Tech fair targets cost-conscious IT types

This week’s CeBit technology fair in Germany aims to survive the troubled economy by enticing attendees with IT offerings designed to cut energy consumption and costs, Reuters reports today.

Set to run Tuesday through Sunday in Hanover, CeBit is itself struggling, with vendor participation down by 25 percent, according to Reuters.

While overall participation is down, the population of the trade show’s green IT section has ballooned to five times the size of last year’s. The article notes that improving the efficiency of IT has taken on special urgency not only because of the global financial crisis but because of the sector’s increasingly large carbon footprint.

Among the IT firms planning to exhibit at this year’s show are STULZ, which provides energy-efficient air-conditioning technology for data centres; and NovaStor, which is unveiling new products for cost-saving data protection.