January 31, 2007

• CeBIT remains by far the biggest ICT event worldwide
• Over 1,000 major conferences, conventions and forums at CeBIT 2007: the international echelons of industry, the media and the public sector meet in Hannover
• “CeBIT delivers digital solutions for all users and reflects all salient trends within the digital world” (Ernst Raue, Managing Board)

CeBIT has long been and continues to be the major marketplace for the ICT industry worldwide. When it opens its doors again in Hannover from 15 to 21 March 2007, users from across the globe will flock to see the latest digital solutions. As Ernst Raue, Managing Board Member of Deutsche Messe, emphasizes, “CeBIT mirrors the latest trends in the digital world and once a year makes Hannover the meeting-place for all those who feel at home in this digital world and who contribute to its further development” .

The fact that visitors can easily find their way around, despite the large number of exhibitors, is due to the clear thematic arrangement of exhibits in six categories: “Business Processes”, “Communications”, “Digital Equipment & Systems”, “Banking & Finance”, “Public Sector Parc” and “Future Parc”.

This aspect was commented on by Willi Berchtold, President of the German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM ): “One of the chief advantages of CeBIT is its sheer diversity. It showcases what's new in established technologies, while at the same time showing the major trends of the future.”

Biggest conference program in the history of CeBIT

CeBIT is more than a platform for high-tech trends. It also provides its visitors with an opportunity to take part in some of the 1,000 major conferences, conventions and forums at CeBIT 2007. This year will see the first European Summit of Ministers for Information Technology and Telecommunications from all member states of the European Union. The Summit has been initiated by German Economics Minister Michael Glos to mark Germany's EU Council Presidency. Other program highlights include the international congress and exhibition TeleHealth, the International CeBIT Summit and CeBIT Keynotes, where German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Patricia Russo (CEO Alcatel Lucent) and John W. Thomson (CEO Symantec) will deliver key speeches.

Some of the pre-eminent figures of the German media industry – including Dr. Hubert Burda (Hubert Burda Medien) and Dr. Bernd Kundrun (Gruner + Jahr) – are also expected at CeBIT 2007 for the media congress “Magazine Media 2.0” . Dr. Matthias Dopfner (Springer) will deliver the opening address at the C4 Conference on the topic “Consumers in the Digital World”. Ernst Raue is delighted by the response: “We welcome the strong involvement of the publishing industry in particular, as this is the first time that we have been able to bring together the media and the digital industry at CeBIT in the context of such an outstanding forum”.

“CeBIT 2007 will be remembered for the profusion of innovative ideas that we have sparked off”, enthuses Ernst Raue. This year will see the start of the CeBIT Next Initiative, a chat and innovative ideas portal designed to encourage visitors to CeBIT to become innovators themselves. The pilot project CeBITv – ?WebTV on Demand“ will be getting off to a good start with three different channels for three different target groups. In addition, CeBIT will have a match-maker in situ in the form of the online community XING (formerly OpenBC). The XING Community employs various means in order to facilitate live encounters at the trade fair. The strengths of CeBIT and XING thus complement each other.

6,000 exhibitors from 70 countries

The highly international mix of exhibitors taking part in CeBIT is impressive. In 2007 approx. 6,000 exhibitors from 70 countries will attend. Ernst Raue admits: “This figure is lower than in 2006, but it still exceeds our target. The emergence of strategic corporate alliances and mergers has meant that a high double-digit number of companies who used to exhibit separately a year or two ago are now staging joint displays.”

With Russia – this year's Partner Country – CeBIT has joined forces with a country in which the ICT industry is rapidly gaining momentum. More than 150 Russian exhibitors have registered. Joint stands focussing on software, telecommunications, outsourcing and research will afford insights into the Russian market and business potential.

The exceptionally high proportion of professional visitors (85 percent), the large number of foreign visitors (25 percent are from outside Germany) and the fact that one in every two visitors arrives intent on placing a major order all confirm that CeBIT is not merely a showcase – it is a place to do business. As Ernst Raue is eager to point out, “we are more interested in the calibre of our visiting public than in the number of visitors”.