CeBIT 2009 kicks off

4,300 exhibitors opened for business this morning at the world's premier IT fair

CeBit will run until 8 March

Large swathes of the UK channel have temporarily migrated to northern Germany this week, meaning only one thing: It’s CeBIT again.

Europe and the world’s premier IT fair - known as much for the heavy toll it takes on delegates’ calf muscles as it is for breaking new technology - kicked off this morning.

Last year’s event drew in close to 500,000 visitors.

This year, Hannover’s exhibition centre will play host to 4,300 exhibitors from 69 countries - slightly down from 5,800 exhibitors from 77 countries in 2008.

Since its inception 1986, CeBIT has acted as a litmus for the industry’s key emerging technologies and themes.

This year promises to be no different, with organisers claiming there will be several hot topics to look out for. Green was a key theme in 2008, but CeBIT is hoping to go one better this time around by presenting a “green IT World”, where tech firms can display their most innovative green IT solutions in a special 2000sqm area.

Another key topic will be around “webciety” – a neologism combining the world wide web and society.

The organisers also expect eHealth to be a major theme. Additionally, the scope of CeBIT Security World has been expanded to include a holistic presentation of security topics such as authentication tools, card technologies and mobile security.

The event will run until Sunday 8 March.