Since 1986 CeBIT is an independent event that brings together developers in the field of information technologies from around the world. Every year the exhibition is attended by several thousand different organizations. This year China, which has become an official partner of CeBIT 2015, exhibited more than 600 of its leading companies.
Information security was the main topic of the exhibition this year: the vast majority of the presented developments were related to protection of private, corporate and government data. At CeBIT, Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, and Edward Snowden, the former CIA and National Security Agency employee, spoke on the need of the individual's right to privacy protection and prohibition of the use of technology in order to spy.
The relevance of information security in Russia is understood as well. ITMO University which became a part of the Russian delegation at the exhibition, presented an innovative product to the international community; a quantum system for secure data transmission through fiber optic networks. The system implies the data transfer not in the form of encrypted logical algorithm, but in the form of a single-photon: signal in this form cannot be read.
Together with the German-Russian Center for Technology Transfer, at the exhibition there was a seminar followed by discussion on possible ways of moving this technology to the European market. Almost immediately after the seminar the offers of cooperation from German companies who are engaged in the promotion of new products began to appear.
Among the others, Bill Hutchison, the entrepreneur and consultant in the field of international management, was interested in the ITMO University's development. Negotiations with the entrepreneur, who is now recognized as an expert on transformation of cities into the intellectual communities, were held by Vladimir Chistyakov, the employee of the Quantum Communication small innovative enterprise at the University, the engineer of the Department of Photonics and Optical Information Technology and Sergey Khmelevskii, the manager of the Department of Project and Innovation activity, the head of the Neotech company. Bill Hutchinson expressed his desire to continue the cooperation with ITMO University on the Quantum communication project for the possible integration of the technology into his projects to create smart cities.
During the exhibition there was a round table on technology brokerage in the field of Global Automotive Mobility Innovation organized by ITMO University which was attended by the British auditing and consulting firm Ernst & Young. Jean-Francois, the head of the field, presented the Quantum communication project to the employees of German Daimler carmaker and other companies to develop new approaches in the field of automotive industry.
"A small innovative Quantum communication enterprise currently has a product which can be implemented in different market segments. Certainly, the domestic market is more open to Russian developments: the demand for secure communications corresponds to the current trend of import substitution in Russia. To sale abroad one need to open a foreign representative office, certify the product according to the region standards. This will require additional investment and time, so this trend can be called rather promising than really feasible", Sergey Khmelevskii summarizes.