Higher Education Institutions to Go on Shopping Spree

On 18th and 19th November 2009 “improve!2009 – European Trade Fair for Higher Education“ will open its doors to a very special audience: Decision-makers from all higher education areas, from administration, teaching and research are looking for new products and services that will enable them to set up more efficient and modern higher education operations. “improve!2009 will provide a highly topical and comprehensive insight into the innovative offerings in Germany as well as in the entire European Higher Education Area“, said Britta Krahn, Managing Director, UNIVERSITY PARTNERS INTERCHANGE GMBH, organisers of improve!2009, summarising the concept of the new trade fair.

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) go on a shopping spree with brimming budgets: “In Europe, 30 to 40 billion Euros are spent on new products and services annually,” estimated Dr. Christian Rietz, Managing Director, UNIVERSITY PARTNERS. The market for sought-after innovative software, hardware and IT solutions as well as for consultancies in the higher education sector is growing. This is due to the increasing autonomy of the HEIs with public contributions being reduced in the long run. This calls for a new line of thinking: “The headline for this growing market reads strategy instead of bureaucracy,” said Rietz. “Higher Education Institutions bear more responsibility for their development, they have to organise themselves. They have to make decisions that will still be cost-efficient tomorrow.” This applies to all HEI areas, from enrolment to e-learning and examination administration to alumni management and HEI marketing or fundraising. Demand for new concepts and products for teaching, research and administration especially is high. Respective innovations pay off for the universities: “To take a very simple example: Modern facility management may easily lead to a two-digit increase in efficiency,” explained Britta Krahn, Managing Director, UNIVERSITY PARTNERS.

Exhibitors have the opportunity to present their topics in a separate exhibitor forum, parallel to the conference.
The early-bird rebate for exhibitors expires January 31st, 2009.

Contact for exhibitors and visitors:
Kirsten Strauß, UNIVERSITY PARTNERS INTERCHANGE GMBH
phone: +49 228.854699.30
e-mail: info@improve2009.de
www.improve2009.de

UNIVERSITY PARTNERS INTERCHANGE brings together science and economy. We focus on events dealing with the developing subject areas relevant for the Bologna Higher Education Area. We organise seminars, conferences, symposia, and trade fairs. Our annual event cycle’s highlight is improve!2009, the first comprehensive trade fair for the entire Bologna Higher Education Area.

Press contact:
Ursula Goerdel, UNIVERSITY PARTNERS INTERCHANGE GMBH
Menuhinstraße 6
53113 Bonn

phone: +49 228.854699.15
fax: +49 228.854699.99
e-mail: goerdel@university-partners.de
press information: www.improve2009.de

This release was published on openPR.