THE GREAT EVENT CeBIT 2013

Hannover, Germany. CeBIT 2013 will be launched in style this Monday evening, 4 March, in Hannover. The world's leading showcase for the digital industries will be officially opened by German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. On Tuesday, 5 March, the gates will open on five days of CeBIT, for attendees from over 110 countries.

 

The opening function in the Hannover Congress Centrum will also feature keynotes by Stephan Weil, the new Premier of the German State of Lower Saxony, and Dr. Dieter Kempf, President of the German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM). And for the first time in the event's history, the Opening Ceremony will also feature a high-caliber figure from a major ICT user industry: Dr. Thomas Enders, CEO of the leading aerospace group EADS, will talk about the requirements of ICT users and present “Bridget”, Europe’s first Mars rover, to the audience of around 2,500 invited guests. The artistic program was developed in colaboration with an international social media community and will be translated into a live stage performance by Australian artist Chris Vik.

 

The lead theme for this year’s CeBIT is “Shareconomy.” As the term suggests, Shareconomy is all about sharing and the shared use of data, knowledge, resources and infrastructure. Even services and tangible products are now increasingly being shared by means of state-of-the-art technologies. This trend is being driven by the many and varied solutions emerging from the ICT industry. CeBIT 2013 will feature a diverse range of companies that are lending fresh momentum to the Shareconomy trend with exciting new services and applications that are provided via innovative cloud, social business and collaboration platforms.

Other keynote themes include mobile applications, big data, the “Internet of Things,” and an array of new internet-based business models. Careers and recruiting will feature more prominently than ever at this year’s event. ICT companies and businesses that use ICT will be on the lookout at CeBIT for seasoned managers, highly skilled specialists and fresh talent in a wide range of disciplines, from sales to software development. Visitors will be able to get advice on every facet of recruitment, remuneration and career development, and there will even be a matchmaking service to put job seekers in touch with exhibiting companies who wish to interview prospective appointees at their stands. There are over 40,000 unfilled vacancies for ICT specialists in Germany alone.

This year’s CeBIT will also focus on young companies. More than 200 international startups will be in Hannover to present their creative ideas and business models for the future.

As well as being an exhibition, CeBIT is the world’s most important and comprehensive congress for the digital industries, featuring some 1,000 lectures, seminars and workshops. This year, the scale of the conference program’s flagship event, the CeBIT Global Conferences, has been almost tripled in response to strong demand. More than 100 top speakers from the ICT industry will be appearing on three separate stages as part of a program spanning over 75 hours.

Last Friday, Frank Pörschmann, the Deutsche Messe Managing Board member responsible for CeBIT, shared some thoughts on the upcoming event: “With a sharp focus on the right themes, the right trends, and the right businesses and institutions, CeBIT 2013 is set to be an outstanding showcase, a truly international occasion that will bring real benefits for everyone involved.”

CeBIT 2013 will feature nearly 4,100 businesses from 70 different countries – thereby exceeding the organizers’ target of 4,000 exhibitors. Deutsche Messe’s efforts to further enhance the show’s exhibitor makeup have likewise borne fruit. Mr. Pörschmann also reported increased interest in CeBIT from a number of Asian and African countries with steadily emerging high-tech sectors. “CeBIT is a forum of fundamental importance for global discourse on key economic and social issues. It is a catalyst for growth, a driver of high-tech industry trends and a facilitator of new alliances across international boundaries,” he added.

CeBIT 2013 features 17 exhibition halls, two conference centers, three VIP lounges and a matchmaking area at the Hannover Exhibition Center.