IFR

The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) is an international non-profit organization (NGO) with the legal status of an international federation, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Its mission is to promote, strengthen, and protect the global robotics industry — covering both industrial robotics and service robotics. IFR brings together nearly all international industrial robot suppliers and 17 national robotics associations (including A3 from the United States, VDMA Robotics + Automation from Germany, China Robot Industry Alliance, Japan Robot Association, Korea Association of Robot Industry, BARA from the UK, and AER from Spain). IFR publishes the flagship World Robotics report — an annual reference set of statistics on the global market for industrial and service robots. The federation is also the coordinator of the International Symposium on Robotics (ISR), one of the oldest robotics research conferences, founded in 1970. Other initiatives include the IERA Award (jointly with IEEE RAS), Women Shaping the Future of Robotics, and the new IFR Global Robotics Award (2026). Leadership (as of June 2026): Takayuki Ito (President, concluding his term at the Automate Show in Chicago in June 2026), Dr. Susanne Bieller (General Secretary, from VDMA). Previous committee chairs: Alexander Verl (University of Stuttgart, Research Committee), Marcus Mead (Yaskawa, Industrial Robot Supplier Group), Francesco Ferro (PAL Robotics) and Werner Kraus (Fraunhofer IPA, Service Robotics Group).