CeBIT

CeBIT ("Centrum der Büro- und Informationstechnik"; German for "Centre of Office and Information technology") is the world's largest computer expo. It is held each spring on the world's largest fairground in Hanover, Germany, and is a barometer of the state of the art in information technology. With an exhibition area of roughly 450,000 m² (5 million ft²) and up to 700,000 visitors, it is larger than COMPUTEX and the no-longer held COMDEX. By 2007 the CeBIT expo attendance has shrunk to 'more than 200,000' from those all-time highs [ [http://www.infomaticsonline.co.uk/crn/news/2186434/attendance-cebit-increases-200 Attendance for CeBIT increases to 200,000] ] , it was held from 15 March to 21 March 2007. The 2008 expo dates were 4 March to 9 March 2008, with a notable event being the police raids of 51 exhibitors for patent infringement [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/06/technology/EU-TEC-Germany-Tech-Fair-Raid.php Authorities seize gadgets during patent raid at German tech fair] ] , something that is traditionally not a criminal matter in most jurisdictions [Patent infringement] , and is likely to further affect attendance figures in the future. The 2009 expo dates are 3 March to 8 March 2009.

History

CeBIT was traditionally the computing part of the Hanover Fair, a big industry trade show held every year. It was first established in 1970, with the opening of the Hanover fairground's new Hall 1, then the largest exhibition hall in the world. [ [http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/70507/ 20 Jahre Centrum für "B" und "IT": Die CeBIT hat Geburtstag] de icon – By Detlef Borchers, heise online, 8 March 2006] However, in the 1980s the information technology and telecommunications part was straining the resources of the industry fair so much that it was given a separate trade show starting 1986, held four weeks earlier than the main Hanover Fair.

As CeBIT continued to grow quickly and was becoming too big on its own, it was decided to concentrate on the professional market, while the home and entertainment market was given a separate show, CeBIT Home, during summer, planned to be biennial. However, after being held twice (in 1996 and 1998), the 2000 CeBIT Home (supposed to be held in Leipzig due to the Expo 2000 being held at the time in Hanover) was cancelled and the project was abandoned.

Worldwide CeBIT shows

Since 1999 the CeBIT sponsor "Deutsche Messe AG" ("German Trade Show, Ltd.") has organized trade shows outside of Germany bearing the CeBIT name:
* CeBIT Asia, in Shanghai, China
* CeBIT Australia, in Sydney
* CeBIT Eurasia Bilişim, in Istanbul, Turkey

CeBIT America/USA was held in 2003 and 2004, but subsequently cancelled in 2005.

References

External links

General:
* [http://www.cebit.de/homepage_e CeBIT official website: "The leading business event for the digital world"]
* [http://www.cebit.de/7586 The history of CeBIT]
* [http://www.cebit.de/events_e Overview of worldwide CeBIT events] Media:
* [http://www.dipolnet.com/bib858.htm/ CeBIT 2008 - Photo report]
* [http://cebit.150.dk/ CeBIT 2005 video coverage]
* [http://cebitvideo.com/ CeBIT 2006 video coverage] – In HDTV format