GITEX 2003 to use Mobile Technology to assist delegates

Strategically located booths outside exhibition halls 1, 5 and 8 will allow GITEX 2003 visitors to download mobile exhibition guides using infrared and bluetooth devices and transfer a mobile exhibition guide to enable easy navigation of the show.

"This new service is being introduced during Gitex 2003 providing all exhibitors and visitors carrying a personal digital assistant (PDA) or mobile phone with a comprehensive index of exhibitors and a detailed floor plan to facilitate good networking of the exhibition," said Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) General Manager Exhibitions, Leasing and Property, Abdulla T. Qassem.

"To ensure that visitors can locate the booths easily, we have designed elegant booths that will stand out prominently because of their height and contemporary motif," Mr. Qassem added.

Gitex is a massive exhibition covering eight exhibition halls and the new Sheikh Rashid Hall and the new service is designed to simplify navigating the event for trade visitors and provides them with an efficient planning aid to meet the exhibitors they want, swiftly and effortlessly.

The mobile guide contains the names of all exhibitors plus floor plans and general show/visitor information packaged together for ease of use. Essential information about the exhibitors including names, activities, hall and stand numbers, country represented and location maps are all included in the guide and the best part is that a graphical representation of the exhibitor's stand is also provided.

The guide also includes other helpful features such as a listing of all seminars to enable better time management. Other tips included in the guide are prayer times for the duration of the exhibition and a currency converter to assist international visitors to conduct quick calculations based on latest exchange rates.

The Mobile Exhibition Guide is an excellent example of an open source application, developed using open systems and widely accepted standards that can be deployed on a wide variety of devices, without being constrained to a specific operating system of file format.

On site DWTC administrative personnel will regularly update and maintain the exhibition information. Administrators will be able to define exhibitions and exhibitors for that exhibition along with their activities and location in the halls.

The guide is available on multiple mobile and PDA platforms including PocketPC, Palm, Symbian 6.0 and 7.0. This enables the guide to be installed on a wide variety of leading mobile and PDA devices available in the market.

Exhibitors who will be able to avail the new mobile exhibition guide will include users of the following models of PDAs and mobiles: Nokia 3650, Nokia 7650, Nokia 9210, Nokia 9210i, Nokia 3510i, Sony Ericsson P800, Compaq iPaq 3630, Sony Clie PEG-N610, Toshiba e310, Siemens SL 55 and Qtek among others.