When software touches the real world
A reusable smart event badge and the platform that runs the whole event, built as one product. Two sides of the same system: firmware on ESP32, platform on Next.js, and a single source of truth holding them together.
Plenty of companies build software. Plenty build hardware. Very few build both and make them work as one system. DiGiG8 is the proof that when you own both sides, the product becomes something neither side could be alone.
DiGiG8 is a Malta event-tech startup that set out to kill the printed event badge. The old way was wasteful and blind: badges printed once and thrown away, paper agendas, a handful of separate apps, and exhibitors collecting leads by hand. Organisers walked away from every event with almost no usable data about what had happened inside it.
So we built the whole loop, device and platform together. The hardware is a reusable ESP32 smart badge with a colour touchscreen: it shows each attendee's digital pass, live agenda, and sponsor content. Two people can swap contact details just by bringing their badges together. Behind it sits a web platform where organisers run the entire event, right down to pairing and returning the badge fleet.
The old way was broken
Events ran on printed paper, disconnected apps, and manual everything. Organisers were blind to what was actually happening on the floor.
Paper, guesswork, and waste
- Badges printed once, thrown away after one day
- Paper agendas with no way to push live updates
- Exhibitors collecting leads by hand on scraps of paper
- Organisers with almost no data about what happened inside the event
- A single misprint could break someone's accreditation
- Five separate apps that never spoke to each other
Connected, real-time, data-rich
- Reusable badge hardware that pays for itself across events
- Live agenda that updates on every device in seconds
- Contact exchange with a tap, logged to the platform automatically
- Full analytics: sessions, stands, introductions, dwell time
- QR-code pairing: the badge pulls everything automatically
- One platform that runs the entire event end to end
The loop that holds it together
The value is in the connection. The badge and the platform are not two projects bolted together. They are one product, designed from the start to talk to each other.
One dashboard for the whole event
Organisers run attendees, schedules, sponsors, exhibitors, and the badge fleet itself from a single web platform. Every real-world moment becomes structured data.
Attendee management
Register, credential, and track every person at the event. One record per attendee, linked to their badge.
Live agenda
Push schedule changes instantly. Every badge updates over Wi-Fi without a manual step.
Device fleet
Pair, monitor, and manage the full badge fleet from one dashboard. Scan a QR code and the badge is ready.
Contact exchange
Badge-to-badge introductions happen locally over ESP-NOW. No app, no internet, just two devices in range.
Organiser analytics
Every stand visit, session check-in, and introduction becomes structured data the organiser can act on.
Sponsor content
Push targeted sponsor content to badges by zone or track. Measurable reach, not guesswork.
More of what we build
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The platform your business needs
When off-the-shelf tools don't fit how you work, we build the system that does. Custom CRMs, catalogues, databases, and dashboards, shaped around your process.
Workflow & AI Automation
Cut the manual busywork between your tools, and put AI to work where it genuinely helps. Automation your team can actually trust.
Building something that needs to work in the real world?
If your product sits at the edge where software meets physical hardware, we know that problem well. Tell us what you are building.