Doors open on Cebit hi-tech fair

The final touches are being put to the show grounds in Hanover

Europe's technology industry is gearing up for the giant Cebit trade fair that kicks off this week in Hanover.

Typically more than 400,000 people attend the event which lets business people and consumers ogle hardware and software of any and every kind.

In previous years mobile technologies have taken centre stage but in 2008 the focus has switched to green issues.

On show will be more efficient ways to run large computer systems and gadgets that are more environmentally friendly.

Energy boost

One section of the show will be dedicated to ways to help reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced when generating electricity to power the world's computers.

In a bid to show what can be done Sun Microsystems plans to set up a data centre at Cebit that runs solely on solar power.

Environmental group Greenpeace is taking a stand at the show on which it will examine the green credentials of the companies attending.

The trade fair will also try to bring home to those attending what they can do to be more energy efficient.

"It is also a matter of pointing out to every single person how he or she can make his or her own contribution to climate protection and cost cutting", Sven-Michael Prueser, Cebit director, told the AP news wire in an interview.

Running from 4-9 March, the event has shrunk by a day and has been re-configured to take it back to its roots as a show for the business world. In earlier years it was the place that many firms came to sign deals and buy equipment.

Despite this scaling back more than 6,000 companies are scheduled to have stands at the show and hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected.

The strategy means the former emphasis on consumer technologies has been pared down and many of the stunts and launches of such products have been bumped to the weekend.

The organisers of Cebit have decided to re-configure the show in an attempt to distinguish it from other competing events such as CES, the Mobile World Congress and IFA.