February 1, 2007

• Over 1,000 major conferences, conventions and forums at CeBIT 2007 draw attendance by the top echelons of industry, the media and the public sector
• CeBIT 2008: Transformation from “market-centered” to “customer-driven”
• “As the world's most important ICT marketplace, CeBIT is here to stay.” (Ernst Raue, Managing Board)

This year's CeBIT in Hannover, Germany, will not only showcase the world's very best in IT and telecommunications technology, but also feature over 1,000 top-notch conferences, conventions and dedicated forums - the richest program of supporting events in the entire history of the show. “With its strong appeal for the industry's top specialists and corporate shakers and movers, CeBIT lays rightful claim to being the global ICT industry's No. 1 event,” asserts Ernst Raue, Managing Board Member at Deutsche Messe. CeBIT 2007 will feature a highly international mix of about 6,000 exhibitors from 70 different countries. “While this figure is below last year's, we are ahead of our 2007 target. In this context it should be added that several recent mergers and strategic corporate alliances have led to a double-digit thinning of our exhibitor ranks since many companies who used to exhibit on their own just a year or two ago are now staging joint displays,” explains Raue.

In 2008, a brand-new CeBIT will be unveiled - a CeBIT which promises to boost efficiency and create even more business value for its exhibitors and their clientele. The new concept, which is the result of a concerted effort on the part of the entire CeBIT Community, features several major changes, including a shorter duration (six days instead of seven), new participation options, attractive new rates and a 30-point Action Plan designed to help exhibitors generate even more promising leads among their respective target groups at the show.

Willi Berchtold, President of the German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM), had this to say about the transformation: “We are very pleased that CeBIT is positioning itself to remain the industry's premier event and most comprehensive showcase. Throughout the world, CeBIT is as unparalleled as it is irreplaceable.”