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Standards make the world work

Founded in 2006 the PDF Association promotes the adoption and
implementation of International Standards for PDF-based technology.

Ever since Adobe transferred the PDF technology for ISO standardization
PDF is further developed in a completely open specification rather
than as a proprietary implementation.

The PDF Association is a global industry initiative for developers of PDF solutions;
companies that work with PDF in document management systems (DMS) and
electronic content management (ECM), interested individuals, and
users who want to implement PDF technology in their organizations.

Mission Statement:

To promote Open Standards-based electronic document
implementations using PDF technology through education,
expertise and shared experience for stakeholders worldwide.

The PDF Association engages in many activities as it
follows its mission of promoting the adoption of
ISO standardized PDF technology around the world.

PDF Association provide information and resources to
government agencies and regulators to help them develop
reference materials, guidelines, regulations and laws.

PDF Association helping government understand PDF

Events

Portable Document Format (PDF)
The world’s chosen electronic document format,
celebrates it’s 25th birthday on June 15, 2018.

PDF is the globally-accepted means
of sharing final-form documents.
The world would simply not know what to do without it.

First advertising video for Acrobat and PDF.

25 years ago this first video spot for Acrobat and PDF was produced.

It's worth viewing this historical document (5'57"). Enjoy…

PDF: the de facto document technology

The Portable Document Format (commonly known as “PDF”)
is a file format developed in the early 1990s as a way to share
computer documents, including text formatting and inline images.
PDF technology was designed to allow for presentation of documents
independent of the application software, operating system and
hardware used to create them.

Today, PDF is the quintessential and ubiquitous "electronic document",
with trillions made each year.

PDF: the de facto document technology

ISO Standards based on PDF Technology

Figure: PDF - ISO 32000 itself is a Standard

PDF Substandards for particular use

Figure: PDF Substandards for particular use
PDF/A, PDF/X, PDF/UA, PDF/E, PDF/VT,...

Blog: A tour of PDF Standards

Can a PDF easily comply to PDF/A, PDF/X and PDF/UA?

PDF standards are not mutually exclusive

A PDF document can simultaneously meet several standards,
for example both PDF/UA and PDF/A, both PDF/A and PDF/X.

callas pdfaPilot and pdfToolbox makes it happen

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PDF Association Flyers
Introduction and Overview of PDF-based ISO Standards
PDF Association - PDF/A - PDF/UA - NVDA Goes PDF/UA - PDF/VT

Recommended webinars

What is it,
Who owns it,
Why it matters

A story from PDF’s early days

(PDF/A-1, PDF/A-2, PDF/A-3)

PDF/A validation
with support of the PDF industry.
(Note! The term "definitive PDF/A validator"
is not used any longer by this project
for obvious reasons)

Real world adoption of veraPDF and
industry needs for more PDF standards

The accessibility experience:

Portable Document Format (PDF)
is a core electronic document technology in diversity

PDF, designed as a general-purpose,
page-based electronic document technology,
is the world’s chosen electronic document format,
with applications far beyond conveying rendered pages.

PDF spans today workflows in publishing, manufacturing,
financial services, government, accounting, litigation,
human-resources, logistics and many others,
on every continent.




PDF just works!

The format’s innate ability to glide through and between multiple
workflows, a function of its essential ‘self-contained-ness’,
is unique and critical to its success.

That’s because PDF embodies fundamental ideas about what’s
important in communications, ideas that led to the invention of
writing, then paper, then PDF.

These ideas are so basic that we don’t really have good words for them.
Users think about the document’s contents, not the document itself.
Ask them about PDF and they’ll say;
“it’s easy”, “it looks the same”, “it’s reliable”, and so on.

PDF just works and is suited to a wide range of purposes,
as reflected in broad choice of software that creates and uses PDF files.
The range is eclectic;
not just software for server, nor desktop,
nor accessibility or print, or security,
but some, all, and none of the above.

PDF is a cross-section of means for addressing diverse business
processes and workflows; for using electronic documents to solve
problems, reduce costs, invent new solutions and enable other
opportunities in every activity and industry sector.

The one commonality; they do it with PDF.

Initiatives for extensions of PDF Standards

Humans have put their thoughts to media with the idea of
capturing these (documents) in time - for many millennia.
Readers’ expectations have changed constantly
and continually through the ages.

Document Expectations Through the Ages

PDF Association developing industry-based model
for addressing the “any screen” challenge.

When it comes to print,
PDF is today the standard format used just about everywhere.

When it comes to the web,
HTML and CSS have obtained a similar position.
However, in our changing world,
print and web flow together in all kinds of interesting ways.

Having a format capable of catering to both worlds,
with the strengths of both worlds, would be very exciting!

The PDF Association has been working on exactly
such a technology project to develop extensions to PDF.

Technology that would marry the reliability and robustness of PDF
with the fluidity and elegance of HTML; providing the best possible
user experience for each type of device and use case.

"Next-Generation PDF" is the code-name for extensions to
PDF technology currently under development.
These PDF extensions marry PDF’s core capabilities
to the flexibility of web technologies.

PDF Association unveiled this radical development in
PDF technology at PDF Days Europe 2017.

Recorded sessions of PDF Days Europe 2017

Pressrelease (Swedish): Project "Next-Generation PDF"

The original PDF/A Competence Center was founded 2006 with
the goal of establishing a common interpretation of ISO 19005.

In 2011 the PDF/A Competence Center transfered to become
the PDF Association overseeing all standards based on PDF technology,
each with a dedicated Competence Center:

• PDF Competence Center

• PDF/A Competence Center

• PDF/UA Competence Center

• PDF/E Competence Center

• PDF/VT Competence Center




Later on these Competence Centers have evolved into
separate working groups organized around:

• technical functions (Technical Working Groups/TWGs),
• marketing functions (Marketing Working Groups/MWGs) and
• liaison functions (Liaison Working Groups/LWGs).



They have grown to include a variety of objectives, including:

• Promoting exchange between developers focusing
  in various subdomains


• Oversight and policies for industry-accepted validation software;
  such as veraPDF


• Research and development of new PDF extensions and use cases


• Development of industry standards, best practices,
  test suites and other aides to interoperability


• Developing informational resources for PDF developers and users

ISO 3200 the International Standard for
the Portable Document Format (PDF).
PDF is widely recognized as
the richest and most robust document format.

The purpose of PDF is to enable users to exchange and view
all kinds of electronic documents easily and reliably,
independent of the environment in which they were created
or the environment in which they are viewed or printed.

Platform technologies provide the infrastructure
for the applications end users actually use.

Far beyond a document format, PDF offers a sophisticated
foundation for many types of user applications.

Everyone accepts PDF.
A fixed-layout, shareable, self-contained document
meets a fundamental customer need.

PDF is a Platform

• What is a "document"?


• Digital documents


• Documents are for keeping


• Documents of the future

Google’s Trends data shows clearly that the number of searches for
PDF documents relative to all other searches continues going up:

PDF - The Only Digital Document Format

• Easy


• Portability


• Flexibility


• Security


• Authentication


• Semantics


• Non-Proprietary

Why PDF?

The Portable Document Format possesses a variety of attributes
that taken together describe a format of such flexibility and power
that it will define the essential “electronic document” concept forever.

What’s unique about PDF?

The big picture.
Although the curve is flattening,
worldwide searches for “pdf” continue to grow in popularity,
indicating that the popular appetite for documents remains healthy.

Users may be banking online, but their searches for
PDF-based documents continue to increase.

When users add “pdf” to a query
it means that they are thinking about something
that’s enabling them in some way that a web page isn’t.

More than just a fancy way to paint a picture.

3 smart PDF features for software developers of
web-connected document applications:

1. Linearized PDF


2. PDF Annotations


3. Tagged PDF

3 ways developers can impress the boss with PDF

PDF is part of the de facto platform
Open Web Platform (OWP)

The Power of the Page

It’s a question that vexes vendors of web-based solutions everywhere:
Why do people still insist on PDF files?
And why does PDF’s mindshare keep going up?

The Power of the Page

Far beyond only print,
PDF forms offer vital electronic forms functionality.

PDF forms vs HTML forms.
The PDF file format includes many valuable features
that HTML forms cannot match.

The case for PDF forms

Bridging the page and the web, there's still nothing like PDF.

Interest in PDF continues to climb.
The world’s portable document format continues to go from
strength to strength, with more specifications, more files, more users,
more implementations and more developers worldwide.

PDF in 2016: Broader, deeper, richer

PDF 2.0 (ISO 32000-2)
PDF specification now updated to version 2.0 (July, 2017)

PDF 2.0 is feature-complete and helps developers worldwide find new
applications for the Portable Document Format in many different areas:

PDF 2.0 (ISO 32000-2)




PDF 2.0 examples now available (Aug., 2017)

The first PDF 2.0 example files are now made available to the public.
This initial set of PDF 2.0 examples were crafted by hand and
intentionally made simple in construction to serve as
teaching tools for learning PDF file structure and syntax.

PDF 2.0 examples




PDF 2.0: The worldwide standard for electronic documents
has evolved (Aug. 30, 2017)

The Portable Document Format is perhaps
the most common example of a de facto standard, so much
so that Wikipedia features PDF on its “de facto standards” page.
From Ethernet and 802.11 to HTTP and CSS,
the modern computing stack consists of hundreds of standards.

The way in which PDF exemplifies the specific value of
standards is almost unique, for PDF’s value proposition
- the reason why PDF is today’s worldwide
de facto standard for electronic documents -
is the fact of standardization itself.

PDF 2.0: The worldwide standard for
electronic documents has evolved




PDF 2.0 - What will it bring? (2015)

To put it simply:
PDF 2.0 makes it easier for developers to
create tools to manage electronic documents
with more and better features at a reduced cost.
For organizations that procure PDF technology PDF 2.0
makes it easier to insist that vendors are delivering
the highest-quality, most accessible and most
capable PDF technology solutions available.

PDF 2.0 - What will it bring?

Webinar: What's coming in PDF 2.0 (2015)

Blog: How does PDF 2.0 affect the printing industry? (Jan., 2019)

Solutions to access to PDF documents on
smart phones and mobil devices with smaller screens.

PDF in the Mobile World

PDF or EPUB
Give users what they want,
and why EPUB can't replace PDF

EPUB can't possibly substitute PDF when it comes to a general-purpose
electronic document format usable for publishing, and all the other
purposes to which PDF documents are put
(formal documents, record-keeping, transaction records, etc.)

• EPUB can’t do fixed layout and be accessible at the same time.


• EPUB cannot deal with the case of a document
  that combines pages from various sources
  (Word, Excel, CAD software, scanner, etc).


• EPUB has no model for color-management,
  which is not infrequently important to publishers.


• EPUB cannot accommodate the application of accessibility
  structures to arbitrary graphics content,
  as PDF can.


• EPUB lacks security and digital signature facilities;
  features that are native to PDF.



Even for publications, support for the EPUB specification varies
between EPUB readers from different vendors;
thus, users can’t get a consistent display result of publications,
which in itself is totally unacceptable for publishing.

PDF or EPUB

PDF/raster

TWAIN Working Group and PDF Association Announce PDF/raster
The Next-Generation Format for Imaging

PDF/raster - Portable and Feature-rich

PDF/raster provides the portability of PDF
while offering the core functionality of TIFF.

PDF/raster




PDF/raster 1.0 Documentation

This document describes PDF/raster,
a strict subset of the PDF file format designed
for storing, transporting and exchanging
multi-page raster-image documents.

Download PDF/raster 1.0 Documentation

ISO 19005 (PDF/A)
for long-term preservation/archiving of PDF documents.
Ensures that digital documents can be reproduced in the future.

The purpose of PDF/A is a file format based on PDF
that provides a mechanism for representing electronic documents
in a manner that preserves their visual appearance over time,
independent of the tools and systems used for creating,
storing or rendering the files.

PDF/A-1

No attachments allowed.



Example: Conversion of email to PDF/A-1:
Attachments become additional PDF/A pages.
Conformance levels:
a - accessible, b - basic.




PDF/A-2

Attachments as PDF/A allowed.



Example: Conversion of email to PDF/A-2:
Attachments are converted to PDF/A and embedded in document.
Conformance levels:
a - accessible, b - basic, u - unicode.




PDF/A-3

Attachments in arbitrary formats - PDF/A and others - are allowed.



Example: Conversion of email with attachments to PDF/A-3:
Attachments as PDF/A and (in addition) embedded in original format.
Conformance levels:
a - accessible, b - basic, u - unicode.

Blog: System-independent archiving of project files with PDF/A-3




PDF/A-4 - The Upcoming Standard

Will be PDF/A for PDF 2.0.
Will be simpler, with no conformance levels.

Binding rules apply for all Swedish government agencies and bodies
keeping public documents from state archives.

For Swedish government authorities apply to electronic archiving of
office documents and digital documents the authorities must follow:

Riksarkivet's/National Archives' regulations and rules:

- RA-FS 2009:1 general guidelines for electronic documents
- RA-FS 2009:2 technical requirements for electronic documents.

As of now, 2016, for long-term archiving of office documents and
electronic documents these regulations and guidelines prescribe
the use of the file format: PDF/A-1.

Ask your ECM/e-archive vendor to detail their support for PDF,
or risk unecessary costs, increased risks and missed opportunities.

Although PDF represents the bulk of content in ECM/e-archive systems
the majority of such implementations do not handle PDF documents
much differently than they way they’ve handled TIFF images
for the past 25 years.

Not all PDF creation software is equal.
Exclude software that’s dangerous to your documents.
Use ECM/e-archive software that understands PDF.

Ensure PDF documents do not contain Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
and other privacy or security-related content is a critical aspect of releasing
sensitive documents to 3rd parties or into the public domain.

Note! For redaction tools:
Be sure your search software can find all the information you need to remove.
Just putting a black box on top of sensitive information does not "remove"
anything (e.g. the document is still leaking sensitive information).

What ECM/e-archive professionals must know about PDF

A common portable container, PDF, to end the era of ECM vendor lock-in.

Mostly, it’s the fact that a standardized, fully-supported and globally
broadly-accepted portable container format would provide users
with powerful technology independent of any specific vendor,
ending the era of vendor lock-in.
ECM Vendors don’t like that, but customers do.

Over the next 5-10 years,
expect to see PDF become the common portable container for
a new era of smart, interconnected document and
information management systems.

PDF to end the era of ECM vendor lock-in

How you create files that comply with both PDF/A and PDF/X.

PDF/A and PDF/X at the same time

By capturing the visual representation (in PDF/A!)

at the time that the transaction is processed it is
guaranteed that the data used in creating the document
is current and valid and the visual representation of the transaction
matches the expectations of all the parties involved in the transaction.

ISO 14289 (PDF/UA) for universally accessible PDF.
PDF/UA is of interest to organizations concerned
with conformance to regulations requiring
accessible electronic content.

The purpose of PDF/UA is to define a complete set of requirements
for universally accessible PDF documents.

Rather than applying to the PDF file format alone,
these clear specifications also define compliant
assistive technology and PDF reading software.

PDF/UA defines the technical requirements that must be
considered when the PDF document is created
to be universally accessible for all.
The standard specifies how relevant PDF content
(such as semantic content, text content, images,
form fields, comments, bookmarks, and metadata)
may be used in PDF/UA-compliant documents.

Properly tagged PDFs are essential and a prerequisite
for accessibility so that screen reader devices for
visually impaired people or reading software for
users with learning disabilities can provide
rich access to a PDF’s content.

PDF tags are also an effective method to improve
Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Even automated text extraction from PDF documents
is easier with well-tagged documents

PDF/UA-2 - The Upcoming Standard
Will be PDF/UA for PDF 2.0.

See page 3 in:
"PDF/UA in a Nutshell", by PDF Association

Tagged PDF offers a lot more than access to users with disabilities.
From search engines to mobile devices, tagged PDF offers
powerful options to make content "accessible for all"
thanks to reuse of page-based content.

PDF was originally intended to serve as electronic paper;
a properly rendered page irrespective of software or operating system.

Pages, however, aren’t just for reading.
Since people like to add notes, draw lines and fill forms, Adobe Systems,
the inventors of PDF, decided to cater to these uses as well. PDF rapidly
accumulated new features beyond faithfulness to the rendered page
- it began to mirror the interactive capabilities of real paper.

The first generation of interactive PDF features consisted of
annotations of various types. Some allowed users to add text,
others allowed users to draw lines and boxes onto the page.
Still others go beyond the paradigm of the page,
making it possible to add hyperlinks, audio and movies to PDF.

The second generation of interactive PDF brought the ability to
deploy a PDF’s content outside the page-based world.

Tagged PDF provides the means to effectively deploy a
final-form document to a mobile device.
It’s the same means by which PDF files may be made accessible


One of the primary motivations for tagged PDF was to achieve
compliance with regulations that require electronic documents
to be accessible to users with disabilities, but implementers can
leverage tagged PDF to accomplish or enhance a wide range of
end user activities.




The utlity of untagged vs. tagged PDF content:

Semantics or ordering:

• Untagged Content:
  No semantic types or ordering;
  content is ordered solely for rendering purposes


• Tagged Content:
  Semantic type and order is determined,
  content may be reused accordingly



Search engines:

• Untagged Content:
  Search engines cannot reliably access words and phrases


• Tagged Content:
  Search engines get reliable access to content



Reflow of page content:

• Untagged Content:
  No reliable means of reflowing page content onto smaller devices


• Tagged Content:
  Includes information necessary for reflow



Real content and artifacts:

• Untagged Content:
  “Real” content and “artifacts” aren’t distinguished


• Tagged Content:
  Consuming software can choose to utilize or ignore artifacts



Content copying and extraction:

• Untagged Content:
  Content copying and extraction is unreliable


• Tagged Content:
  Content may be extracted with confidence



PDF/A conformance level A:

• Untagged Content:
  Not eligible for PDF/A conformance level A


• Tagged Content:
  May conform with PDF/A conformance level A



WCAG 2.0 or Section 508 Compliance:

• Untagged Content:
  Cannot comply with WCAG 2.0 or Section 508


• Tagged Content:
  May comply with WCAG 2.0, Section 508 and
  other accessibility regulations



Accessibility:

• Untagged Content:
  Inaccessible to disabled users


• Tagged Content:
  Accessible to those with PDF-aware Assistive Technology

The Matterhorn Protocol specifies a common set of
31 "Checkpoints" with 136 failure conditions, whereof

• 89 failure conditions can be checked by software,


• 47 failure conditions usually require human judgment.



The 47 checks that may require human judgement boil down to:

• Confirming that the document's semantics
  as indicated by the tags are accurate


• Confirming that the order of semantic content is logical


• Confirming that any role-mappings in use are valid


• Several checks that apply equally to other forms of content
  (color, contrast, metadata, alternate text for images, language)


• Checks pertaining to JavaScript,
  or other content-specific checks



Recommended reading:

• An introduction to the definitive algorithm
  for PDF/UA conformance

• PDF/UA Conformance Testing Model

PDF/UA to simplifies the accessibility process.
Applying PDF/UA to accessibility-validation processes allows one
to package sets of tests together, streamlining the validation process.

Using PDF/UA in accessibility checklists

2015: Interview on the relationship between PDF/UA and WCAG 2.0
with Duff Johnson, Executive Director of the PDF Association

Webinar: How WCAG 2.0 relates to PDF/UA-1 (2015)

Creators and vendors who deliver PDF files are in many cases asked
to deliver PDF files in conformance with WCAG 2.0.
For many vendors this is unknown territory, and WCAG 2.0 does not
provide sufficient PDF-specific technical information to achieve similar
results between situations or implementations.

The AIIM guide, "Achieving WCAG 2.0 with PDF/UA",
shows what’s necessary to create, process and validate,
(in PDF file-format and conforming reader terms),
a PDF/UA conforming document and reader
to meet all applicable WCAG 2.0 Success Criteria.

Achieving WCAG 2.0 with PDF/UA

Breaking News! (September, 2018)
PDF Association helps W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative
to modernize the W3C's PDF Techniques for Accessibility!

The ISO Standard PDF/UA (accessible PDF) to form the basis of a
revised and updated set of W3C's PDF Techniques for WCAG 2.1

More details:

PDF Techniques Accessibility Summit 2018, Edinburgh

Accessibility best-practices for websites and electronic documents
increasingly specify WCAG 2.0 for HTML/CSS/JavaScript content and video,
and PDF/UA for electronic documents.

New Section 508 rules applies to all forms of federal ICT,
regardless of file format or method of distribution.
Section 508 applies to all ICT / all forms of digital communication.
Not just websites, but documents, media, blogs, social media, etc.,
for all public-facing ICT, plus 9 categories on non-public-facing ICT
including personnel actions, questionnaires or surveys,
templates or forms, education or training materials,
web-based intranets.

Section 508 defines by reference international accessibility standards:

• WCAG 2.0 for websites and HTML information, and


• PDF/UA-1 for PDF files



PDF/UA is consistent with WCAG 2.0, but far more technically specific,
and provides a clear-cut means of affirming that a given PDF document
meets high standards for accessibility.

PDF/UA becomes an American national standard




New Section 508 rules require PDF/UA for PDF 1.7 creators

The US Access Board has issued new rules updating its “Section 508”
accessibility requirements.
PDF/UA-1 support is required for PDF creation software producing PDF 1.7 files.

New Section 508 rules require PDF/UA

See details at the US Access Board website

Access to digital information is a fundamental right for everyone.
Making information easily accessible to citizens is undoubtedly
a big part of eGovernment and is sought after by federal and
state authorities as well as districts, cities and municipalities.

Increasingly, information is only offered and passed on in digital form,
whereby the reliable and user-friendly Portable Document Format (PDF)
has established itself worldwide as the preferred file format.
To ensure unrestricted access in every respect,
PDF files must meet certain requirements.

These are defined in PDF/UA as the ISO standard for accessible PDF documents.
It ensures that even citizens with greatly diminished vision,
insufficient command of written language or motor limitations can
capture and interactively use documents without outside help.

Entirely barrier-free: PDF/UA for eGovernments

Access to digital information is a fundamental right for everyone.

Sweden as a nation stands by:

• UN Declaration of Human Rights,


• UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and


• the Swedish Discrimination Act.

PDF/UA is applicable for Swedish government agencies and bodies
in making public sector documents universally accessible for all.

NewFormat offers services and tools
to create accessible PDF documents

Microsoft to “improve support” for PDF/UA in 2016

PDF/UA from Google Docs is coming soon!

PDF/E ("PDF Engineering") is based on the PDF format and
specifies how PDF should be used for the creation of documents
in engineering workflows; including 3D in the PDF/E context and
archiving of engineering content.

PDF/E Competence Center is a platform for information and discussion
for experts in 3D technology, architects and construction specialists,
as well as developers of PLM applications.
For all engineers who use PDF technology as an
integral component of their day-to-day work.

PDF/E Competence Center to support engineering and 3D applications

Benefits with PDF/E:

• Dramatically reduces requirements for
  expensive proprietary software.


• Lowers storage and exchange costs as compared to paper.


• Facilitates trustworthy exchange and markup
  across multiple applications and platforms.


• Vendor-independent; PDF/E is developed and
  maintained by the PDF/E ISO committee.



Note! May 2018
The Upcoming Standard PDF/E-2 will instead be PDF/A-4

The upcoming standard was earlier planned to be PDF/E-2 based on PDF 2.0
to provide an archival model for engineering content including 3D.
The industry was more interested in making this a part of PDF/A
instead of following a new standard PDF/E-2.
The ISO then stopped working on PDF/E-2 standard and is
making it a part of PDF/A-4 (Conformance level e).

PDF/VT is based on PDF format to support variable data printing.

PDF/VT is optimized for the specific needs of
Variable (“V”) and Transactional (“T”) workflows.

PDF/VT efficiently addresses the requirements of modern
Variable Data Printing (VDP), bringing all the well-known
advantages of PDF workflow to the world of personalized print.

The PDF/VT Application Notes discuss topics that aid
implementers of PDF/VT workflow tools and demonstrate
the various design features of the PDF/VT file format.

PDF/VT - Application Notes

Ghent Workgroup
"Best Practices for Print, Publishing & Packaging Workflows"

Take a cross-section of the international
graphic arts community’s best minds and
have them work together to develop best practices
for the benefit of the profession worldwide.

To create practical workflow tools that make your
daily production tasks easier and faster for publishing,
packaging, wide format and industrial print processes.

Driven by industry trends, end users are able to formalize
implementation of PDF/X standards for data exchange via GWG.
GWG Specifications are now the recognized PDF reference
for the current printing and publishing industries.

25 years of PDF – Celebrating with Ghent Work Group

25 years of PDF - Celebrating with GWG

Business value comes from always accessible enterprise information.
Protect your values in future-proof open document formats: