L to R: Walter Hirche, deputy prime minister of Lower Saxony; California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; Deborah Conrad, vice president and general manager of Intel's corporate marketing group. Click to enlarge. Photo: Court Mast for CeBIT.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The folks behind CeBit, the biggest technology trade show in the world, typically dedicate sections of the event for specific countries. Today, in the heart of Silicon Valley at Intel headquarters, California became the first state to join the event that takes place every March.

It's a coup for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who hopes to raise the state's profile overseas at a time of economic uncertainty. "It's a terrific opportunity," he said, noting California is virtually a nation/state with the eighth largest economy in the world.

Analyst Rob Enderle, of the Enderle Group, said it's appropriate that California, "the technology center of the country" appear at CeBit. "The state needs to raise its profile and compete in the global market above the cloud of uncertainty that's hovering over the U.S. economy."

During a Q&A session following his brief remarks, Schwarzenegger criticized members of Congress for its handling of the $700 billion, so-called Wall Street bailout package. He said he has urged the state's Congressional members to pass the bill because it's designed to help mainstream Americans.

"The way it was marketed was wrong. No one in America is interested in helping Wall Street guys who are making millions," said Schwarzenegger. "Whatever it is, you have to sell it. They should have taken Marketing 101."

Without the legislation, he said businesses big and small, and states like California won't be able to get the loans they need to keep going. California itself has some $6 billion in needed loans at stake, he said.

The big opportunities

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While the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is a huge event, Enderle wonders if this latest U.S. addition to CeBit signifies a change in the power structure. "It's pretty clear Europe and Asia are where the big opportunities are," he told InternetNews.com.

Dr. August-Wilhelm Scheer, president, BITKOM a German IT, new media and telecommunications trade association representing more than 1,200 companies, said it was important to get California's participation.

"We don't want just the traditional tech companies, but the newer ones like Facebook," Scheer told InternetNews.com. "For me, as an entrepreneur, it's very important to get the innovative startups so we can learn from each other. The startups can benefit from collaboration with larger companies for sales channels, funding and other resources."

Speakers at the event also noted the growing interest in Green IT issues that have become a focus for many California-based tech firms, some of whom they hope to be at the event.

The CeBit conference will run from March 3 to 8, 2009 in Hanover, Germany. Scheer said CEOs from several California tech companies are expected to give keynote speeches during the event, which draws over 500,000 attendees.