Industrial IoT, Big Data and Smart Cities

Dear Colleagues,

The International Conference on Industrial Internet of Things, Big Data and Smart Cities (IIoTBDSC 2026) will take place in Hong Kong, China, from 28-30 March 2026. This event brings together researchers, engineers, and industry experts to share cutting-edge results, exchange ideas, and tackle emerging challenges in IIoT, big data, and smart city systems.

Advancements in smart cities and industrial systems increasingly rely on blending hardware, such as optical sensors, photonic devices, and embedded platforms, with software including analytics, AI, and cybersecurity. From real-time urban monitoring to resilient supply chains, these integrated systems drive practical impact. We request original papers that show how physical devices and digital intelligence work together, focusing on using optics and photonics to meet the needs of smart cities and industries.

Authors of selected high-quality papers from the conference that fit Sensors’ scope will be invited to submit extended versions of their original papers (50% extension of the content of the conference paper). In addition to the IIoTBDSC 2026 papers, independent submissions are welcome. The subjects of these contributions should be the same research topics as the ones at the conference:

• Design and fabrication of novel sensors: optical, MEMS, photonic, chemical, and environmental;
• Optical imaging and spectral technologies (multispectral, hyperspectral, thermal, or X-ray);
• Photonic devices, optoelectronics, optical fibers, detectors, lenses, and optical filters;
• Low-power and energy-harvesting sensors for IIoT and smart city environments;
• Hardware for wireless and optical communication, including LiDAR and fiber-optic sensing;
• Embedded systems, firmware, and analog/digital interfaces for sensor data acquisition;
• Sensor calibration methods, measurement accuracy, and real-time hardware/software co-design;
• Hardware acceleration for data processing (FPGAs, ASICs, GPUs, TPUs) in IIoT applications;
• Sensor fusion frameworks combining heterogeneous inputs (optical, acoustic, vibration, environmental);
• Edge computing platforms linking optical or physical sensors with intelligent inference;
• Machine learning and AI for sensor data, optical imaging, and real-time decision support;
• Big data platforms for managing high-volume sensor and imaging data streams;
• AI and data techniques for 5G and 6G;
• Large Language Models (LLMs) for IoT, big data, edge computing and smart systems;
• Robotics and automation supported by optical guidance and multi-sensor integration;
• Environmental and infrastructure monitoring using hybrid sensor–software frameworks;
• Secure sensor systems, trusted optical links, and tamper-resistant hardware;
• Privacy-preserving learning with sensor/optical data in federated or distributed settings;
• Security for 5G and 6G.

Dr. Simon James Fong
Prof. Dr. Patrick Hung
Prof. Dr. Victor Chang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.