CeBIT, the largest international trade fair showcasing digital information technology and telecommunications solutions for home and work environments, kicked off in Germany yesterday.
Held each year on the world's biggest fairground, in Hannover, and with an exhibition area of about 450 000m^2, the five-day event serves as an international platform for comparing notes on up-to-the-minute industry trends, networking and product presentations.
Lack of trust
This year's CeBIT theme, “Managing Trust”, will see keynotes focus on trust and security in the digital age, with a spotlight on cloud computing and the prevalent lack of trust that technology users have in the relatively new trend.
Frank P"orschmann, senior VP of CeBIT, says the subject is particularly relevant given the current digital environment. “[The digital industries] are all driven by questions of trust, security and data protection, no matter whether in the business area or the private sector.”
Making reference to recent cyber attacks on, among others, the International Monetary Fund, the Pentagon and credit card service providers, P"orschmann says “in order to grow in this industry”, the consequent dwindling trust must be regained, “and that is what CeBIT is providing a platform for”.
For the first time this year, he adds, the subject matter for the theme was determined not only via discussions with top IT and telecommunications CEOs and CIOs, but also with CeBIT's fans on Facebook, whose interest in the topic of security was overwhelming.
Personalised platforms
Within the main theme, four platforms will be occupied by exhibitors fitting the respective categories, namely CeBIT pro, CeBIT life, CeBIT lab and CeBIT gov, each tailored to the interests of specific user and supplier groups.
Occupying the largest area, CeBIT pro will showcase business solutions for a variety of topics addressing business process management. The CeBIT life platform details the convergence of technologies and markets, with consumer IT playing a key role. CeBIT lab focuses on research and visions, new technologies and founding and resources, while CeBIT gov brings together ICT solutions from and for the public sector, offering an overview of the challenges facing the public sector and healthcare industry.
P"orschmann says “everything that is new” will be featured at these four platforms, which have proven successful among exhibitors and visitors to CeBIT's past events.
Day one highlights
With each day of CeBIT labelled a with specific topic, yesterday was dubbed “All Things Smart”. According to global communications consultancy Bite, the top five social media topics or statements keeping the Twittersphere abuzz were:
1. CeBIT's livestream of the event. (@CeBIT)
2. Microsoft COO Kevin Turner's keynote speech and demonstration of Windows 8. (@MicrosoftEMEA)
3. Neelie Kroes, VP of the European Commission responsible for the digital agenda for Europe, who said she dreamed of a day when “everyone will have their own shelf in the cloud”. (@NeelieKroesEU)
4. The European Space Agency's photograph depicting German Chancellor Angela Merkel meeting @astro_andre at the opening event. (@ESA)
5. Windows Enterprise Blog announcing “Windows Consumer Preview is ready for business”. (@CIOsConnect)
According to tweets from CeBIT's Twitter account at the end of day one, “The top 5 press conferences in Social Web @microsoftpresse @sapde @acerdeutschland @BITKOM @IBMSoftware #scc12 http://slidesha.re/AuPpzI #CeBIT12” and the most retweeted user was “@neeliekroeseu talking about #CloudComputing #CeBIT12 #scc12 http://slidesha.re/AuPpzI She's also tomorrow at #CGC12”.
Share