The eighteenth INVEX fair continued to gain in professionalism and addressed a precisely defined group of visitors. What it lost in massiveness it gained in the quality of accompanying conferences and thematic projects. The new model of dividing visitors into 2 + 2 days gave INVEX exhibitors two days for holding business meetings and professional get-togethers. Tens of thousands of people interested in consumer electronics and fans of digital entertainment and photography could choose any of the four days to visit.

The first two days were for professionals from the ICT field and state and local government employees; several key accompanying events were held during this time. The E-vision conference on information technology in public administration documented the shift towards e-government in both legislation and in practice. Also positively received was the two-day ERP Forum conference, which focused on company information systems. Increased interest on the part of experts was reflected in the number of registered attendees. More than 15,000 visitors registered online prior to start of the trade fair.

The most popular accompanying events included the INVEX HI-TECH SUMMIT 2008, a conference on promoting the high-tech industry; a debate on the most important issues for the ICT industry during the Czech EU presidency; and Svet IT Security – SECURITY INVEX 2008, a conference on security risks. Also on the program was FRANCHISE Meeting Point, an overview of franchising opportunities featuring a four-day accompanying program and presentations of some forty franchising concepts. And for the fourth time, Invex included the Reseller Meeting Point, a contracting get-together for manufacturers, retailers and distributors from the field of IT and consumer electronics. Other traditional events included the Antivirus Conference and an ICT forum for Czech and Slovak schools.

The DIGITEX project and the new INTERKAMERA exhibit attracted a broad range of interest. The rich accompanying program focused on digital television, combining technology and design in modern home interiors, and the issue of digital maps. The GPS show was highly popular, as were digital games and entertainment, culminating in a WGT tournament. The premiere year of INTERKAMERA focused on presenting practical examples of photographic techniques, image processing and education for professionals and the lay public alike.

As in past years, this year’s exhibitions offered a broad range of new technologies, the best of which competed for the Crystal Disk, awarded by a jury to six exhibition items (Intel Atom, the smallest processor ever; the NovaVoice® automatic speech recognition software; the first industrial 10GE wireless equipment, TereScope® TS-10 GE; the Packet Tracer 5.0 comprehensive solution for educational support in the field of network technologies; the MPro110 comfortable microprojector; and the Canon EOS 5D Mark II single lens reflex camera with full format sensor). The exhibits were attended by many VIPs, including the First Lady of the Czech Republic Livia Klausova, ministers Ivan Langer and Jiri Pospisil, photographers Jan Saudek and Sara Saudkova, moderator Leos Mares and of course leading figures from the world of ICT such as Jan Muhlfeit (Microsoft), Roland Mahler (T-Mobile), Jiri Polak (SPIS) and Pavel Dvorak (CTU). During the event’s four days, the press center registered 658 representatives from the print and electronic media, radio and television. There were journalists from five countries: the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Russia, Slovakia, and Great Britain.

The first ever JOB FAIR was the largest international job fair in the Czech Republic. Pavilion A1 welcomed companies from 13 European countries (the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Austria, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Great Britain), including many domestic and foreign companies which offered specific job opportunities. Also attending were HR agencies, recruitment companies, and institutions and associations from the field of human resources and job opportunities.

The exhibitions’ shift towards increased professionalism was confirmed by a visitor survey. Four fifths of respondents had attended the fair previously and 72 % were planning to attend next year. According to 60 % of respondents, the main reason for attending was to gain information on news and trends. One in four visitors to this year’s and last year’s fair noticed the increased professionalism of the fair, and 53 % said that these changes were positive.