Interquest’s Digital Printing in Government, Higher Education Forum Draws Strong Turnout
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA—Nov. 26, 2012—Interquest reported that its seventh-annual Digital Printing in Government and Higher Education Forum was highly successful. The event, which was hosted by the Government Printing Office (GPO) in Washington DC, drew nearly 120 attendees—20 percent more than the 2011 forum.
The slate of speakers from government and higher education shared innovative applications, opportunities and challenges in their work environments. In addition, Interquest presented the firm’s most recent research results for these markets and suppliers updated the audience on their companies and solution strategies.
According to Gilles Biscos, president of Interquest, “We had the perfect venue to network, educate and share information dealing with innovations in printing and publishing for government and higher education professionals. The GPO facility provided a wonderful backdrop for the conference, with the added bonus that GPO provided guided tours of its operations.
“In these challenging and exciting times, our attendees value the opportunity to learn from one another and find answers to the right balance of communication media as well as the role digital printing adds to the mix,” Biscos added.
Davita Vance-Cooks, Acting Public Printer, kicked off the forum with the keynote presentation, entitled “GPOs Transformation Toward an Official, Digital, Secure Platform.” The 151-year-old agency provides publishing and dissemination services for the official and authentic government publications to congress, federal agencies, federal depository libraries, and the American public.
GPO has faced challenges in the past few years with a shift from traditional ink-on-paper production to digital technology. But even with these significant challenges, it sees opportunity, currently engaging in strategic planning to ensure that the office has a roadmap to navigate the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves.
“Our strategic plan is customer-centric, employee driven, and it addresses the four major critical initiatives that we think we need to survive: we must strengthen our organizational structure; we must engage our workforce; we must satisfy or stake holders; and we must offer relevant products and services,” Vance-Cooks said.
She concluded by noting, “The GPO views the challenges as opportunities to redefine ourselves. GPO is doing less conventional printing, but we are increasing our database capabilities. We are building best-in-class manufacturing operations. We are increasing our security printing capabilities. We are providing multiple electronic options. We are official, we are digital, we are secure and we are moving forward.”
Following the keynote, Biscos presented key trends in the publishing, print-on-demand, transactional, graphic arts and in-plant markets. He also examined the impact of the latest vendor announcements and the synergies between paper-based and electronic communications.
A panel of government and higher educational print professionals explained how they leverage new digital printing technology to improve productivity and enhance the documents they produce. Speakers included: Greg Estep, superintendent of the press division, GPO; Walter Wingo, superintendent of the binding division, GPO; Kate Dunn, president, Digital Innovations Group; Richard Beto, director of document solutions, University of Texas at Austin; and Jeff Yake, printing officer and head of the printing management section, Library of Congress.
Following lunch, executives from leading printing systems vendor companies provided updates of their strategies and developments for the government and higher education markets. Speakers included: David J. Murphy, director of marketing, Americas Graphics Solutions Business, HP; Bruce Collier, vice president, U.S. Customer Operations (USCO), Xerox Corp.; and Robert Riendeau, enterprise account manager, EFI.
Toby Cobrin, a director at Interquest, presented key findings from recent Interquest research in the government and higher education printing markets. Among the topics discussed were variable data and personalized communications, the synergies of electronic delivery and print, and opportunities for growth and innovation.
The day ended with a panel of management-level printing professionals from in-house print/publishing operations in government and higher education discussing current and future needs from suppliers. Speakers included Jeff Yake, printing officer and head of the printing management section, Library of Congress; Sam Kasmai, associate director, Print Services, George Mason University; Wilma Grant, publishing and website manager, Supreme Court of the United States; and Kelly Hogg, director printing services, University of Virginia.
The 2012 Digital Printing in Government & Higher Education Forum was sponsored by leading players in the market, including EFI, Epson, Finch Paper, HP, Kodak, Magnum Magnetics, NPC, NewPage, PCI Graphics, Pitney Bowes, RISO, Standard Graphics, and Xerox, with additional support from the Assn. of College and University Mail Services, the Interagency Council on Printing & Publications Services, the National Assn. of College and University Mail Services, the National Government Publishing Assn., Xplor Mid Atlantic Region, and In-Plant Graphics magazine.
About Interquest
Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Charlottesville, VA, Interquest is a market and technology research and consulting firm in the field of digital printing and publishing. For more than two decades, Interquest has produced landmark multi-client market research studies on topics such as digital printing, print-on-demand, transactional printing, color printing and variable imaging, paper and pre- and post-processing/finishing, and workflow. In the past five years Interquest has published several landmark studies related to digital printing in the government and higher education market.
Source: Interquest.
