CeBit 2015 Preview Trashes Smart Fridges, Calls CeBit An ‘Inspiration’

Oliver Frese of the Deutsche Messe Board dislikes smart fridges. In fact, he said so numerous times during his CeBit 2015 press preview keynote. Why doesn’t he like smart fridges?

“It’s important to note it’s not always about a smart end product, like a fridge that orders milk,” said Frese. “I myself won’t ever use one, I prefer shopping.”

Frese used his 45-minute speech to explain to honoured press, including yours truly TechWeekEurope, why CeBit is so much better than any other IT trade show in the world.

CeBit 2015, all about the “real value chain”

Presumably mocking shows such as CES and IFA, with the smart fridge digs, Frese said that CeBit is the most important show because it’s about “the real value chain”.

“It’s all fine and dandy, with colourful and noisy products, like fridges,” said Frese. “But the real money is made in the B2B sector.

“[CeBit] has less colourful and noisy products but [they are] more beneficial for the IT market.”

He continued: “No other event worldwide brings together all the important stakeholders at the top level as CeBit does. At CeBit, people will see how companies develop digitally, and position themselves to be fit for the future. CeBit is inspiration in its purest form.”

The preview, which is being held here Hannover in the same location as the real CeBit, also had undertones of politics. Guests in March (16-20th) will include Glenn Greenwald (who Frese described as ‘inspirational’), Angela Merkel, and the event even has China as a major event partner, with the founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba showing up. The political agenda here could be said to speak for itself.

“China will be the most important partner country of all time!” exclaimed Frese.

That’s also a bold statement, especially since most of the Chinese firms present such as Huawei and Alibaba are less than a decade old in their respective IT spaces.

That’s all for now from this morning’s CeBit press preview 2015. Check back on TechWeekEurope later to find out what companies like IBM, Microsoft, and Huawei plan to achieve at one of the biggest IT trade shows in the world.

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