CeBIT 2010: Connection is crucial

Under the motto “Connected Worlds””, CeBIT 2010 showcased trends and applications spawned by the World Wide Web. The major feature displays “”Webciety”” and “”Internet and Mobile Solutions”” demonstrate pioneering new initiatives and make the ‚Net come to life for the visitor. The main focus themes are Internet TV, e-commerce and content management.

“”With ‘Webciety’ and ‘Internet and Mobile Solutions’ we have given the Internet economy a new home that forms the perfect link between the online world and the offline world. Visitors to CeBIT 2010 saw a host of exciting solutions and projects, such as Google’s ‘Street View'””, says Ernst Raue, the Deutsche Messe Board executive responsible for CeBIT.

Virtual walks – courtesy of Google

For the first time ever, Internet giant Google has its own stand at CeBIT. Exhibiting in the category “”Internet and Mobile Solutions””, Google will be highlighting its exciting new “”Street View”” service.

Online data storage delivers data security on the Web

According to industry consultants Unwired Insight the volume of data in UMTS networks is currently growing at the rate of around 200 per cent a year. This is placing increased demands on commercial enterprises. At CeBIT 2010 visitors saw solutions for online data storage. Exhibitor Strato AG, for example, has announced the launch at the show of a new product called “”HiDrive””. “”There is plenty of storage capacity on the Internet, but what we offer is effectively an online hard disk that behaves as if it were built into your computer””, explains Lars Gurow, press officer for Strato. “”All the data is encrypted and securely stored in T√úV-certified computer centres in Germany. Thanks to the many standardised access options now available, they can be called up from any Internet-enabled device.”” Strato will be bringing its presentation to the Webciety display area at CeBIT 2010. Web-based data storage solutions are also on offer from US provider Amazon Web Services, which is exhibiting at CeBIT for the first time this year.

Social networks now dominating business communications

Social media have been embraced with open arms by the German business world. Some three quarters of the Dax 30 companies now use Twitter, while just under two thirds have a presence on the popular video platform YouTube. Such are the findings of a recent survey carried out by Mainz Technical College. On display at CeBIT 2010 will be many new Web 2.0 tools for business use. In the Webciety display area, for example, exhibitor Communardo will be showing “”Communote””, an ingenious application for exchanging short messages (buzzword: “”enterprise microblogging””). “”Major players such as Microsoft, IBM, Oracle and Google are crowding into the marketplace with increasingly sophisticated products for inter-business collaboration and triggering a strong demand for new social software solutions””, reports Ilja Hau√ü, CEO of Communardo Software.

The Hallo Welt! media workshop in Hannover is showcasing its own exciting Web 2.0 solution for business. “”Using our new software package ‘blue note for MediaWik’ companies can now convert MediaWiki, the software used for Wikipedia, into an ‘enterprise Wiki'””, explains Dr. Richard Heigl, head of marketing and project management at Hallo Welt! Medienwerkstatt.

Web 2.0 offers new prospects for media and marketing

How should media enterprises position themselves in the brave new world of Web 2.0? This is another key question addressed at CeBIT 2010. In the Webciety Forum there will be a high-powered platform discussion on this topic on the Wednesday of the show, 3 March. Joining the editor of Zeit Online, Wolfgang Blau, on the platform will be Dr. Kai Gniffke, senior editor at ARD-aktuell, and Sven Scheffler, editor of Handelsblatt Online.

Cross-media marketing strategies now play an increasingly important role in the thinking of media and marketing experts. CeBIT exhibitors such as InterRed see massive growth potential in the cross-media marketing of journalistic content. “”More and more businesses are recognizing that it is no longer economically viable to maintain a distinction between print, online, mobile and other media such as e-reader devices””, points out Andreas Nentwig, sales manager at InterRed.

For anyone who is interested in the new content management systems, which make it possible to publish content across all media formats without significant extra costs, this year’s CeBIT is an absolute must. The growing trend among customers to want to receive suitable offers via their preferred end-user devices is also confirmed by CoreMedia. To meet this need the company has developed its innovative “”Multi-Touchpoint”” solution. Meanwhile sevenload, one of the world’s leading social media networks for web TV and similar outlets, will be showing how moving images can be delivered via a multi-screen network to all kinds of output devices – from Internet TV players to iPhones.

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