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PDF Days Europe sees record number of attendees

This year, PDF Days Europe is well-established as the world’s top PDF event. Over 150 attendees came to Berlin for the two-day conference – more than ever before.
About the author: The PDF Association staff delivers a vendor-neutral platform for PDF’s stakeholders, facilitating the development of open specifications and ISO standards for PDF technology. Staff members include: Alexandra Oettler (Editor), Betsy Fanning … Read more

Berlin, Germany. Over 150 attendees came to Berlin for the two-day conference – more than ever before. With over 50 presentations, the conference programme covered all PDF standards, giving visitors plenty of opportunity to learn about the applications and benefits of PDF, PDF/A, PDF/UA and more. The key message throughout the event was that the PDF format has become a critical component of every business, forming the fundamental basis of a wide range of business processes. This was underscored by the user presentations, the specialist talks from experts from around the world, and the podium discussions at the event.

“PDF is everywhere!” So said Duff Johnson, Executive Director of the PDF Association, summing up at the end of the PDF Days Europe 2016. Leonard Rosenthol, Principal Scientist and PDF Architect for Adobe Systems and member of the PDF Association board, also supported this statement. He estimates that there are around three trillion PDF documents in circulation worldwide. Many large businesses often produce over one billion PDF files every year.

Scott Mackey, member of the PDF Association board, showed how businesses can use PDF standards to efficiently optimise their business processes. He closed his keynote with the comment that PDF can be considered both an abbreviation for both “portable document format” and “perfect document format”. This was also reflected in the user presentations and elsewhere at the conference. Representatives from DRV Bund, for example, showed how they used PDF to successfully realise their project, “Replacement scanning based on the Resiscan technical guidelines”, as well as supply universally-accessible documents based on the ISO’s PDF/UA standard. Meanwhile, the Austrian Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection described in its own presentation how PDF/UA can be successfully implemented. Another user report handled the subject of digital invoicing based on the ZUGFeRD data model. The PDF Association was able to win AUGUST STORCK KG for this – a company that favours the format for both sending and receiving invoices. Another user presentation showed how Geberit, a global enterprise working in the sanitation sector, uses PDF for quality assurance.

The experts’ presentations were also a big hit, as they covered challenges and solutions related to cutting-edge subjects such as digital records management or the use of signatures. Technically-oriented participants were also able to attend in-depth sessions covering subjects such as business-wide PDF document management and colour management. The classical PDF user, meanwhile, was able to pick up a wide range of tips and tricks, such as convenient ways of reusing PDF content or making PDF files easier to find.

“The attendee feedback confirmed that our mix of user presentations and basic and expert talks was just right,” said Thomas Zellmann, Managing Director of the PDF Association. “Aside from the increased number of attendees, we are also particularly pleased to see the conference becoming increasingly international, allowing us to welcome guests from many different countries.”

At the end of the first day, the PDF Association invited attendees to a birthday party with a barbecue sponsored by Adobe to celebrate the international association turning ten years old. As outgoing Chairman of the PDF Association's Board of Directors, Olaf Drümmer discussed the importance of the role the PDF Association has taken over time in further developing PDF standards. Above all, the Association has the in-depth knowledge of its members to thank for this, as they bring this knowledge to bear within the PDF Association’s various Competence Centers and Technical Working Groups – and the PDF Association’s close links with a wide range of partner associations and the ISO, have also played substantial roles.

Interested parties who were unable to make it to the PDF Days Europe can view video clips of individual presentations at https://pdfa.org/first-video-recordings-of-the-pdf-days-europe-2016/.

About the PDF Association

First established as the PDF/A Competence Center in 2006, today, the PDF Association is an international organization promoting awareness and adoption of open standards in digital document applications using PDF technology.

The association facilitates education, networking and communication, and the sharing of expertise and experience with interested parties worldwide. The current membership includes over 100 enterprises and numerous individual subject-matter experts from more than 20 countries.

Editorial Contacts for North America:

PDF Association
Duff Johnson
Phone: +1.617 283 4226
duff.johnson@pdfa.org

Editorial Contacts for Europe:

Thomas Zellmann
Neue Kantstr. 14
D-14057 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 39 40 50 - 0
Fax: +49 30 39 40 50 - 99
info@pdfa.org
pdfa.org

good news! GmbH
Nicole Körber
Kolberger Str. 36
D-23617 Stockelsdorf
Phone: +49 451 881 99 - 12
Fax: +49 451 881 99 - 29
pdfa@goodnews.de
www.goodnews.de

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