CeBIT draws to a close opens doors amid clash over internet future

Mar 6, 2010, 12:32 GMT

Hanover, Germany - The CeBIT trade fair, one of the world's biggest annual electronics events, drew to a close Saturday, with organizers promising a new concept for the next edition in 2011.

The trade show will focus more on consumers in a bid to halt a decline which saw the number of exhibitors drop to 4,157 this year from a peak of 8,093 in 2001.

'We are going on the offensive,' said Ernst Raue, a member of the board of Deutsche Messe AG, which put on the five-day display in the northern city of Hanover.

The fair still ranks as the world's biggest combined electronics fair, but today it is mainly devoted to business software that for example calculates taxes, manages patient records or keeps factories secure.

In future it will be restructured into four main areas covering business applications, the public sector, research institutes and private consumers and the internet world.

Consumers are the ones who provide the impetus for trends and topics, said Raue, adding that they are ones responsible for driving ahead with innovative technology.

One-third of the revenue generated by the Information Technology industry comes from private customers, said August-Wilhelm Scheer, Germany's top lobbyist for the digital economy.

No figures were available for how many visitors came to this year's event, which adopted 'Connected Worlds' as its 2010 slogan. Last year, the number was down 20 per cent to 400,000.