The reports from CeBIT, which has now reached the half-way mark, are encouraging.

"Penkiu kontinentu bankines technologijos" in the exhibition. Live stream from CeBIT >>> "Penki kontinentai" in the exbition >>> The reports from CeBIT, which has now reached the half-way mark, are encouraging. The mood pervading the event is good, the expressions on the faces of exhibitors and visitors alike demonstrate satisfaction and everyone is excited about the new product innovations on show. Noticeably more than 200,000 visitors came to view the array of cutting-edge computer and telecommunications technology during the first three days of the event. It has already become clearly apparent that the aim of the CeBIT organizers to focus on SMEs and the trade as the main target group has paid off. Small and medium-sized businesses and the trade are clearly more interested than ever in attending the world's biggest trade show for information and telecommunications technology. Two thirds of all visitors come from companies with less than 500 employees. The organizers' concerted efforts to attract the trade has also proven a success. For example, the presentation Planet Reseller, which was established solely with this target group in mind, registered a ten percent increase in the number of visitors on the first three days of the event. A significant increase in the number of visitors from top management was also registered. Approx. a quarter of all the professional visitors attending so far are CEOs, senior managers or heads of departments. Last year, only 16.1 percent of the visitors were from upper management. The response to CeBIT from outside Germany has also been very positive - the proportion of foreign visitors has increased from 28 to more than 33 percent. It is particularly encouraging to see that the number of visitors from Asia has risen yet again. More than 16,000 attended the opening day of the Fair - an increase of over thirty-five percent compared with last year. The keen interest in CeBIT from outside Germany - especially on Asian markets - reflects the changing exhibitor participation and structure of CeBIT 2005. Approx. 3,300 of the exhibiting companies are based outside Germany. This is the best result ever in the history of CeBIT. An impressive total of 6,300 companies from 69 countries are exhibiting this year. The exhibitors confirm the positive business trend. In its interim report on the event, the Berlin-based German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM) states that the event got off to a good start and 'has set a clear signal to providers and users of new technology that things are moving forward". At the half-way mark, according to the BITKOM report, the exhibitors could already confirm good business - at least as good, if not better, than last year. According to the exhibitors the emphasis on new keynote themes has also had a positive effect on CeBIT. Telecommunications and Digital Lifestyle seem to be the key hits among visitors this year. The keynote theme that has caught everyone's attention is the increasing trend towards networking digital ewquipment in the home and office. Data security remains another important focus of interest. A new feature at CeBIT - and already one of the 'top five'most popular displays - is the presentation IT Outsourcing Services. A great deal of interest has also been shown in the two new presentations DMS Forum and the Business Intelligence & Knowledge Management Forum. Major product highlights at CeBIT 2005 include the fastest super computer in the world, the first cell phone with an integrated seven mega pixel camera, the world's biggest plasma screen with a 102'screen as well as a new memory component which, due to nanotechnology, affords a capacity of more than one TeraBit per square inch. Also making their first appearance at CeBIT: the new generation notebooks which boast faster memory access, enhanced performance and minimized energy consumption. Significantly, the new notebooks also support mainstream Digital Lifestyle applications such as playing music and high-resolution films. New services and hardware have made VoIP (Voice over IP) more attractive to companies and the private consumer. The restyled Internet services provided by CeBIT have proved a huge success. The number of visitors to www.cebit.de reached five million in February 2005 - an increase of twenty-five percent compared with the same period in the previous year. On the first day of CeBIT alone a total of 1.58 million website hits were counted - which represents an increase of sixteen percent compared with the opening day of CeBIT 2004. Meanwhile, the response to the CeBIT Channel, which offers the press conferences and informative events at CeBIT as a live video or for downloading 'on demand", has been enormous. For example, the panel discussion on software patents organized by the Hannover-based publishers Heise Zeitschriftenverlag attracted far more than 10,000 live video viewers and in the forty-eight hours after the event it was called up 'on demand'an amazing 122,500 times. In view of the highly successful first three days of CeBIT, the exhibitors are optimistic about the second half of this year's event. We kindly invite You to visit the 19th “CeBIT” exhibition and to come to the Hall 17, which is the Know-how Centre for Banking & Finance. Company “Penkiu kontinentu bankines technologijos” (BS/2) presents new solutions, services and products. BS/2 stands number is E44 .