PDF Days Europe took place in Cologne last week, bringing over 180 IT managers, ECM strategists, developers and PDF experts together to explore best practices for PDF usage and discuss future trends impacting the industry.
Day 1 featured an ‘education’ track, offering sessions focused in on mobile PDF, the history of PDF and a case study on the problem-solution-benefits of real world applications.
Much conversation was sparked by the new EU regulation for PDF—eIDAS, which is centered on boosting “trust and convenience in secure and seamless cross-border electronic transactions by promoting the widespread use and uptake of electronic identification and trust services.”
Dr. Bernd Wild, head of intarsys, a software consulting organization, hosted a session on the new eIDAS regulation and spoke to its implications for the PDF world. He noted that PDF documents are used to execute the vast majority of electronic signatures, and with the eIDAS regulation aiming to encourage the acceptance and understanding of electronic transactions in Europe (and because recognition of the regulation will be mandatory by 2019) the use of PDFs to execute electronic transactions will grow exponentially.
Day 2’s sessions were more focused on solutions and practical applications for PDF solutions, reports from customers’ projects, best practices for users and developers, advice on protecting documents against unauthorised use, workshops on archiving, and PDF accessibility.
Garth Thompson, Technical Sales Engineer at Nitro’s EMEA HQ, hosted his own session where he presented findings from our recently conducted research on the move from desktop to the cloud. He also provided insights into the issues modern day professionals face as they manage the mobile workforce and their adoption of cloud technologies.
The research revealed that businesses and users still rely heavily on desktop solutions; however, there is a clear increase in the prevalence of remote workers with the consumerisation of IT.
We also found that the main barrier to businesses adopting cloud solutions are concerns over security and data privacy, yet those that have adopted cloud technologies have seen the benefit and plan to increase usage.
In his presentation, Thompson surmised that potentially the best route businesses can go is to connect desktop and cloud processes so that any worries can be allayed yet the benefits of cloud technology can be enjoyed.
The solution day at the event concluded with a round table discussion on PDF in a business led by Olaf Drummer, Chairman of the PDF Association; Duff Johnston, Executive Director of the PDF Association, Bernd Wild and Carsten Heiermann of LuraTech with a number of vendors and end users, including Garth Thompson from Nitro participating. They discussed what can be done to educate people on PDF and the benefits it can bring to a business. Further debate was had on how best to articulate the value proposition of PDF in business and how the PDF Association can help. The roundtable wrapped up with the leaders of the roundtable assigned a task to deliver an actionable plan to bring PDF education and value to the forefront of businesses across Europe.
The recorded presentations from PDF Days Europe are not yet available, but click below to watch Sam Thorpe, Nitro’s Director of Product, present on the Real State of Document Productivity at PDF Day in New York last December.
https://youtu.be/IPtxiz6GF-w?list=PLfGR40SWnakjyw_0p4c-e_M7NMp7tZ5ly
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