- Trade professionals account for over 90 percent of total attendance
- Higher turnout from abroad
- Event generates deals worth some 25 billion euros
CeBIT 2014 closed on Friday, March 14, receiving positive reviews from exhibitors, the IT sector and the tradeshow's own organizers. "The revamped CeBIT has proven a complete success. Our sharp focus on business users really hit the mark," said Oliver Frese, the Deutsche Messe Managing Board member in charge of CeBIT, at the closing press conference on Friday. "Our exhibitors have succeeded in reaching their goals, as indeed have we, the organizers. The newly refocused CeBIT is and remains the world's leading IT showcase and business event." This year's show led to total capital expenditures totaling some EUR 25 billion – an all-time high. As this year's official Partner Country, Great Britain showcased its stunning IT achievements and outstandingly innovative spirit.
For this year's CeBIT, Deutsche Messe had its sights set purely on trade visitors. "Our attendance figures clearly reflect this emphasis, with 92 percent of all visitors consisting of IT professionals. One in every three came from top management, and more than 25% of visitors came from abroad." Frese is convinced this represents the ideal foundation for the future of CeBIT: "The show is going to retain its 100% business focus as we work together with exhibitors and other partners to fine-tune the event for future growth," he declared.
Frese emphasized that the new-look CeBIT had succeeded in meeting all its major targets. "The new site layout made it easy for trade visitors from some 100 different countries to zero in on the topics of greatest interest to them," he noted. On average, each attending IT professional visited a total of 26 stands – more than at any previous CeBIT – and talks revolved around specific projects and concrete deals. According to Oliver Frese, "25 billion euros worth of business have been negotiated here at CeBIT, up by as much as 25 percent over last year's figures."
The CeBIT Global Conferences (CGC) perfectly mirrored and amplified the topics covered throughout the show, and the new Hall 8 location put the conferences at the heart of the action. With a lineup of over 140 speakers at 70 different conference events, the CGC treated audiences to such iconic personalities as Steve Wozniak and Jimmy Wales, underscoring its reputation as the digital world's leading convention. CGC 2014 drew a total audience of around 3,000, despite charging admission for the first time ever.
This was also the most youthful CeBIT ever: "Over 300 start-ups brought new energy, entrepreneurial drive and creativity to this year's CeBIT," Frese observed. The 50 startups exhibiting in the CODE_n showcase in Hall 16 were a standout attraction. The young entrepreneurs were able to build relationships with large numbers of established firms, investors and venture capitalists, and were clearly pleased with the results.
The C-Level programs aimed at top executives also proved highly popular. "Yet again, we have seen that the presence of top decision-makers automatically leads to greater attendance by other top decision-makers. More than 2,000 CIOs and other managers attended CeBIT 2014. This means we have more than tripled our turnout in this choice segment," said a delighted Frese.
Jan Geldmacher, CEO of Vodafone Global Enterprise and Chairman of the CeBIT Exhibitors' Committee, also gave this year's show high marks: "The new CeBIT strategy with a clear focus on trade visitors and a stronger emphasis on international participation really hit the mark. This is great for us, because our CeBIT objectives have always centered on reaching a highly corporate and international audience. This will remain our strategy for the years to come, and will definitely be back for CeBIT 2015 and 2016."
The president of Germany's IT association BITKOM, Dr. Dieter Kempf, was also delighted with the outcome of the event: "The German ICT sector is very pleased with the new tradeshow's strategy and performance. CeBIT is and remains our key platform, one with immense international appeal. The specially featured themes of big data, data security, cloud computing and startups proved to be the right choices at the right time."
CeBIT's lead theme of "Datability" addressed the issue of big data, a sweeping trend throughout the international IT landscape. In the words of Frese: "This CeBIT has clearly shown that the ability to use and manage huge volumes of data responsibly is revolutionizing many business models, production processes and applications. The Datability theme has also enabled us to raise the profile of the all-important security issues."
Companies from the UK – the official Partner Country of CeBIT 2014 – reported full order books as they prepared to depart. According to Frese: "The UK has impressively showcased its strengths as an IT partner: innovative, youthful and creative – all in all an outstanding partner country." The UK Ambassador in Germany, Simon McDonald, also praised the event's success: "As well as being a most enjoyable experience for all the British participants, CeBIT 2014 has been a huge success for our two countries. The 130 British firms at CeBIT, some of them exhibiting here for the first time, are on the whole pleased with their results from appearing at the event."
CeBIT 2014 attracted a total of more than 210,000 visitors. "This means we reached 90% of our overall visitor targets," said Frese. "This gives us a firm foundation on which to continue enhancing CeBIT as the No. 1 international, business-only event for the digital industry."
The next CeBIT will be staged from 16 to 20 March 2015.
