The PDF/A Competence Center is organising its fourth international PDF/A conference this year from September 29th to October 1st, 2010 in Rome. It offers technical presentations by international experts, tracks for various PDF/A topics and areas of interest as well as workshops for practical applications of PDF/A for those new to the subject as well as experienced participants. Users from corporations and public institutions will report their experiences with PDF/A. The conference includes an exhibition at which products for PDF/A conversion and archiving are presented.

The conference fee is € 890 plus VAT, with an early bird rate of € 750 plus VAT available until June 30th. Workshops can be booked separately or together with the conference. Further information and registration is available at www.pdfa.org.

Participants at the 4th International PDF/A Conference can once again expect a multifaceted programme offering insights into many different theoretical and practical aspects of PDF/A. The agenda includes three parallel tracks offering lectures to introduce the concepts of PDF/A as well as presentations of specialist expertise. This year's keynote speakers are Betsy Fanning, Director of Standards for AIIM, Giovanni Battista Colombo, Vice President of Assografici and President of Gruppo Stampa Digitale, and Stephen Levenson of the U.S. District Courts and head of the ISO PDF/A committee.

"We've invited speakers from many countries and expect conference attendees from throughout the world," said Harald Grumser, CEO of the PDF/A Competence Center. "That means that there will be particularly promising opportunities for networking at an attractive location in the heart of Rome. This historic environment is an appropriate backdrop for our international presentation of long-term archiving with PDF/A."

Pre-conference workshops offer practical insights.

The first day of the event - Wednesday, September 29th - is dedicated to workshops in which experts will present special topics covering many practical aspects of PDF/A, such as converting scanned or electronically generated documents to PDF/A, handling metadata, and electronic signatures in PDF/A. Participants will benefit from small groups with many opportunities for discussion.

Parallel tracks enable individualised information gathering.

On Thursday, September 30th, conference participants can choose between a presentation track designed for those new to PDF/A, a second track covering legal topics and compliance or a third focusing on access options and metadata. The preceding keynote lectures are by Giovanni Battista Colombo, who will give an introduction to the situation with PDF/A in Italy, and Stephen Levenson, who will speak from the perspective of a user in the US.

The next morning focuses on particular sectors. Track 1 covers the PDF/A requirements for archivists and librarians, Track B discusses the needs of public agencies and Track C explains the use of PDF/A in B2C operations such as banks, insurance companies or telecommunications service providers. Various user reports in the three tracks will provide particular clarity for the possibilities.

Friday afternoon is dedicated to the use of PDF/A in public agencies. One good example will be given by Infocamere, the IT partner of the Italian Chamber of Commerce. The presentation will demonstrate the use of PDF/A for digital transmission of company forms to the Chamber of Commerce. The Italian distributor Technosolutions srl will give a provider's view of introducing PDF/A for public authorities.

The conference will conclude with a panel discussion moderated by Johannes Hesel and Olaf Druemmer, both management board members of the PDF/A Competence Center.

An exhibition will take place throughout the conference in which members of the PDF/A Competence Center will present their current products and solutions.