ECR to celebrate 25th anniversary in Vienna

The European Congress of Radiology (ECR) is set to celebrate its 25th anniversary in Vienna. The ECR, which opens 27 February and runs for four days, has grown to become one of the largest medical gatherings in the world. Hosted at the Austria Center Vienna each year, the congress attracts 28,000 participants from more than 130 countries and is very important for Austria from an economic and research point of view. “The ECR is without doubt one of our flagship congresses. Partly due to the large number of participants it attracts, and partly because of the ways in which it innovates each year. The ECR is synonymous with innovation, creativity and interactive knowledge transfer,” said Susanne Baumann-Söllner, Managing Director of the Austria Center Vienna. “The ECR is always moving with the times and forward-looking in everything it does,” said Peter Baierl, Executive Director of the European Society of Radiology. “This includes using existing buildings near the Austria Center Vienna such as the Tech Gate Tower, the Donau-City Church and Hotel Melia. Unlike at many other events, a conventional poster presentation format has not been used since 2003 thanks to the availability of specially developed proprietary software. “These days it is just not appropriate to fill up entire halls with printed materials and posters, just to end up disposing of them as soon as the congress is over. This is a waste of resources and places an unprecedented burden on infrastructure. Conference venues and tradefairs do not need to offer more space and ever larger halls, instead they need to come up with smart solutions that are in-keeping with the times,” Baierl added.