“Home of IT Security” even bigger and more international: it-sa in Nuremberg reaches new highs

• New records: 750 exhibitors in four halls
  
• Visitor numbers up with strong international growth
  
• Four international pavilions
  
• Congress and forum programme on current topics bigger than ever
  
• IDEE wins CyberEconomy Match-up UP19@it-sa

Over a three-day period, 753¹ exhibitors (698 in 2018) from 25 countries and 15,632 international trade visitors (14,290 in 2018) turned Exhibition Nuremberg into the main gathering place for the global IT security community. In around 350 forum presentations and 30 sessions at the accompanying congress, the world’s largest IT security fair offered decision-makers and experts information on all aspects of information security and data protection. “The it-sa trade fair is like a home from home for all IT security professionals. The clear growth in exhibitor and visitor numbers and renewed increase in display area underpin the relevance of it-sa as the leading international platform for cyber security,” explains Petra Wolf from the management team at event organiser NürnbergMesse.

The number of trade visitors continued to rise parallel to an increase in exhibitors. “At 20 percent, the increase in trade visitors from abroad was even higher than the growth from within Germany. This reflects the continuation of a clear trend from the previous years: it-sa is also becoming increasingly international. Alongside the German-speaking regions it provides comprehensive coverage of a large number of other European countries,” explains it-sa director Frank Venjakob.

Four international pavilions

In terms of exhibitors, it-sa 2019 also had a strong international flavour. There were separate national pavilions for companies from the Basque Country, the Netherlands, Austria and the Czech Republic. The importance of it-sa for cross-border collaboration on cyber security was also underlined, for example, by the “German-Dutch IT Security Breakfast” hosted by the German IT security association TeleTrusT and attended by Paul Ymkers, Consul General for the Netherlands, and by the presence of business delegations from Austria and the Czech Republic.

Forum programme with special keynote address by bestselling author Misha Glenny

Five open forums, including the English-language International Forum, offered interesting insights into IT security in around 350 presentations. The main attraction was the special keynote by British investigative journalist and McMafia author Misha Glenny on the last day of the fair. He took the audience with him on a journey through the world of organised crime, the Dark Net and various forms of cyber-crime. He argued that nowadays, increasing interconnectivity and the use of machine learning to make automated decisions in the field of cyber security represent a new challenge. People could often no longer grasp the scope of the algorithms used, so there was a risk of loss of control.

Congress@it-sa offers 30 sessions under one roof

The accompanying congress programme Congress@it-sa with a total of 30 sessions also reinforced the importance of it-sa as a dialogue platform for cyber security. The congress offered precisely targeted professional expertise on topics such as IT security for SMEs or in industrial production as well as information on the use of artificial intelligence. Also back at it-sa in Nuremberg this year were the IT baseline protection meeting of the BSI (German Federal Office for Information Security) and the annual convention of IT security managers from regional and local authorities.

Start-up IDEE wins UP19@it-sa Award

Munich firm IDEE had the most successful pitch of all the start-ups at the CyberEconomy Match-up UP19@it-sa. Following a brief pitch and networking session with investors and representatives of the IT security sector, the company was presented with the UP@it-sa Award.

The next it-sa will take place from 6 to 8 October 2020 in the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg.

Safety and security trade fairs at NürnbergMesse

NürnbergMesse has established and proven expertise in the safety and security field. With events such as Enforce Tac – Trade Fair for Law Enforcement, it-sa, and it-sa India – Trade Fairs for IT Security, FeuerTRUTZ – Trade Fair for Preventive Fire Protection as well as Perimeter Protection – Trade Fair for Perimeter Protection, FIRE & SECURITY INDIA EXPO and also U.T.SEC – Summit for Drones, Unmanned Technologies & Security, it brings together a total of around 1,600 exhibitors and some 41,000 visitors from all over the world.

¹The figures for visitors, exhibitors and display area at this exhibition are determined and certified according to the standard definitions of FKM, the Society for Voluntary Control of Fair and Exhibition Statistics.