Tuesday, December 16th, 2025
The 12th International Physical Internet Conference (IPIC 2026) will take place from 8 to 10 June 2026 in Bordeaux, France, co-hosted by KEDGE Business School (ALICE member) and IMT Mines Albi. As the flagship annual event for the global Physical Internet community, IPIC brings together researchers, industry leaders, innovators, and public authorities to explore how interconnected, open and intelligent logistics systems can deliver efficiency, resilience and sustainability at scale.
KEDGE Business School, an active member of ALICE, plays a central role in the organisation of IPIC 2026. The conference is led by key KEDGE organisers Walid KLIBI, Olivier LABARTHE and Matthieu LAURAS, who are strongly engaged in advancing Physical Internet research, education and deployment through close collaboration with the ALICE community.
This edition opens with a two-day pre-conference in Albi on 5-6 June, featuring hands-on training, the “My Thesis in 180 Seconds” challenge, and immersive VR-based learning modules that introduce participants to Physical Internet concepts through an interactive environment. The main conference will follow in Bordeaux on 8-10 June, hosted at the KEDGE Business School campus.
The overarching theme for 2026 is “Supply Chain and Logistics Intelligence in the Era of the Physical Internet: Bridging High-Tech and Low-Tech Solutions.” The programme will explore how advanced digital capabilities, data-driven models and automation can be integrated with practical, robust and scalable logistics solutions across urban, regional and global networks.
IPIC 2026 will cover the full spectrum of Physical Internet developments and enabling technologies. Core themes include interconnected freight networks, PI fundamentals, synchromodal transportation, multimodal hubs, modularisation, distributed intelligence, and new operational and governance models.
Participants will explore advances in areas such as machine learning, IoT, digital twins, blockchain, collaborative robotics, cloud and edge computing, and 3D printing – alongside logistics fields such as city logistics, reverse logistics, circular economy applications, e-commerce fulfilment, autonomous systems, and emerging business models for open and interconnected supply chains.
The conference will also highlight the latest research, demonstrations, and industrial applications from collaborative European and international projects, bridging technological innovation with the operational realities faced by logistics stakeholders.
Researchers, innovators and practitioners are invited to submit their work to IPIC 2026.
Key deadlines include:
IPIC welcomes research papers, posters, innovation contributions, progress reports, case studies, best practices, demonstrations and educational formats. Contributions will undergo scientific or editorial review, and accepted works will be published in the IPIC 2026 Proceedings, archived on the ALICE Knowledge Platform, the conference website, and the Georgia Tech SMARTech repository.
For ALICE, IPIC represents a strategic platform to showcase progress in implementing the Physical Internet roadmap, connecting research with industry practice, and aligning European innovation efforts towards open, interconnected and zero-emission logistics.
ALICE contributes to the Industrial Committee of IPIC 2026 and will support the organisation of sessions featuring EU-funded projects, industrial pilots, and initiatives helping to advance PI-enabling capabilities across Europe. The conference offers ALICE members an opportunity to engage with leading international experts, strengthen partnerships, share best practices, and follow the evolution of PI governance, standardisation and implementation models.
As the community moves toward more collaborative, data-driven and sustainable logistics networks, IPIC 2026 will play a key role in accelerating this collective transition.
Participants from academia, industry, cities and regions are encouraged to join the conversation in Albi and Bordeaux and help shape the next phase of the Physical Internet vision.
More information is available at: Home | IPIC 2026 – International Physical Internet Conference