More than 130 professionals attend eighth annual event in Washington, D.C

Charlottesville, VA - INTERQUEST, a leading market and technology research and consulting firm in digital printing and publishing, today announced a ten percent increase in attendance at its annual 2014 Digital Printing in Government & Higher Education Forum. The Forum was held at the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, April 24th, 2014.

According to Gilles Biscos, President of INTERQUEST, "We had a large turnout of engaged and enthusiastic attendees. The GPO is a great venue for the event, and attendees tell us the quality of the speakers and the networking opportunities were outstanding. We certainly hope to continue building on this success in the future."

Following a complementary tour of the GPO facilities, Andrew Sherman, Chief of Staff at GPO opened the forum by welcoming the attendees to GPO. Sherman shared changes that are taking place at GPO: "So much of the work that we are involved in now has a digital aspect to it that [Public Printer] Davita Vance-Cooks has proposed that the GPO's name should be changed from Government Printing Office to Government Publishing Office." He continued, "Our printing remains a very important part of GPO's mission. The fact is that we do more than just printing now. The digital aspect needs to be recognized and our name needs to be more expansive than just printing." He then detailed GPO's recent initiatives in printing and digital communications that fulfills their motto, Keeping America Informed.

The morning keynote session focused on digital printing and multi-channel communications. Speakers included: Matt Landgraf, Lead Program Planner, Programs, Strategy, and Technology, U.S. Government Printing Office; Narendra Nandoe, Chief, Meetings Support Section, Meetings and Publishing Division, United Nations; and Jimmy Vainstein, Printing Facility Manager, Printing and Multimedia Services, The World Bank. All three speakers shared their transitions from print-centric to content-centric workflows where documents can be delivered in multiple print and digital formats. Gilles Biscos, president of INTERQUEST, provided a session introduction and presented key market trends in the use of digital printing and multi-channel communications based on recent INTERQUEST research.

A panel of professionals then discussed how their organizations are leveraging digital printing. Panelists included: Mike Gatti, Print Services Manager, Fairfax County Government; Narendra Nandoe, Chief, Meetings Support Section, Meetings and Publishing Division, United Nations; Jimmy Vainstein, Printing Facility Manager, Printing and Multimedia Services, The World Bank; and Kelly Hogg, Director Printing Services, University of Virginia. Solutions discussed included web-to-print, the migration from offset to digital printing, the use of high-speed inkjet, and wide format printing.

Following lunch a panel of executives from leading digital printing vendor organizations provided updates on their companies and their strategies for the government and higher education markets. Panelists included: Robert Okon, Technical Marketing Analyst, Canon U.S.A Inc.; Bob Riendeau, Enterprise Account Manager, Electronics for Imaging, Inc. (EFI); and Joe Rouhana, General Manager, Production Workflow & Solutions Business Group, Xerox Corporation. EFI and Xerox focused on workflow solutions, while Canon gave an example of university innovation using print solutions.

Toby Cobrin, a Director at INTERQUEST, then presented highlights of recent INTERQUEST surveys of government and higher education organizations concerning their use of digital printing and multi-channel communications. The closing session of the event featured a panel of executives from government and higher education organizations: Paul Lee, Director, Document Services, Anne Arundel Community College; Michael Munshaw, Head of Printing, Library of Congress; Naran Sheladia, Supervisor Print Operations, Navy Federal Credit Union; and Roy Conaway, Manager Printing Services, Norfolk State University. Topics covered in the panel discussion included digital color printing, electronic delivery, supplier needs, opportunities, and challenges.

The seminar is sponsored by leading industry players, including BR Printers, Canon, EFI, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, NPC, Ricoh, Standard Graphics, Walker Supply Company, and Xerox, with additional support from the Association of College and University Mail Services (ACUMS), the National Association of College and University Mail Services (NACUMS), and In-Plant Graphics.

The event is targeted at government and higher education users, including publishing and graphic services, in-plants and CRDs, print and mail services, IT/data center operations, purchasing and procurement departments, and communications professionals, as well as service providers. For more information or to register for the event, see: 
www.inter-quest.com/focused-forums/2014Government