The CeBIT Computer Exhibition is on a Darling Harbor in Sydney, until 30 May. I went along Tuesday afternoon to see what was new in computer hardware, software, education and management. The exhibition takes up three of the large halls at Darling Harbor and one smaller hall. The layout is themed and as I entered I went through "Security World" with anti-hacking products, then broadband infrastructure (with an NBN Pantechnicon, parked prominently).
At the back of Hall 3 is Skills and eLeanring, with both traditional universities and some new e-learning commercial startups showing their offerings. An unusual entry is the Federal Attorney-General's Department, with their Protective Security Training College (PSTC). The PSTC is a registered training organization offering vocational qualifications for government employees and staff from the private sector who need to know how to protect government information and investigate breeches.
Several Australian federal agencies and state Governments had large booths. The most interesting was NSW, with mini-booths for commercial start-ups, including Open Learning (which offers an on-line platform for free and fee based courses) and Fishburners Co-working Space (low cost office space for startups).
The one trend from the show was the rise of Asia in IT. There were very large displays from Chinese regions and India. One surprise was a very strong showing by Sri Lanka, with several companies offering IT outsourcing services.
CeBIT Sydney is worth a visit, provided you have a free ticket. I am not sure it is worth the full $99 entry price.
I was impressed by the Sri Lanka display at CeBIT Sydney. Also apparently were the judges, who selected it for an award.
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