In its day, it was considered a barometer of current trends and a measure of the state of the art in information technology.

CeBIT is a German language acronym for Centrum für Büroautomation, Informationstechnologie und Telekommunikation,[3] which translates as "Center for Office Automation, Information Technology and Telecommunication".

CeBIT was traditionally the computing part of the Hanover Fair, a big industry trade show held every year.

[citation needed] On 28 November 2018, Deutsche Messe AG announced that due to declining visitor and exhibitioner attendance, CeBIT would be canceled for the foreseeable future.

Noted industry figures and researchers from across the globe are invited to speak on the latest relevant trends and innovations as well as their impact on society and the working world.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California; Kevin Turner, COO, Microsoft, Craig Barrett, Chairman of the Board, Intel, Jon Iwata SVP Marketing & Communications, IBM, Reid Hoffman, Chairman and CEO, LinkedIn; Mukund Krishna, CEO Suyati Inc; Scott Durchslag, COO, Skype; Werner Vogels, Vice President & CTO, Amazon, Stewart Butterfield, Co-founder of Flickr.com, Michael T. Jones, Chief Technology Advocate, Google & Founder of Google Earth; Mark Kingdon, CEO, LindenLab.