Print Now ( issue 4 2004) includes a quote from Lance O'Connell, Heidelberg's UK Manager for Prinect and pre-press products.

"JDF was a hot topic at drupa. it is now becoming a commercial reality and by 2006 automated workflows will have become an industry standard."

This is one of the first signs that JDF is actually happening. It is tempting to believe this is a reasonable assumption about 2006. Once the software is part of an internet speed then this makes a lot of sense.

It will be interesting to see how much communication happens online between print shows. For JDF to become an industry standard before 2006 there will have to be a lot of web browsing for some print companies to catch up woth the "early adopters". In the UK there will probably be two shows as Digital Print World before IPEX. Apparently these will not include litho workflows but actually a digital workflow could be much the same. this blog and the site at www.atford.co.uk will concentrate on the implications on JDF for litho, still the largest part of UK print on current information.