More Focus on Auto Tech at IFA

The fact that cars and trucks increasingly have more in common with computers and consumer electronics--indeed may soon become simply rolling computers and consumer electronics--has been reflected in various trade shows around the world. Now IFA, the annual international technology show that starts at the end of August in Berlin, is adding its own special car oriented program.

Called Shift Automotive, the program will focus on the future of mobility, ranging from advanced safety systems to autonomous vehicles to the infrastructure of smart cities. IFA has actually creating two separate Shift events: A two-day program that will occur during the last two days of the IFA show on September 4th and 5th in Berlin, and another Shift event that will be a regular feature of the Geneva International Motor Show that happens in March.

The consumer-oriented Berlin IFA convention may draw the biggest crowds--253,000 people attended last year's event--but the Shift program at the Geneva auto show, with its attendant glitz and glamor, may garner the most attention. Either way, it's another acknowledgment of the increasingly intertwined worlds of technology and transportation.