France's municipalities are moving from pilot projects to full-scale Internet of Things (IoT) deployments and REX TCD Retours d'Expérience – Territoires Connectés et Durables (REX Connected and Sustainable Territories) has become the annual proving ground where that shift gets measured. Olivier Beaujard, Senior Director of the LoRa® Ecosystem at Semtech and Chair of the Board at the LoRa Alliance® attended the 3rd edition of REX TCD, held on June 16–17, 2026, at the Salons de l'Aveyron in Paris. Here’s what the event revealed about the state of connected territory development in France, and why LoRaWAN® is increasingly at the center of it.
REX TCD — Retours d'Expérience – Territoires Connectés et Durables (Connected and Sustainable Territories) — is the premier annual gathering dedicated to smart and sustainable territorial development in France. Co-organized by FNCCR, Smart City Mag and the Banque des Territories, the event brings together public authorities, private companies and associative stakeholders united by a shared commitment to the digital and ecological transformation of local territories. The 2026 edition marked the 10th anniversary of Smart City Mag, adding a milestone dimension to an already significant program.
REX TCD 2026 confirmed its standing as France's largest gathering of local authorities advancing connected and sustainable territory projects. This year's program expanded to eight thematic tracks — up from six in prior editions — covering buildings, public lighting, water and waste management, mobility, natural risks, urban planning, and air quality. That expansion reflects the broadening scope of challenges LoRaWAN solutions are being deployed to solve.
The event drew over 500 participants, with local governments and municipalities representing approximately 50% of attendees — a clear indicator of growing public sector demand for practical, field-tested IoT guidance.
The LoRa Alliance and its member companies played a central role in equipping attendees with the knowledge and tools to move from exploration to implementation with confidence. Nine Alliance members — Orange, MultiTech, Netmore, Itron, WATTECO, TEKTELIC, REQUEA, Fédération nationale des collectivités concédantes et régies (FNCCR), and Kerlink — exhibited on the show floor alongside additional companies demonstrating solutions using LoRaWAN technology, offering local authorities direct access to a mature, competitive and interoperable ecosystem.
Rather than a top-down technology pitch, the format prioritized peer learning: 22 concrete experience-sharing sessions from municipalities of all sizes across France covered wildfire detection, on-demand rural street lighting and AI-assisted waste management — giving attendees real-world evidence of what works, what doesn't and how to replicate success in their own territories.
The reception was strong because LoRaWAN answered the questions local authorities are actually asking. Smart water management — the technology’s leading application in France — delivers measurable ROI that justifies network investment even for smaller municipalities. But the message that resonated most was scalability: once a LoRaWAN network is deployed for water metering or leak detection, it becomes the backbone for smart buildings, public lighting, waste collection, and parking — compounding returns on a single infrastructure investment.
Several structural advantages reinforced audience confidence and are increasingly decisive in procurement conversations:
REX TCD 2026 illustrated that the LoRaWAN community is not simply present in France’s connected territories conversation — it is actively shaping it. By meeting local authorities where they are, speaking their language and delivering peer-validated answers, the ecosystem is accelerating France's digital transformation from the ground up.
As municipalities continue to expand their IoT ambitions, LoRaWAN’s combination of openness, salability and proven ROI positions it as a trusted, future-proof infrastructure foundation for connected and sustainable territory development.
To learn more about LoRaWAN for smart city and territory applications and Semtech's IoT solutions, visit Semtech.com or explore the extensive resources available through the LoRa Alliance.
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