After movie SmartDocuments customer day 2019

BeingSmart

The day started with a meeting of the official SmartDocuments user group BeingSmart, led by SmartDocuments’ very own Robert Loppersum. The latest news and an overview of the past year were discussed. The BeingSmart members had already received some exciting news: the announcement of a 30-day development space reserved for BeingSmart! In addition, the chairman, Brian Kramer, relinquished his position to pursue challenges in another area. A new chairman was proposed: Heleen van Dokkumburg of the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug. The members gave their approval unanimously. So, congratulations Heleen!

Ready for the future

The sessions that followed were very much focused on the future. Discussed topics included Common Ground, the roadmap for 2020, and developments within SmartDocuments. There was time to look back, but what's more important for SmartDocuments and the customer is the future!

Monkey business

A great and enthusiastic speaker, Patrick van Veen, talked about the similarities between our organizations and the various types of monkeys found in the Apenheul Primate Park. With a great deal of humor and some eye-opening anecdotes, the behavior of monkeys was explained, and it became increasingly clear that we all behave in monkey-like ways in the office sometimes. Amusingly, some of our employees even recognized themselves at certain points. Patrick also gave an interesting account of monkeys' differing characteristics and recognizable elements and behavior. The explanation of group behavior was particularly educational. Who knew that monkeys could have such a clear preference for working alone or in a group?

A bit of monkey watching

After taking in a lot of information about the behavior of primates, it was time to start studying and for us to truly take a good look at them! We were divided into three smaller groups, each led by a monkey expert. All the facts that had just been learned were seen in the behavior of the monkeys as the groups worked their way around the various areas of the beautiful Apenheul.

Information sessions

A long walk through the park was interspersed with various interesting knowledge sessions. Everyone present had the option of participating in two of the three sessions. The first session was in cooperation with our partner Evidos. This company specializes in certified digital signatures – a topic that is becoming more and more interesting in the world of documents. During this session, the attendees heard about the possibilities offered by the product Ondertekenen.nl and what it can do for a municipality. Of course, its integration with our product was also discussed.

The second session was devoted to BeingSmart, the benefits of becoming a member, and an explanation of the development time announced at the beginning of the day. We heard how to register, how to vote on proposals, and what BeingSmart will be doing for its members in the future.

The last session was an inspiring account of an efficient and well-integrated SmartDocuments environment in the municipality of Utrechtse Heuvelrug. Heleen van Dokkumburg spoke and showed from start to finish how the process of document creation and registration works in her organization.

Artificial Intelligence

Everyone was welcomed into the large theatre for an exciting presentation on a subject that was, for many, quite futuristic: artificial intelligence. In addition to the history and meaning of AI, we also heard about the work that one of our programmers had done in recent months within the field of AI in combination with SmartDocuments.

To show how far the influence of AI can reach, a race was held: man versus AI. Two SmartDocuments employees, one using human skills only, the other supported by AI, had to make one template out of fifty documents. Unsurprisingly, AI turned out to be the clear winner. After the race, it was explained how an intelligent system could easily deal with around 90% of the template construction task by utilizing algorithms and neural networks. In the future, there will be many more possibilities!

Closing and drinks

All in all, a fun and informative day! It was now time for networking over a drink and some delicious snacks. We took the time to catch up with all our customers and partners. Before leaving, the customers received a nice gift package that made a small nod to our earlier monkey experience.

Once again, we would like to thank everyone: our customers, our partners, our employees, the staff of the Apenheul, and, in particular, Patrick van Veen, for his presence and enthusiasm. You all helped to make the day a special occasion and we hope to see you again next time!

If you would like to take a little look back at the day, we have a movie for you (in Dutch):