Cebit's industry-related digital topics will be continued at Hannover Messe, while the company announced today in Hanover that it plans to develop specialized events for the other Cebit topics that are aimed specifically at decision-makers in selected sectors.

Technological developments in recent years have shown that a horizontal trade fair such as Cebit is increasingly encountering declining demand in the digital economy. Since the innovation steps resulting from digitalization are primarily taking effect in the application sectors, digitalization is the dominant theme at almost all industry trade fairs. This is influencing the trade fair policy of companies that are among the traditional core exhibitors at Cebit. They are increasingly using the industry trade fairs for users as a platform for initiating business.

"In recent years, German industry has repeatedly discussed the thematic overlap between Hannover Messe and Cebit. We will therefore transfer those topics that fit the clear focus of Hannover Messe," said Dr. Jochen Köckler, CEO of Deutsche Messe AG, in Hanover on Wednesday. In the coming weeks, the company will also be working intensively with the digital market to determine which topics have potential for focused trade fairs.

The new Cebit concept, which focused on the triad of trade fair, conference and festival, was unable to halt the downward trend in visitor numbers. As the negative trend in space bookings across all theme segments could not be halted either, Cebit will no longer be organized in future.

Deutsche Messe AG Executive Board member Oliver Frese asked the Executive Committee of the Supervisory Board to be relieved of his duties as of December 31, 2018. The committee granted this request. "We take note of Mr. Frese's decision with regret and respect. It is very unfortunate to lose such an experienced trade fair organizer and board member. Mr. Frese has rendered outstanding services to Deutsche Messe's event portfolio for many years, most recently as the board member responsible for Cebit," said the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Lower Saxony's Minister of Economic Affairs Bernd Althusmann. "With the new Cebit concept in particular, Frese has demonstrated courage, innovative strength and a pioneering spirit. The further decline in demand for the new Cebit is all the more regrettable, but at the same time it also shows that the Cebit idea has been received and accepted by the entire economy. The topics it represents, such as digitalization, artificial intelligence, etc., are now perceived as cross-sectional tasks - which is also a success of Cebit."

The importance of Cebit in the event portfolio and in the economic result had already been relativized in recent years. "Thanks to many other strong events and the stringent growth of our international business, Deutsche Messe is now securely and solidly positioned as a company," said Köckler. The Cebit brand will continue to be used for events abroad.