CEBIT 2018

Date: June 11 – 15, 2018
Location: Hannover

Our employees from GPSWOX attended the CEBIT festival to learn more about the latest Information Technology Trends of today. This CEBIT conference was bigger than the previous ones. The itinerary and structure of the conference were completely revamped to deliver a much more impactful experience. GPXWOX got to network with many of the 2800 participating companies. Moreover, 370 Startups also attended the conference. The participating companies were from all over the world, including Asia, Europe, and Africa.

The CEBIT festival had over 600 speakers, each of which was able to impart their wisdom on the GPSWOX employees along with other attendees.

An Overview

The festival stretched over a period of five days, starting from 11 June. There were a total of 10 stages, where over 600 speakers spoke. The first speaker of the night was Achim Berg, who is the President of Bitcom. He spoke on the Welcome Night about the swift speed with which recent developments are taking place. His words were substantiated by the presence of the Ferris Wheel developed by SAP. This Ferris wheel, which was 60-meter tall had 40 cabins and allowed you to view the entire festival. What you saw from the view was the extent of development in fields like IoT and AI.

Artificial Intelligence

The GPSWOX employees were able to witness the advancement in Artifical intelligence as exhibited in the festival. Artifical Intelligence took a driving seat in the festival with various demonstrations of self-learning systems. For instance, Hewlett Packard Enterprise showcased the role computers can have in the near future in comparing diseases symptoms and identifying the best medication.

The GPSWOX employees also visited the IBM stand where they were met with a smart assistant. This assistant was accompanied by cameras, voice control, and sensors. This smart assistant is the same AI that is serving as a support to Alexander Gerst, a German Astronaut, in his ISS Space Station mission.

AI technology is clearly one of the biggest inventions of the recent times. The benefits that people do reap from them and the potential of how far it can go was the major theme of this festival. Already, the business world is transforming into a digitalized platform with options like Alexa and chatbots. These AI tools have allowed for enhanced customer experience.

Furthermore, there were many exhibitors that were showcasing their solutions to complete processes via a 360-degree output. In this regards, data security was a very important topic that was highlighted. GPSWOX employees were able to learn about multiple automated security concepts that are likely to help us in combatting against data breaches and attacks.

Robotics

There were a lot of quasi-human robots exhibited at the festival. SoftBank Robotics developed a humanoid called “Pepper“ which was a huge hit among our employees. This robot can react to human feelings. It then alters its way of answering questions accordingly.

Research institutions were also at a forefront when it came to robotics. They showcased their developments as well. For instance, “ARMAR-6“ was developed by Karlsruhe Institute for Technology. This robot helps humans in power drill operations. Rather than having to change the wiring of the robot to teach it new things, this robot merely learns by observation.

The highlight when it comes to Robotics came when Mac Raibert, CEO of Boston Dynamics, illustrated what a robot dog can do. The opportunities and potential this robot delivered were unparalleled. The fact that the robotic dog can move on its own over rough landscapes and terrains is a great development in the robotics field.

Internet of Things

IoT is a field that has witnessed revolutionary development in the past decade. The Internet of Things has recently seen the arrival of 5G technology that now makes instantaneous communication a piece of cake. The GPSWOX employees were able to see the recent IoT applications available.

One participating company was Vodafone. In their stand, GPSWOX employees got to see how robots that are connected via 5G to one another are able to learn from each other. This held true regardless of how physically far away the robots were.

If such trends were to be continued, the future will witness inventions like sensor-equipped truck tires. Such tires can allow fleet operators to control the monitor the pressure of the tires via an app. This would help in knowing when the trucks need maintenance.

Such a theme of “Predictive Maintenance“ was prevalent in the CEBIT festival. Moreover, the possibility of a “Smart City“ in the near future was also explored. Huawei was a prominent company that explored this theme. They presented a system that can be implemented in metropolitan areas to decrease issues like environmental pollution as well as effectively manage traffic. It wasn’t the only company that exhibited the potential growth of Smart Cities. Instead, Software AG also showcased how faulty street lights and waste disposal can be easily maintained and controlled through integrated street lights and trash cans that are equipped with smart sensors.

Future Mobility

When the GPSWOX employees visited Hall 25, they discovered that the main theme of that area was smart mobility. They got to see Volkswagen launch its robot car, called "Sedric Active". There were various exhibitions of autonomous driving. However, there was also a lot more. Multiple stands focused on car sharing and quantum computing as well. For instance, Deutsche Bahn showcased its multimedia passenger service.

Drones and Unmanned Systems

GPSWOX employees also got to witness companies talk about and demonstrate unmanned systems as well. Here, the role of drones for protecting wildlife was heavily discussed. GPSWOX employees were able to talk to experts about the background of such devices. In the Intel stand, they were provided with the display of a drone taxi, known was Volocopter.

Ending Remarks

The five-day CEBIT festival was packed with insights about the digitalized future. The demonstrations of recent developments along with comprehensive discussions with experts played a role in delivering a lot of valuable information to us. We plan on attending the next CEBIT festival to keep up with the latest happenings.