Leading communications giants
     Optus and Telstra will join multinational technology giants Fujitsu, Motorola, Oracle, Panasonic, Red Hat, Siemens, Sony and Yahoo! at the CeBIT Australia 2008 business event.
     “This year Optus’ Small and Medium Business division has entered into a multi-year agreement with CeBIT Australia,” said Phil McDermott, head of Product Marketing, Optus Small and Medium Business. “CeBIT Australia offers an ideal platform for us to showcase products including mobile, broadband and wireless solutions while building and maintaining strong customer relationships.”
     First time exhibitor Telstra has booked two separate CeBIT Australia stands, one for its Sensis directories division within the eMarketing section of the exhibition showfloor, and the other for its new T[Life] brand/concept store.
     Following the strength of the eMarketing & SEO conference at CeBIT Australia last year, Web services giant MelbourneIT and global internet pioneer Yahoo! have signed as highlevel sponsors for the event, and both have taken significant exhibition space.
     “CEBIT is the largest IT&T event in Australia, and we are very excited to be involved with this prestigious event in 2008. Yahoo!! relations with existing partners and government bodies. CEBIT brings the best of breed ideas and technologies from around the world, combined with a world class marketing engine which drives a large number of delegates, therefore I see CEBIT as a great platform for us to educate the market about the growing trend of search marketing,” Shi said.
     For the VoIP & IP Comms and Open CeBIT conference events at CeBIT Australia firsttime exhibitors Siemens and Oracle have signed high-level sponsorship commitments.
     Jackie Taranto, managing director of Hannover Fairs Australia, the CeBIT Australia 2008 organizers, said the large presence of overseas companies, visitors and delegates meant CeBIT Australia had grown in stature as an international event.
     “Technology trade promotion is basis for our business, so we’re always glad when global brands choose to use CeBIT Australia as a platform,” Taranto said. “But we are also passionate about the promotion of Australian innovators, and we know from experience that the presence of such a large overseas contingent means these smaller local companies can get genuine international exposure and cement international contacts.”

Delegations from China
     Three official delegations from China are part of a record number of international trade missions already confirmed for CeBIT Australia 2008, further stamping the event as the most important business technology exhibition and conference in the region.
     The international delegations have the event’s organizer Hannover Fairs Australia already saying CeBIT Australia 2008 will be the largest in its seven-year history.
     Thirteen official delegations from eleven countries have so far indicated they will bring missions to CeBIT Australia 2008 – fully six months before its doors open.
     In addition to the official missions, individual companies from nine countries have already booked exhibition space for the event under their own steam.
     “CeBIT Australia is the largest exhibition of any kind held in this country, and we’re extremely pleased the event attracts so many international companies seeking to do business here,” said Taranto.
     “Even though we’re still early in the planning cycle, we already know CeBIT Australia 2008 will be the biggest on record. We’re expecting to fill Darling Harbor with more than 700 exhibitors and 35,000 business visitors,” she said.
     Since CeBIT Australia first opened its doors in 2002, it is estimated to have generated $1 billion worth of business benefit in Australia, and attracted hundreds of millions in inward investment.
     In 2008, Taranto said CeBIT Australia would be the focal point for a series of highprofile associated ICT events that leverage CeBIT’s global status as the industry meeting place.
     ‘We are putting together the most ambitious program of technology conferences, expo’s and networking events ever held in Australia,” Taranto said. “It’s very exciting, and the culmination of years of work.”
     “The strength of the CeBIT profile has meant we have been able to attract an incredible range of international speakers,” she said. “The fact that international delegations are coming in bigger numbers than ever before is very positive.”
     The Commonwealth’s Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) will again officially host the eGovernment forum at CeBIT Australia, making it the most important ICT in public administration event in the country.
     Confirmed trade delegations (led by Government Ministers or trade associations): China (x3), South Korea, Taiwan, Pakistan, India, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom, United States, and New Zealand.
     Confirmed country exhibitors (companies exhibiting under their own steam): Spain, Italy, Russia, Romania, Russia, Denmark, South Africa, Sweden, and New Zealand. The numbers exclude the many local subsidiaries of foreign-based transnational’s that exhibit every year at CeBIT Australia.