August 20, 2003 - Pitney Bowes Inc., the company that engineers the flow of communication, has been invited to the Executive Board of PODi, a not-for-profit organization focused on developing the digital print industry through market education and development of software standards. Pitney Bowes joins industry leaders Adobe, Electronics for Imaging, HP, IBM, NexPress and Xerox on the board of PODi. PODi-the Digital Printing initiative-is focused on promoting the interoperability of commercial printing and variable data printing hardware and software technologies. Pitney Bowes, the global leader in high-volume mail technology will further the development of standard solutions across the entire digital document lifecycle from creation to distribution. "Pitney Bowes clearly has a broad interest in digital print and will influence not only the activities of PODi, but the industry in general," saidRab Govil, president of PODi. "The mail continues to be the most significant distribution channel for the digital print industry, making Pitney Bowes a key player on our Executive Board." "We are gratified that PODi has invited Pitney Bowes to the Executive Board. Just as we have helped set postal standards through leadership positions on the Mailing Industry CEO Council, Pitney Bowes is fully committed to establishing standards across variable data printing technology that enhances the power of the mail media," said Karl Schumacher, vice president of global strategy for Pitney Bowes Document Messaging Technologies. "Through our work with digital print centers operated by Pitney Bowes Management Services, we have seen the wisdom of employing standards that promote an open, interoperable, multi-format print language for variable data printing," added Schumacher. "As the cost of high-volume, full-color print decreases, the market for solutions that combine the best attributes of both commercial and high volume print will expand. Pitney Bowes is committed to define standards for software solutions and the digital workflow that meet the time-to-market and production processing requirements of virtually any type of business-to- customer communication."