BITS featured 240 exhibiting companies from 13 countries on 4,439 square meters of display area and attracted more than 7,000 industry professionals and investors, while the BITS Global Conferences and DASH Games hosted more than 700 participants at national and international lectures. The CIO Project consisted of 13 workshops about information and communications technology and brought together 150 CIOs and exhibitors. BITS Business Matchmaking conducted 453 business meetings.
Cezar Taurion, Technology Evangelist Consultant, who has participated in BITS since the first edition and moderated the global conferences this year, highlighted the quality of the fair’s content, saying, "All the lectures had a very interesting thread because they highlighted technologies and concepts that are the lifeblood of the digital transformation. BITS, for someone like me who is always present at major events, made a difference both in terms of content and consistency of the talks."
The BITS CIO Project, which matches ICT buyers and suppliers, was a highlight in terms of knowledge sharing and networking. The program, which featured 13 lectures by experts on topics such as big data, social media, cloud computing, and management, hosted 150 participants, including 61 CIOs from large companies throughout Brazil – a significant increase over the first edition, which brought 20 buyers.
"The format of the event had a very positive development, because we had the opportunity to listen to consultants and discuss among CIOs and companies. For me, it was very interesting, especially the part related to outsourcing, because today more than 30 percent of my budget is spent on outsourcing; additionally the big data, analytics and social media workshops were very interesting," said Rafael Coelho de Souza Rolla, CIO of the Volkswagen Bank.
BITS 2014 also hosted two concurrent events: DASH GAMES, organized by the Association of Developers of Digital Games in Rio Grande do Sul (ADJOGOSRS), and the BIG Business Forum, business arm of the BIG Festival (Brazil's Independent Games Festival) held in São Paulo.
BITS - Business IT South America is organized by Hannover Fairs Sulamérica, Deutsche Messe AG’s subsidiary in Brazil, in conjunction with the Federation and Center of Industries of the State of Rio Grande do Sul – FIERGS. More information is available at www.bitsouthamerica.com.br
