With Aachen's help, Hanover is to become a hub for future technologies again with the new digital trade fair "Twenty2x": (from left) BITMi President Oliver GrünAndreas Gruchow, board member of the trade fair, and Alexander Rabe, managing director of the eco Association. Photo: Messe Hannover/Messe Hannover
The Aachen newspaper reported in its May 20th edition on the launch of the new digital trade fair Twenty2x. Oliver Grün, PhD., Board Member and CEO of GRÜN Software AG, is a co-initiator of the fair.
Here is the press release:
830.000 visitors flocked to the CeBIT computer trade fair in Hanover in 2001. By 2018, attendance had dwindled to barely a quarter of that, and then it was over. Now, the Aachen-based software entrepreneur is pushing for a change. Oliver Grün, Board Member and CEO of GRÜN Software AG, with partners and Deutsche Messe AG, surprisingly organized a newly designed follow-up trade fair on the subject of digitization in Hanover: the "Twenty2x".
With the help of powerful partners, including the Aachen-based software entrepreneur Oliver Grün As president of the German Association of IT SMEs (BITMi), he is now launching the trade fair with a surprising comeback: Under the name "Twenty2x," the event will take place next year over three days – from Tuesday, March 17th, to Thursday, March 19th – in Halls 7 and 8 as well as in the Convention Center, focusing on the practical aspects of digitalization. Partners of the trade fair and accompanying congress include BITMi, the Association of the Internet Industry "eco," the IT user association "VOICE," and the German Startups Association (BVDS).
The makers are targeting the pent-up demand of medium-sized companies, and especially smaller companies. At the "Twenty2x", solutions for handling sensitive customer data and protecting against cyberattacks will be presented, announced the Deutsche Messe AG on Monday. "Our goal is to support small and medium-sized companies in particular with digitization in order to make them fit for the future and to strengthen them in the respective competitive environment", said Andreas Gruchow, board member of Messe AG.
Efficient tool
Smaller companies run the risk of being left behind when developing new digital business models, it said. According to figures from the state development bank KfW, only 30 percent of the around 3,8 million SMEs invested in the use of corresponding technologies between 2015 and 2017. Further investments are overdue. “As the largest trade association for exclusively medium-sized IT companies in Germany, we welcome the new digital trade fair, as it offers our member companies an optimal sales platform. For medium-sized companies in particular, 'Twenty2x' is an efficient instrument for generating new customer contacts, ”said Grün.
The fair wants to address managing directors and decision-makers for the IT sector in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. "It is not about a 'mini-Cebit', but rather about building on the origins of the Cebit as a pure trade fair," he explained. In addition to the two subject areas “public administration” and “financial services”, the trade fair focuses on “mobility of the future”. "There are numerous points of contact for technologies from the Aachen region: such as autonomous driving or electromobility," said Grün, citing examples.
In the Lower Saxony state capital, companies should find out about changed working conditions and new operational processes. Dealing with new technologies such as the 5G mobile communications standard is also on the agenda of the three-day event. It was said that they wanted to set exclamation marks again in Hanover, but without looking at old visitor records in the first year.
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