Government Bits

Tracking how technology is transforming interaction between governments and citizens.

Adobe’s Acrobat and Creative Suite products are ubiquitous across the DoD and Intelligence Community. Over the last few years, we have amassed a compelling number of case studies in which agencies like the US Army Corps of Engineers and many others use Adobe’s desktop tools to conceive, prototype, create, publish, distribute, track, optimize and secure documents and content ranging from simple inter-office communications to detailed technical schematics to high-level classified documentation. Whether it’s high-resolution digital imaging, HD video processing, enterprise-class RIAs, mobile app development, or redacting and encrypting sensitive PDF documentation — the DoD depends on Adobe Desktop.

Because of the broad familiarity that our DoD customers have with our desktop software, Adobe has “taken its show on the road” with a 17-date roadshow called the Create and Secure Military Tour 2011!

These half-day briefings are designed to help keep our customers ahead and abreast of the emerging trends in PDF and document security, publication design, web development and video post-production with practical introductions to the latest innovations in Adobe technology.

Included in these briefings are demonstrations of Acrobat X Professional, InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Flash, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Encore, and other Adobe desktop tools. Hot topics so far have included: document encryption and security, forms data collection workflows, PDF Portfolios, creating apps for Android and iOS devices, HTML5 best practices, smoothly editing multiple streams of HD video in real-time, and much more.

Check here to see if we’re coming to a city or military installation near you soon!

The environment in which creative pros work is changing at an unprecedented pace. We see trends in three areas that are impacting their ability to author and publish content:

1) The proliferation of multiple devices. It used to be quite simple to reach your target constituent. But now there are more devices than ever, with multiple screen sizes, and multiple operating systems. Just to add more complexity — you can reach them via content in a browser, or via a native app. There are over 35 different app stores today, all with different guidelines and specifications. By 2014, the number of mobile devices will be equal to the number of desktop computers. The potential of apps is clear: iOS and Android users download 9 apps per month and spend 79 minutes per day using apps, whereas just four years ago, there was no Google Android, no iPad, no Motorola Xoom, no Blackberry Playbook, no HTML5, no CSS3, no streaming video to smartphones, and no Skype.

2) The second trend we’re seeing is a demand for rich content. Static consumer content or cumbersome enterprise applications just don’t cut it anymore. People are demanding a lot more, whether as a constituent or as an employee. If you think back to 2007 when Adobe released Creative Suite 3, so much has changed since then. In 2007 there was no Groupon, no HD Flip cameras or digital magazines. Twitter had only 400,000 tweets per quarter, and you couldn’t post a photo on your Facebook wall.

3) Monetization. Content publishers have realized as they move content online they can’t rely on old business models. As traditional print advertising moved online they found their dollars reduced to dimes. They have found success experimenting with new business models such as in-app purchases of content, which were pioneered in gaming and are now moving to other industries.

These are the key trends behind a seismic shift in the industry and media landscape. Adobe is committed to enabling our customers to not only keep up with these trends, but to keep ahead of them and capitalize on them. So, we are innovating quickly in these key areas and we will be changing our release schedule in order to keep customers ahead of these trends.

Historically we’ve released new versions of Creative Suite every 18-24 months, but we are moving to a schedule of milestone releases every two years, but with releases in between that are focused on keeping customers ahead in the areas where technology is shifting. In keeping with this, we are improving CS5 with the release of CS 5.5  this spring. Please feel free to click here to find out more about this new software release that will help our customers create rich internet applications for multiple devices, and efficiently target their content across browsers, operating systems, and screens.

Web designers and programmers know that creating mobile websites and apps is very different from creating traditional online services. To support a mobile constituency, we often must completely rethink the design and development process, which results in increased complexity, higher budgets, and longer publishing cycles. However, with a knowledge of emerging best practices and tools, we can learn to design once and serve everyone – no matter what their form factor or device.

On Tuesday, January 25, 2011, join Government Technology and Adobe Government for a live, interactive master class on this important topic. You will learn:

• How to make the case for mobile application development to your organization
• Key trends in government customer service and app design
• Insights from award-winning and ultra-innovative projects from around the nation
• Design and technology tips that can make you a multiscreen wizard

For more details and to register for this webinar, click here. And for more upcoming webinars focused on the latest releases of Acrobat and Creative Suite tools, click here.

As the digital constituency extends across a growing array of screens and devices, citizens gain more choice and control over how and when they engage with content. Many publishers seek a comprehensive, flexible solution that will allow them to reach constituents, engage their attention and serve their needs, regardless of where, when, or on which platform. At the recent MAX 2010, Adobe announced the Digital Publishing Suite, which allows agencies and publishers to preserve their meticulously crafted brand and have a direct relationship with their readers. To date, this Suite has been used to create wide ranging types of content – including highly designed monthlies like WIRED, text-intensive weeklies like The New Yorker, and now specialized lifestyle content like Martha Stewart Living.

The Suite is a turnkey set of hosted services and viewer technology that tightly integrates with Adobe CS5 products. Using the Suite, publishers can design and deploy engaging reading experiences across mobile devices and marketplaces. The initial beta release of the Suite (recently made available on Adobe Labs) supports creation, preview and sharing of digital magazines on the Apple iPad through an Adobe branded viewer. A series of tutorials, examples and demos of the Suite are currently available on Adobe TV.

If you’re in Washington D.C. this Tuesday 11/16, don’t pass up the opportunity to see the Suite in action with Noha Edell, a senior Business Development Manager at Adobe, who will be demonstrating this exciting new suite of tools and technologies. Click here for the meeting details.

Last week’s Adobe MAX conference in Los Angeles saw hundreds of our Government customers getting their hands dirty with every type of Adobe technology. Many sessions focused on best practices for developing mobile web applications, and a few specific sessions focused on making your web applications compliant with WCAG 2.0 and Section 508. Below is a session hosted by Andrew Kirkpatrick, Director of Accessibility at Adobe, on Creating Accessible Content with Flash CS5 Professional:



Another session at MAX, led by Accessibility Evangelist Matt May, focused on HTML Accessibility with Dreamweaver CS5. Be sure to check these both out of Adobe TV, and to bookmark Adobe’s Accessibility Blog.

The Adobe Accessibility Blog recently posted an announcement that the W3C has updated its documentation on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines v2, or WCAG 2.0, to include techniques for creating compliant Flash content. Check out the full announcement, as well as additional resources for Flash authors to create fully Accessible content, right here.