2026 WFCS – 22nd IEEE International Conference on Factory Communication Systems
WFCS 2026 will take place on 21-24 April 2026 in Offenburg, Germany.
Research on factory communications has gained increasing relevance in recent years, with communication playing a fundamental role in automation systems. Advanced communication/networking technologies and paradigms such as 5G/6G, WiFi7/WiFi8, Ethernet TSN, OPC UA, network softwarization, IIoT, have opened up a multitude of application possibilities in the industrial scenario. However, the availability of a variety of communication solutions, often employed in combination to meet the needs of different applications, have led to highly complex and heterogeneous factory communication systems. This complexity gives rise to new challenges that must be addressed to fully exploit the potential of these advancements towards a new generation of smart, autonomous, flexible and efficient automation systems.
The 22nd edition of the WFCS conference aims to focus on all forms of communication solutions to support automation within factories and other contexts, with special consideration given to recent developments, new trends and research insights and future perspectives. As the only IEEE conference exclusively dedicated to communication for automation, WFCS is the elected forum for researchers, developers, and practitioners to review and discuss the latest advances in the field. The conference, supported by the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IEEE-IES) and led by the IEEE-IES Technical Committee on Factory Automation (IEEE-IES TCFA), will be hosted by the Offenburg University (Germany) and organized in collaboration with Institute of Electronics, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering CNR-IEIIT (Italy).
Topics of Interest
- Wired and Wireless Industrial Communication Systems and Technologies
- Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
- Cloud/Fog/Edge Computing Architectures and Applications in Industrial Automation
- Machine Learning and Data Analytics for Industrial Communication Systems
- Security and Safety of Industrial Communication Systems
- Fault tolerance for reliability and availability of Industrial Communication Systems
- Communication Protocols, Standards, and emerging technologies for Real-Time and Networked Embedded Systems (5G/B5G/6G, WiFi7/WiFi8, TSN, IEC61850, IEC62439, etc.)
- Communication in Cyber-Physical Systems and Distributed Control Systems
- Communication Challenges in Collaborative Robotics and Automation
- Traffic Scheduling and Application-Network Integration
- Case Studies, Industry Practices and Lesson Learned in Factory Communication
- Recent Advances in Communications in Research Domains with Similar Requirements/Characteristics (Smart Cities, Smart Grid, Smart Transportation, Smart Health, Ambient Assisted Living, Smart Building/Smart Home, Smart Agriculture,etc.)
- Management aspects related to heterogeneous industrial Networks
Important dates
- Special Session proposals: 17 November 2025
- Regular and Special Session papers submission: 11 January 2026
- Work-in-Progress and Demo papers submission: 27 February 2026