BARCELONA, Spain, Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Smart City Expo World Congress  (SCEWC), the leading international event on cities and urban innovation organized by Fira de Barcelona, will bring together over 600 speakers from November 3-5 at the Gran Via venue under the theme “Urban Solutions, Real Impact.” Held jointly with Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress, the new HOWS Barcelona – Housing World Summit, and Tomorrow.Blue Economy, this year’s edition welcomes mayors and regional leaders from four continents, raising the gathering to the level of a true international summit of cities.

The political dimension of the 2026 edition is embodied by Anne Hidalgo, former Mayor of Paris and Global Ambassador of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, who led the French capital for more than a decade and became one of the leading municipal voices in the global climate debate. She will be joined by mayors and regional leaders from all over the world, among them Andre Dickens, Mayor of Atlanta; Haris Doukas, Mayor of Athens; Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan; Gergely Karácsony, Mayor of Budapest; Daryl Barron, Lord Mayor of Dublin; Yvonne Aki-Sawyer, Mayor of Freetown.

Housing, one of the central concerns of this year’s edition, gains further institutional weight through HOWS Barcelona, hosted by Barcelona City Council, which will host the Housing Mayors Meeting and Roundtable as a space for political dialogue and cooperation.

The congress keynote will be delivered by Nikolas Badminton, Chief Futurist at Futurist.com, an artificial intelligence expert who helps companies and institutions build strategic foresight capabilities. Additionally, Ayumi Moore Aoki, founder of Women in Tech Global, will also take part in the congress to address diversity and inclusion as drivers of urban innovation.

Industry and international leadership

The corporate and institutional presence rounds off the lineup of speakers with Kees Hertogh, Vice President of Global Industry Marketing at Microsoft, and Rochelle Haynes, Managing Director of What Works Cities at Bloomberg Philanthropies, the initiative that helps local governments use data and evidence to improve public services. They will be joined by Nam Guan Ng, General Manager and Head of Global Smart Cities at Dell; Bilel Jamoussi, Deputy Director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau; and John Li, General Manager of the Global Government Business Department at Dahua Technology.

SCEWC 2026 expects 27,000 attendees and over 1,100 exhibitors, including Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Dell Technologies and Veolia.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mayors-from-paris-to-freetown-turn-smart-city-expo-into-the-key-global-urban-summit-of-2026-302902239.html

SOURCE Fira de Barcelona

AI-assisted migration, expert services, and flexible commercial models make it faster, lower-risk, and more affordable to consolidate legacy communications systems

SYDNEY, Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Smart Communications, a leading customer engagement technology provider for regulated industries, today announced expanded AI-enhanced migration capabilities to help enterprises lower technical cost, reduce dependency on legacy communications systems, and build the foundation they need to responsibly adopt AI.

Regulated enterprises across insurance, financial services, healthcare, and government operate multiple communications systems often accumulated through decades of growth and acquisitions. Consolidating onto a modern platform can reduce cost and complexity; however, the expense and disruption of such a migration often delay those plans.

Meanwhile, communications volumes continue to grow. According to IDC, 57% of organisations still rely on legacy technology to create, manage, and deliver customer communications, while 64% are producing at least 20% more communications than a year ago.[1]

“Most enterprises know where they need to go. The difficult part is the journey,” said Heidi Johnson, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Smart Communications. “Legacy complexity makes it harder to consolidate, modernise and put AI to work at scale. By using AI to collapse the cost and time of migration, while maintaining human oversight and the audit trail regulated organisations require, we can help turn modernisation from a ‘next year’ ambition into an achievable initiative today.”

Less Manual Work, a Clearer Plan

Smart Communications’ offering covers migration from start to finish. AI first analyses an organisation’s existing communications, finding duplication and consolidation opportunities across thousands of documents. The results become a Migration Blueprint: a clear, prioritised plan for modernisation.

An AI conversion engine then turns legacy documents into modern, reusable templates. The benefit is it removes much of the slow, manual rework that has traditionally made migration so expensive. Customers stay in control from start to finish, working alongside Smart’s migration experts to review and validate every conversion, deciding what is migrated and approved for deployment.

A foundation for AI

Consolidation does more than cut costs. It gives enterprises a single, governed source of trusted communications, allowing them to use AI safely and at scale for more personalised, automated customer experiences.

“Migration is now an opportunity, rather than solely a cost consideration, when changing vendors,” said Amy Machado, Research Director, IDC. “AI-assisted template reconstruction is cutting migration timelines, which means switching costs — long the biggest moat in this market — are eroding. That’s good news for buyers and a wake-up call for incumbents.”[1]

Proven results

Smart Communications has helped hundreds of large enterprises in insurance, financial services, and healthcare modernise complex communications environments.

“We had an ambitious timeline for a complex implementation, and the Smart Communications team helped us deliver it in just a few months,” said Anna Hewer, Business Improvement Manager at Aptia, a leading provider of pension administration, consultancy and actuarial services. “It was a true partnership that helped us achieve our goals.”

[1]Source: IDC, IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Intelligent Customer Communication Management 2026 Vendor Assessment, #US54131626

About Smart Communications

Smart Communications is a leading customer engagement technology provider for regulated industries. The company helps organisations simplify the complex interactions that shape people’s lives by enabling more connected, personalised, and trusted customer engagement. Its Customer Engagement Platform brings together data collection, customer communications, journey orchestration, trusted AI, and information management to help organisations create seamless experiences across the customer lifecycle. By connecting the systems, processes, and interactions that drive critical business outcomes, Smart Communications enables organisations to improve customer experience, increase operational efficiency, strengthen compliance, and build trust at every touchpoint. More than 700 enterprises worldwide, including Zurich Insurance, Priority Health, The Pacific Financial Group, and The Bancorp, rely on Smart Communications to power engagement in regulated environments. With more than 30 pre-built integrations to leading enterprise platforms, including Salesforce, AWS, Guidewire, Duck Creek, OneSpan, and Pega, Smart Communications powers more than 60 billion mission-critical customer interactions each year.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/smart-communications-expands-ai-powered-migration-to-help-enterprises-cut-legacy-costs-and-move-to-ai-faster-302901850.html

SOURCE Smart Communications

MIGDAL HAEMEK, Israel, Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ —  PCB Technologies (TASE: PCBT) a global provider of advanced printed circuit boards (PCBs), PCBA, and microelectronics solutions, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Gorilla Circuits, a leading provider of PCB fabrication and electronic card assembly (PCBA) services based in Silicon Valley. The transaction reflects an enterprise value (EV) of USD 120 million at an EBITDA multiple of 7.6, based on the average results for 2025 and the first half of 2026, subject to customary purchase price adjustments.

The acquisition marks a major strategic milestone for PCB Technologies, establishing a robust manufacturing presence in the United States and unlocking significant growth opportunities within the North American technology, aerospace, and defense ecosystems.

Establishing a Strategic Stronghold in Silicon Valley

Gorilla Circuits has operated for over 20 years in San Jose, California, serving as a critical partner in the Silicon Valley PCB fabrication and electronic manufacturing services (EMS) ecosystem. Specializing in high-mix, low-volume production runs, manufacturing products designated for development, and products with short lead times, Gorilla Circuits serves over 700 active customers. Its primary markets include semiconductor testing, technology, and aerospace & defense.

The integration of Gorilla Circuits is expected to deliver immediate strategic benefits:

Deepened Market Penetration: Substantially expands PCB Technologies’ footprint in the US technology, semiconductor and aerospace & defense sectors, which accounted for approximately 35% and 40% of Gorilla Circuits’ H1 2026 sales, respectively.Synergistic Technological Offerings: PCB Technologies plans to enhance Gorilla Circuits’ portfolio by introducing its own advanced PCB substrates, microelectronics, and next-generation Integrated Circuit (IC) packaging capabilities to the US market.Local Manufacturing Presence: A physical production base in Silicon Valley allows the combined company to seamlessly bid on substantial US contracts that mandate onshore fabrication and engineering proximity.

Strong Financial Momentum

Gorilla Circuits has demonstrated consistent financial growth, backed by an impressive order pipeline. Key financial highlights include:

Revenue Growth: Revenue increased from USD 69.4 million in fiscal year 2024 to USD 91.9 million in 2025. For the first half of 2026, revenue reached USD 54.9 million.Profitability: Adjusted EBITDA rose sharply from USD 3.0 million in 2024 to USD 13.6 million in 2025, reaching USD 8.9 million in H1 2026 alone (post-IFRS 16 adjustments).Accelerating Order Velocity: Customer orders totaled USD 100 million in 2025, with an order run rate of approximately USD 131 million in 2026. Maintaining an order backlog of roughly USD 38 million as of August 31, 2026.

Oved Shapira, CEO of PCB Technologies:

“This transaction is intended to transform the scale of PCB Technologies and the opportunities available to us. We are combining the technologies and manufacturing capabilities we have developed in Israel with a U.S. manufacturing base and hundreds of customers in sectors where we have a technological advantage. Our local presence is expected to open up opportunities that have previously been limited for us and enable us to offer Gorilla’s customers a broader range of solutions.”

“Gorilla brings rapid growth in sales and orders, manufacturing and assembly capabilities, and a diversified customer base. The combination creates cross-selling opportunities across our operations, and we intend to further expand access to iNPACK solutions for U.S. customers. This will allow us to advance our ALL IN ONE strategy in the U.S. market, offering an integrated solution from development through manufacturing and assembly.”

Mario Borjon, President of Gorilla Circuits:

“Joining PCB Technologies represents a significant opportunity for the next stage of Gorilla’s growth. Combining our existing capabilities and relationships we have built in the U.S. market with PCB Technologies’ manufacturing capacity, expertise with specialized advanced technologies is expected to enable us to expand our range of solutions and support larger, more complex customer programs. Following completion of the transaction, we look forward to jointly pursuing investments in expanding U.S. manufacturing capacity and introducing innovative technologies in thermal management and heat dissipation, RF solutions and miniaturization. The combination will create new opportunities for our team and strengthen our ability to grow alongside our customers, while maintaining the quality, flexibility and personal service that define Gorilla.”

Transaction Details and Timeline

Under the terms of the agreement, the transaction will be executed via a wholly owned subsidiary of PCB Technologies and financed through credit facilities extended by two leading Israeli banks.

The completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The transaction is expected to close within the next eight months. No immediate material capital investments are required, as Gorilla Circuits’ facilities are fully equipped to support near-term growth.

About PCB Technologies Ltd.

PCB Technologies is a leading All-in-One solutions provider specializing in high-mix multilayer rigid, rigid-flex, and multi-flex PCBs, advanced substrates, IC packaging, complex electronic assemblies, and electro-mechanical sub-systems. The company offers full-process, in-house capabilities that span the entire product lifecycle—from rapid prototyping to cost-effective, high-volume production. Through its exclusive subsidiary, iNPACK, PCB Technologies, delivers specialized expertise in miniaturization and next-generation IC packaging solutions. Established in 1981, the company is a global front-runner in cutting-edge electronics manufacturing, serving mission-critical sectors including Military/Defense, Aerospace, Medical, RF/Microwave, and Robotics/Automation.

For additional information, visit: https://www.pcb-technologies.com/, follow us on X or visit our official Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn Channels

About Gorilla Circuits

Based in San Jose, California, Gorilla Circuits, founded by Hershel Petty, is a vertically integrated manufacturer of high-reliability printed circuit boards and assembly solutions. For over two decades, the company has provided quick-turn fabrication and assembly services tailored to the rigid performance and time-to-market demands of Silicon Valley’s leading technology innovators.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined under applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the expected completion of the transaction and the strategic benefits of the acquisition. These statements are based on current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including the failure to obtain necessary regulatory approvals or satisfy other closing conditions.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pcb-technologies-to-acquire-silicon-valleys-gorilla-circuits-for-an-enterprise-value-of-usd-120-million-establishing-us-manufacturing-footprint-302902210.html

SOURCE PCB Technologies