IN Brief:
- The Lighting Industry Association has named sponsors for TECH-X 2026 in Birmingham.
- Sponsors include Legrand, Sales Layer, DALI Alliance, ECN, Helvar, CEF, Tamlite Lighting, and Luceco.
- The programme reflects lighting’s shift toward connected systems, compliance, sustainability, and building integration.
The Lighting Industry Association has announced sponsors for TECH-X 2026, its technical lighting conference taking place on 2 July at Edgbaston Park Hotel & Conference Centre in Birmingham.
The 2026 sponsors include Legrand, Sales Layer, DALI Alliance, ECN, Helvar, CEF, and Tamlite Lighting. Luceco will sponsor the drinks reception.
TECH-X was established to address technical, regulatory, and supply-chain issues affecting the lighting sector. The 2026 programme is being developed around standards, sustainability, connected lighting, and lighting design, with participation across manufacturers, designers, consultants, engineers, contractors, wholesalers, and policymakers.
The sponsor list reflects the breadth of the lighting supply chain. It includes manufacturers, digital product information specialists, protocol and controls organisations, wholesalers, and sector media. That mix is increasingly typical of lighting projects, which now sit at the intersection of electrical installation, building controls, product data, compliance, energy performance, and occupant outcomes.
Lighting is no longer treated only as a luminaire selection exercise. Commercial, industrial, and public buildings increasingly require systems that can meet energy targets, emergency lighting requirements, controls standards, glare and visual comfort expectations, maintenance planning, and interoperability with wider building management systems.
The rise of connected lighting has added further complexity. DALI-based control, sensors, wireless interfaces, commissioning software, and building analytics can improve performance, but they also introduce issues around compatibility, cybersecurity, long-term support, and installer competence. Poorly specified connected systems can create commissioning delays, user dissatisfaction, and maintenance problems.
Standards remain a core part of the technical agenda. Emergency lighting, product safety, photometric performance, circular economy requirements, and responsible artificial light at night all require careful interpretation. Contractors and designers must also work within the wider framework of building safety, electrical compliance, and client sustainability targets.
The LIA has said TECH-X will address compliance and standards alongside sustainability, health and wellbeing, visual comfort, environmental responsibility, and intelligent building integration. Those areas increasingly shape specification because lighting decisions affect energy use, occupant experience, building certification, operational cost, and long-term asset performance.
For electrical projects, the practical issue is integration. Lighting controls, emergency systems, sensors, data networks, and building management systems must be coordinated early enough in design to avoid clashes during installation and commissioning. Product selection also has to consider availability, replacement cycles, manufacturer support, and documentation quality.
Buying behaviour in the electrical sector is also changing around those technical demands. Schneider Electric research on hybrid trade-counter purchasing highlighted demand for stock visibility, online ordering, fast fulfilment, and in-branch expertise. Lighting procurement faces similar pressure because contractors need accurate product data, reliable availability, and technical support when project specifications change.
The built environment’s efficiency targets are raising the value of lighting upgrades. LED replacement has already delivered major energy reductions, but the next phase is more dependent on controls, occupancy sensing, daylight harvesting, commissioning quality, and maintenance strategy. Those gains are harder to achieve through product substitution alone.
TECH-X gives the sector a structured forum for those issues at a point when the technical burden on lighting projects is increasing. Product performance, digital control, standards compliance, sustainability, and installation practice are becoming more tightly connected across the project lifecycle.
Booking and programme details are available through The LIA TECH-X 2026 page.
