piql_When quality matters

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FOREWORD

In 2002 I established Piql (then named “Cinevation”) together with my co-founders in the small city of Drammen, Norway. We had a vision of “bridging the gap between the analogue and digital world within the motion picture industry”. Besides a personal love for movies, none of us had any relevant experience from the film industry. We also come from a country known for fjords, fish and oil – not for its motion picture industry. As you can imagine, we were met with a great deal of scepticism when we knocked on the doors of the Hollywood studios.

In spite of this, we managed to become the leading provider of digital film recorders, in use by studios and labs all over the world. I would say there are three main reasons why we succeeded:

• Innovation is an important part of the Piql culture. We are curious and passionate, we test and research. Sometimes we fail and need to step back and rethink, but there is no doubt that the innovative spirit of the company is what brings us forward. • Trustworthiness is something we are not willing to compromise on. We are experts in what we do, but when we lack the required competence in-house, we align with trusted partners. • Nimbleness means that we do what we can to be attentive and proactive service providers, always setting the customer first. When customers are happy, we have done our job. Today our focus is on reshaping data preservation. We are concerned about the so-called “digital black hole” and the risk of losing our digital heritage. We want to help our customers preserve their valuable data in a secure and future-proof manner. By entering into the digital preservation domain, we have in many ways become a young entrepreneurial company again, seen as a newcomer. It is logical that our competence is questioned. Piql Preservation Services and the technology behind is the result of possibly the most extensive research programme ever made within data preservation. We work with leading technology develop- ers and manufacturers and research institutions, and we have closely cooperated with high-end public archives to ensure we comply with their requirements.

This book intends to document our quality focus in all steps of the development. We believe the result can reshape data preservation.

Best regards,

Rune Bjerkestrand Managing Director, Piql AS