Smau 2008: a series of Local Events in major italian cities are being launched   

SMAU 2008: A SERIES OF LOCAL EVENTS IN MAJOR ITALIAN CITIES ARE BEING LAUNCHED.
THE FIRST EVENT SCHEDULED IN PADUA —AT PADOVAFIERE EXHIBITION CENTER FROM MAY  7-8 —
IS ALREADY SOLD OUT
Autodesk, BlackBerry, Epson, IBM, Infor, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Telecom Italia, Vodafone and Intesa Sanpaolo are the partners of the event preceding Milan’s traditional happening

Smau is launching a series of local events in major Italian cities, a project which is met with approval from  the main ICT players.  Autodesk, BlackBerry, Epson, IBM, Infor, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Telecom Italia, Vodafone and  the financial sponsor Intesa Sanpaolo are, among others, the main partners of this initiative, whose first edition — scheduled at PadovaFiere exhibition center on May 7 to 8 — is already sold out. After Padua’s happening, similar events will be staged in Bari, Brescia and Parma.

This initiative is aimed at relaunching Smau which, after the acquisition by the French group GL events, the leading event and tradeshow management company in Europe listed on Paris’ stock exchange, with over 3,000 employees in 80 offices around the world, has become part of Promotor I.C.T.

“To GL events today Smau means ‘Innovation for business’  — declared Mr. Maurizio Cozzani, Smau Project Manager. The main goal of the local events, which will be complementing our traditional exhibition in Milan starting in 2008, is to bring together once a year the main national and international ICT vendors and local companies’ corporate decision makers from the demand side to exhibit and explain the new technologies available and how they can improve your business.”

The local events will last two days and will include an exhibition area featuring the main ICT players and a seminar program on the hottest topics in ICT such as: storage systems, virtualization, digital printing, networking, security, management systems, CRM, Document Management applications, Business Intelligence systems, CAD, PLM and e-invoicing systems. The seminars, held either by academics and market analysts or by the ICT vendors having joined the initiative, will be based on numerous local case histories and will highlight the benefits that technology adoption can bring to business.

The new project will include research studies by the Politecnico di Milano’s School of Management focusing on ICT adoption by the companies located in each of the areas covered by the local events and on how these data compare with the national statistics.

“Thanks to such an innovative format, our events represent the ideal venue for matching the local demand with the offerings from national and international ICT players, thus also contributing to making the local entrepreneurs more aware of the importance of the new technologies for competitiveness and business growth”, said Mr. Paolo Coin, Deputy Director of PadovaFiere.

The first event in Padua will precede Smau 2008, the historical exhibition in Milan now in its 45th year, which will be held from October 15 to 18. The tradeshow, open to trade visitors only and a reference point for the market of new technology and innovation, will feature a host of new contents and new initiatives for the world of business and trade.

For more info: www.smau.it

Contact persons:
Smau: Ms. Sabrina Bussolati, ph. +39 02 28313.239, email sabrina.bussolati@smau.it
Local events: Ms. Anna Micossi, ph. +39 02 28313.257, email a.micossi@smau.it