InfoComm EDGE Collective Pioneers a New Model for Pro AV Collaboration

InfoComm EDGE Collective will demonstrate what happens when the people who commission and operate connected environments shape the brief, evaluate the solutions, and influence how they are brought to life.

On November 3 at Address Sky View, Dubai, the event will showcase the results of a pioneering collaboration between leading regional end users, systems integrator Leisung, and technology partners including Q-SYS.

"Rather than beginning with technology specifications, the event concept was developed with a different question: what do organizations need their environments to achieve, and how can technology help them perform when it matters most?" says David Labuskes, CTS, CAE, CEO of AVIXA. "The result is a fully integrated, immersive experience that demonstrates not only what pro AV can make possible, but how a different approach to collaboration can deliver more intelligent, responsive, and resilient environments."

The InfoComm EDGE Collective is a different approach to how integrated environments are conceived, designed, and delivered. An End User Council, comprising senior industry leaders from across the region, helped shape the design brief and the operational challenges the activation at the heart of InfoComm EDGE Collective would need to address.

Mohammad Majid, a member of the InfoComm EDGE Collective End User Council, says. "Everyone designs for the executive walking in at ten in the morning. Almost nobody designs for the technician who must get behind it at seven. Access, labelling, serviceability, whether a component can be swapped without flying in a specialist -- those decisions get made in the last five percent of a design and then govern the next ten years of the asset's life."

Integration specialists were invited to respond through a competitive review process conducted by the End User Council. Following its selection, Leisung worked with the Council to challenge and evolve its initial design, translating operational requirements into a connected experience.

Sumesh Satyan, of Leisung, says, "We came in with our ideas, and we have a lot of them. But when we heard the End User Council, they weren't asking for more technology. They were asking for very human things. Everyone in a meeting should feel equal, whether they are in the room or not. When something goes wrong, the work should not stop. The space should respond to what is happening, not wait for somebody to operate it. Those are not AV requirements. Those are people requirements."

The collaboration extended to technology partners, including Q-SYS, bringing specialist expertise into the process to optimize the environment's performance. Q-SYS is contributing its expertise in integrated audio, video, and control to explore how teams can move from information to shared understanding and confident action.

Chant Utukian, managing director, Q-SYS, says. "Connectivity alone just enables noise; true value comes down to context. The best technology gives teams the right data at the exact right moment so they can move from mere communication to confident decision-making. When systems and workflows work seamlessly behind the scenes, tech stops being a tool you manage and starts becoming an enabler of actual outcomes."

The resulting activation brings together three interconnected environments within a live municipality setting:

Command & Control: Exploring how organizations develop situational awareness, interpret critical information, and coordinate decisions under pressure.

Operational Collaboration: Demonstrating how people, information, and connected systems enable effective teamwork, shared understanding, and continuity across locations.

Engagement & Learning: Exploring how intelligent, responsive environments support participation, communication, and more engaging experiences.

Rather than experiencing each environment as a standalone technology demonstration, visitors will see how information, decisions, and actions move between spaces as real-world situations unfold.

The ambition is to make the complexity of integration invisible, allowing visitors to focus on the decisions, interactions, and outcomes that the technology enables.

As organizations across the Gulf Cooperation Council invest in smarter infrastructure, workplaces, educational facilities, and connected public environments, the role of pro AV is expanding beyond individual systems towards the orchestration of people, information, spaces, and technology.

The invitation-only executive experience brings together senior end users, consultants, designers and technology integration leaders to explore the future of intelligent, connected environments.

For further information and to apply to attend, visit www.infocomm-edge.org/infocomm-edge-collective.