Hannover. Visitors to CeBIT 2013, which will have "Shareconomy" as its lead theme, can look forward to a comprehensive array of answers to the question of how the shared use of know-how, resources and experience is giving rise to new forms of collaboration. In the build-up to next year's showcase, a number of senior representatives from the high-tech industries have provided an early insight into their own views on this highly topical theme:

Karl-Heinz Streibich, Chairman of the Management Board of Software AG: "The world has an almost inexhaustible reservoir of knowledge and experience. The extraordinary success of social media in the personal online space shows that the sharing of information is a deep-seated human need. We are committed to using the latest information technology to duplicate and optimize the social media phenomenon in the business world. Our goal is to create highly efficient corporate networks that enable unhindered collaboration between customers, partners, suppliers and employees."

Martina Koederitz, General Manager of IBM Germany: "The keynote theme for CeBIT 2013 puts the spotlight squarely on the ongoing trend towards an increasingly networked world and the various facets of the openess this creates." The results of IBM's latest survey of 1700 CEOs worldwide provide powerful new testimony to the shareconomy phenomenon. They reveal that the ongoing decline in the level of vertical integration in industry was behind an increasing shift among corporations towards innovation and production partnerships. These partnerships also involve the sharing of knowledge and experience as well as commerical infrastructure and software. "Smart information technology helps companies harness these trends to achieve sustainable growth. It also promotes - and in some cases even enables - cooperation and transparency," Koederitz said.

Claus-Peter Unterberger, Chief Marketing Officer, Fujitsu Technology Solutions: "In an increasingly networked world, it's imperative for companies to keep their finger on the pulse of the market, no matter how big or small they are. Only those who are able to continually access, process and share key information will be able to maintain their competitive edge in the long term. Our innovative infrastructure and business solutions enable our customers to participate in and help shape the shareconomy."

Eckhard Schwarzer, Member of the Management Board of DATEV eG: "To us, shareconomy means electronically supported teamwork across multiple enterprises. Seamless digital - and ideally cloud-based - processes are the key to establishing highly efficient and effective partnerships between companies. For instance, DATEV has developed solutions that help accountants and their clients to work together more efficiently by enabling them to flexibly allocate accounting tasks and share the same accounting data. We will be demonstrating how these types of intercompany process chains work at next year's fair."

Dr. Winfried Materna, Managing Director, MATERNA GmbH: "We live in exciting times that are characterized by revolutionary changes in the way people work - changes that are also affecting IT service providers like us. People's increasingly mobile and networked lifestyles are opening up opportunities for new, Web-based ways of working together that benefit everyone involved. In the workplace of the future, team members will work on processes via mobile Web applications and post information and share their knowledge across corporate and national boundaries. Mobile terminals, role-based portals, social media and virtual systems play major roles in this context. The challenge for the IT industry is to support shareconomy-driven innovation by providing appropriate Web-based technologies and facilitating the integration of new social media tools and mobile end devices."

Martin Kinne, General Manager Germany and CEO of Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH & Co. KG: "The secure distribution of information is one of our core competencies. We feel that communications solutions ought to reflect the needs of modern society, be cost-effective and fun to use. As a provider and user of state-of-the-art Unified Communications solutions, we are very much a part of the shareconomy and live and breathe the shareconomy philosophy in all our dealings with our colleagues, customers and partners."

JP Rangaswami, Chief Scientist at salesforce.com: "Whether we're talking cars, tools or even IT - people are becoming more and more receptive to the concept of sharing. While it's hard to tell at this stage whether this trend reflects a gradual decline in the perceived value of ownership and status, there does seem to be a growing awareness of the importance of using our limited resources wisely. And it's also an established fact that sharing reduces costs. If the `Sharing Economy' is successful in conveying these ideas, then `sharing instead of buying' will have a rosy future. `Sharing' companies have networking built into their DNA. These types of enterprises have found completely new ways of communicating with their customers, partners and employees. Our motto for CeBIT 2013 is `Sharing is the future and business is connected.'"