Events
Conference & Awards
The DPA Annual Conference & Awards 2007, took place on 13 September at the De Vere Grand in Brigton.
DPA conference presentations
DPA Awards Winners
New Year's Drinks Reception
At the annual DPA reception this year, DPA chairman, Jerry Gosney, addressed DPA members and their guests saying online technology had created a new age for data.
"The web has a profound impact on our sector" said Gosney "allowing us to deliver deeper, more comprehensive data, enriching user experience. In the past a directory of industrial products might just list manufacturers under product headings. Now users can access spec sheets, prices, pictures and exchange views with other purchasers – they can even post their own comments and content."
Gosney went on to say that the web had encouraged companies to publish content who previously would not have considered doing so.
"There's the Met Office producing daily web forecasts, or a high street retailer relying on online sales, and even the Government publishing statistics and information to give direct access by users."
"And the growth in data services is increasing. Every day new sites, offering creative ways of treating and delivering data in specific sectors, appear on the web."
The DPA chairman also commented on the revolution in data capture, explaing that just a few years ago, web spiders and robots seemed like science fiction. Now they offer a cheap and accurate way to build a database. But Gosney, who is Managing Director of RBI Search, said "one of the challenges was agreeing sector protocols for ‘crawled’ content, to protect valuable databases.
These were some of the key challenges on the DPA agenda and appealed for companies who were not yet members to join in order to enter the debate.
More than 125 people attend the reception at the spectacular venue, One Whitehall Place, in London on 15 January.
Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting 2007 took place on 13 September, at the De Vere Grand Hotel, Brighton, following the DPA Conference.