IT fair opens

The theme of this year's CeBIT is "Managing Trust," which is meant to touch on issues of how to get companies and consumers to gain and retain trust for "cloud computing," where data is stored on a remote server, but accessible via the Internet.

"Without the trust of our customers, especially those who have to deal with network technology, our business models would not last," said Dieter Kempf, president of the German tech industry association BITKOM.

4,200 exhibitors from 70 countries around the world are expected to attend, a slightly higher figure compared to last year's show. As it was also the case in 2011, there will be four "pillars" devoted to varying sections within the tech sector, including "Pro," "Gov," "Lab" and "Life."

Amongst the big-name speakers are Kevin Turner, the CEO of Microsoft, Eric Schmidt, the chairman of Google and Neelie Kroes, the European Union's commissioner for the Digital Agenda.

This year's partner country: Brazil

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will also welcome Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, as Brazil is this year's CeBIT partner country.

"Brazil is now number seven in the world's largest technology markets," says CeBIT director Ernst Raue. "This time around 100 companies are from Brazil, which is almost a tenfold increase."

Also at this year's convention, there will be an area devoted to helping IT workers and employers finding each other.

Bitkom President Dieter Kempf has complained for years about the shortage of skilled workers in Germany.

"There are 38,000 vacancies for IT professionals, we have far too few graduates in mathematics, computer science and natural sciences."

Author: Rolf Wenkel / cjf
Editor: Sarah Steffen