Data-driven smart shuttle system wins IAPCO Innovation Award 2026

The International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO) has announced Mohamed Sherif, General Manager at ICOM DMC, a subsidiary of ICOM Group, as the winner of the IAPCO Driving Excellence Innovation Award 2026 for his leadership in transforming delegate transportation at CardioAlex 2025 through a data-driven smart mobility solution. 

Supported by IMEX, the award recognises individuals and teams who challenge conventional approaches and take action to deliver meaningful innovation across the global meetings industry. 

The award was presented by Sissi Lignou, IAPCO President, during the prestigious IMEX Gala Dinner in Frankfurt last night, celebrating Sherif’s role in spearheading the development of the CardioAlex Smart Shuttle System — a proprietary transport solution designed to optimise delegate movement between hotels and venues during one of the Middle East and Africa’s largest cardiovascular conferences. 

Held annually at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt, CardioAlex 2025 welcomed more than 6,200 cardiology professionals across three intensive days of scientific sessions, live cases, workshops and international faculty exchange. 

For several years, delegate transportation had presented a significant operational and sustainability challenge. Traditional transport models relied on assigned dedicated buses to fixed hotel allocations and estimated demand forecasting, often resulting in idle vehicles, overlapping routes, unnecessary fuel consumption and a growing carbon footprint. 

Under Sherif’s leadership, ICOM Group formed a cross-functional task force spanning web development, ground logistics and operations to redesign the system using real-time data, dynamic routing and integrated fleet management. 

The resulting CardioAlex Smart Shuttle System was built around a round-robin rotation model, replacing static hotel allocations with a smaller, continuously circulating fleet operating across multiple hotel pick-up points and the conference venue at scheduled intervals. 

The system integrated three operational layers: a delegate-facing rider application using GPS-enabled nearest pick-up identification and real-time estimated arrival times; a driver application to guide dynamic route sequencing and live vehicle management; and a centralised operations dashboard that enabled live bus tracking, passenger load visibility and rapid operational intervention where needed. 

The operational impact was immediate and measurable. In 2025, CardioAlex served its largest hotel footprint to date, spanning 18 hotels and 1,600 rooms, while reducing total vehicle deployments to 47 buses across the three-day conference. This represented a 47.8 per cent reduction in fleet size compared to 2023 and a 44 per cent reduction compared to 2024, without compromising delegate experience or service standards. 

The reduced fleet model delivered measurable environmental and operational benefits, including lower fuel consumption, reduced emissions and significant cost savings across vehicle hire, fuel and driver logistics, enabling resources to be redirected towards scientific programming and the delegate experience. 

In presenting the award, Sissi Lignou said Sherif and ICOM Group demonstrated the kind of practical, future-focused innovation that continues to raise standards across the profession. 

“Sherif’s work is a powerful example of innovation in action. Operational excellence, sustainability and delegate experience should not be viewed as competing priorities, but as interconnected outcomes,” said Lignou. 

“By turning a complex, recurring logistics challenge into a smart, scalable solution, Sherif and the ICOM Group team have demonstrated how intelligent operational design can unlock better outcomes for conferences, communities and the environment. This is exactly the kind of leadership IAPCO is proud to recognise.” 

Sherif brings 19 years of expertise in international congress management and operational strategy. As Operations Director at ICOM Group, he has built a reputation for driving innovation-led operational models and cross-functional collaboration across large-scale and complex conferences. 

ICOM Group is a leading Professional Conference Organiser based in Egypt, with more than 28 years of expertise in managing large-scale medical and scientific conferences across the Middle East and Africa. A trusted steward of CardioAlex since its inception, ICOM Group combines operational precision with a commitment to innovation, sustainability and world-class delegate experience.