30,000 likely at CeBIT

More than 30,000 professionals from 10 countries, 2000 business technologies in four exhibition halls, 100 keynote conference speakers and over 100 Australian government politicians and officials will converge on Sydney’s Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre from 31 May to 2 June for CeBIT 2011.

CeBIT Australia will launch with an opening plenary session featuring keynote addresses by Barry O’Farrell, NSW Premier; Sen Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband Communications and the Digital Economy; Paul O’Sullivan, chief executive, Optus; and Albert Goller, chairman and managing director, Siemens ANZ.

The event will feature more than 500 exhibitors across 19 categories focusing on cloud computing, unified communications, videoconferencing and security. Companies such as Telstra, NEC, Hewlett Packard, Samsung, Dell, Acer, Schenker and Motorola will demonstrate the latest in their technology, services and business solutions.

The conference and workshop programs will run concurrently with the exhibition, featuring more than 100 of Australia and the world’s foremost thought leaders. They will provide delegates with the opportunity to gain deeper insights into topics such as digital marketing, cloud computing, the NBN, e-commerce or e-government.

This year’s conference speakers include senior executives from eBay, Google, Microsoft, Optus, Fairfax Media, Westfield, Woolworths, MasterCard, Alcatel-Lucent, The Westpac Group and NAB, as well as representatives from government and health institutions.

An additional exhibition that exclusively focuses on e-health - complemented by a conference and workshops - provides for an information exchange in the health sector by bringing together policy makers, healthcare providers, decision makers and end users.

The exhibition introduces a number of new initiatives this year including a new partnership with the NSW Government and the partner country program with Germany being the first partner. German federal minister for foreign affairs, Dr Guido Westerwelle will attend the event with a high-ranking business and diplomatic delegation.