded intelligence and circular use
- 15:35 Closing keynote, then close of RAIN in Action 2026 at 16:05
Friday 2 October 2026 - Post-conference
- 07:00 Clustag Customer Experience Center visit, Valencia, by invitation only, until 18:00
- Full session detail and speaker assignments on the official agenda →
Speakers (67)
A
Aileen Ryan
President · The RAIN Alliance
A
Albrecht Duerrer
Product & Process Innovation, Mountain Applications · Semperit
A
Anthony Amico
RFID Program Director · Independent Consultant
A
Art Miller
Global Head of Retail IoT · Qualcomm
A
Axel Plaza
Head of Technology and Sustainability · COLEO
B
Bethan Taylor
Co-chair, Sustainability & Circularity Community · The RAIN Alliance
B
Bill Toney
VP / GM, Intelligent Labels Growth · Avery Dennison
C
Carsten Trenz
Vice President, Digital EMEA · VF Corporation
C
Catherine Zhang
Co-founder & Vice President · Shenzhen DTB RFID
C
Cécile Huet
Head of Unit, Robotics & AI, DG CNECT · European Commission
C
Chris Brown
RFID Program Director · TSC
C
Craig Lane
Director of Pharmacy, Clinical Application & Technical Services · Texas Children's Hospital
D
Dan McGrath
Group Head of Customer Operations · JD Sports
D
Darryl Forbes
Vice President, Operations Technology · UPS
D
David Schweighofer
Product Marketing Manager RFID · EM Microelectronic
D
Deniss Dobrovolskis
Senior Product Manager, Track & Trace · H&M
D
Dr Susanne Guth-Orlowski
Digital Product Passport Specialist · The RAIN Alliance
E
Emilie Bartoletti
Director of Government Affairs, EMENA · Avery Dennison
F
Femke Zijlstra
Co-chair, Sustainability & Circularity Community · The RAIN Alliance
F
Francesca Poggiali
Independent Consultant
G
Gabriel Gomez
Technical Advisor · Recycling Europe
G
Gary Moskovciak
Chief Commercial Officer · SML
G
George Mitchell
Business Development Manager · Times-7
G
Gwen Volpe
Senior Director, Medication Technology Programs, North America · Fresenius Kabi
H
Hao Min
Research Director, Auto-ID Laboratory · Fudan University
I
Inge Fleuren
Global Product Manager RFID · Checkpoint Systems
J
Jordi Pagès
Head of Intralogistics, Retail and RFID · PAL Robotics
J
Jose Andrés Alonso Moya
Product Owner, RFID · Tendam
J
Juho Partanen
Vice President, Market Transformation · Impinj
K
Karin Fabri
CMO · Tageos
K
Kelli Emerick
Head of Global Government Affairs · Zebra Technologies
L
Leon de Ridder
Managing Director · Cisper
L
Le Liu
Director, Technical Standards · Qualcomm Technologies
M
Marcos Olmos
Strategy & Planning Director · Hospital Clínic de Barcelona
M
Marc Herrera
Project Manager · Dipole
M
Mark Abraham
Senior RFID Project Manager, EMEA · SML
M
Mark Watson
MD Europe and Chief Client Officer · tms
M
Mathias Friborg
Vice President, Warehouse Systems · Christie Lite
M
Mathieu de Backer
Vice President, Intelligent Labels · Avery Dennison
M
Matthieu Picon
CEO · Tageos
M
Megan Brewster
Vice President, Advanced Technology · Impinj
M
Michael Johns
Chief Executive Officer · Linen Hub
M
Miika Pylvänäinen
Global Product Director · Beontag
N
Nathan O'Neill
Director, Technology, Applied AI Solutions · Amazon
O
Ofer Shochet
CEO and Co-founder · Copprint
O
Olof Orstadius
Global Business Development Leader · Inter IKEA Group
Ó
Óscar Ocampo Pérez
Biomedical Engineer · La Paz University Hospital
P
Pareiya Gupta
Head of Retail, Product & GTM · Gstore
P
Philip Leslie
CEO · Coriel
P
Pierre Muller
RFID BU Leader · EM Microelectronic
R
Ramir De Porrata-Doria
CEO and Managing Director · Keonn Technologies
R
Riccardo del Medico
CEO · Intrauma Europe
R
Richard Jenkins
RFID Programme Lead · Primark
S
Samin Aayanifard
Research Engineer, Advanced Technology · Impinj
S
Sam Conniff
Public Speaker and Author
S
Sara Amendola
CEO · Radio6ense
S
Sebastian Muenscher
Senior Product Manager RFID/NFC · Schreiner MediPharm
S
Stefano Bernabovi
RFID Business Developer · ASYGN
S
Steyn Geldenhuys
CTO · Sieveo
S
Susanne Hazrati
Global Marketing Manager RAIN RFID Logistics · NXP Semiconductors
T
Tancred Taylor
Principal Analyst · ABI Research
T
Teemu Ainasoja
VP of Sales and Marketing · Voyantic
T
Tim Oldeman
Co-founder and CCO · Husky Intelligent Fridges
T
Toni Tortosa
Zentup Product Manager · Clustag
T
Tristan Finet
RAIN RFID & Traceability · Decathlon
X
Xavier Arquerons
Chief Executive Officer · Arbitrade
Z
Zoe Venter
Product Designer · Sieveo
Verified · maintained by the organiser
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