The reliance by companies on hard-copy paper documents as legal tender or certification will diminish. This is thanks to the increasing use of Adobe ePaper Solutions, which makes legal electronic documents a reality.
The current ECT (electronic communications and transactions) Bill stipulates that digital signatures are now legal and meet regulatory requirements in South Africa. Provision has now been made in the ECT Bill for the legal recognition of electronic signatures and ``advanced electronic signatures`` as a secure form of electronic signing.
Adobe`s ePaper Strategy provides a new way for organisations to use and share information in an electronic way, thus minimising the use of paper-based documents that take up time and storage space.
"Adobe `PDF` (portable document format) is a tamper-proof, electronic file format that meets global legal and regulatory requirements," says Jacques Pieters, Adobe ePaper business development manager at IT systems distributor Comztek, communications partner to Adobe in South Africa.
"In this electronic format, Adobe PDF documents are compact and secure, yet still allow individuals to browse, search and link them.
"ePaper provides the best of both worlds because it automates workflow and helps companies share corporate information across the organisation, specifically as a paper-to-digital and digital-to-paper solution that streamlines operations, improves efficiency and saves money," Pieters points out.
Comztek provides support and technical assistance on the entire Adobe product range, including ePaper.
"Through our Technical Service & Support Division, resellers can truly move up the value chain. They have access to quality, customised training workshops in sales, technical, product, and basic technology. The skills service agreement gives the reseller access to support and service at a reduced cost by booking and paying for hours in advance. Resellers can then make use of pre- and post-sales support from our certified technical specialists, either telephonically or on-site," Pieters adds.
Adobe ePaper Solutions also improve collaboration and communication for faster time-to-market, and provide a smooth transition to a new e-business model in a secure, tamper-proof electronic file format with access controls. It incorporates several Adobe technologies, including PDF files, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Capture, Adobe Reader, Acrobat Forms and Adobe Document Server.
"With ePaper, it is possible to capture virtually any piece of information and deliver it as a PDF file to anyone, anywhere and on any platform. The captured information can be a Web page, e-mail messages, paper and electronic documents, desktop applications, presentations and brochures, and legacy information residing on paper. What`s even more interesting is that with ePaper it is possible to hyperlink information or create searchable text for easy cross-referencing and archiving.
"Creating electronic forms, document mark-ups and digital signatures are simple too, enabling seamless collaboration across departments within an organisation. All of this can be done without affecting the look and feel of the original document, thus negating the need for additional file format conversions," he concludes.
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