InfoTrends’ Jim Hamilton Provided Testimony at GPO Hearing
WEYMOUTH, MA—May 19, 2011—Jim Hamilton, group director of InfoTrends, recently served as a witness during the hearing on “GPO – Issues and Challenges: How Will GPO Transition to the Future?” by the U.S. Congress Committee on House Administration, Subcommittee on Oversight. A video of the hearing and the written testimony [PDF download] of the witnesses (including that of the Public Printer) can be found on the Committee on House Administration’s website.
“InfoTrends has seen firsthand how private and public organizations have refocused on the use of content and how it is captured, formatted, distributed and archived,” commented Hamilton. “Adjusting to such a massive change is not easy. The GPO’s leadership role in this transition is well acknowledged. Moving forward, the challenge for all will be to meet the documents users’ need for accurate information delivered in the most effective means.”
During the testimony, Hamilton discussed how electronic distribution methods have many advantages. However, the permanence of print remains very relevant to the GPO’s mission of production, protection, preservation, and distribution. Recommendations for a multi-channel approach should be the goal. Doing so takes advantage of the best of each method: (1) the low-cost manufacturing benefits of conventional printing presses; (2) the short-run, quick turnaround, targeted, and personalized benefits of digital print, and (3) the immediate, timely, and mobile benefits of electronic delivery through a global connected network.
The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) is the printer of record for Congress and the federal government. The GPO’s core mission is to produce, protect, preserve, and distribute documents of our democracy. When the GPO was founded 150 years ago, the only feasible method of producing, protecting, preserving, and distributing documents was in print. Today, with a multitude of electronic distribution methods widely available, that has changed.
InfoTrends also submitted commentary and an overview of statistics relevant to the transition from long-run conventional print processes to digital print and electronic delivery to support the brief five-minute testimony. This free download, entitled “Transitioning to Digital - The Impact of Digital Print and Electronic Delivery on Offset Printing,” is part of the printed record, but is not included on the House Administration’s website.
For additional information, check out Jim Hamilton’s blog post on “How Will GPO Transition to the Future?”
Source: InfoTrends.