The latest digital pen and paper technology provides a cost-effective way for conventional paper writing and printing to enter the digital world.
Some sport still relies heavily on pen and paper. This is mainly for convenience and familiarity, because some traditional statisticians and scouts are uncomfortable about making a full switch to the electronic world or because it is simply too costly and hassle to use computers. Yet handling scoresheets, scouting forms and other paper documents often slows down essential processes and can create bottlenecks of data entry for administration as at some point this data needs to be logged into the host systems.
ProWess Sports is confident that digital pen and paper will provide a cost-effective way for traditional paper processes to handled digitally by fusing the conventional means of information-gathering with electronic communications. ProWess Sports has committed development and expertise to the technology and is confident that it will be a standard tools used in the near future.
Making its mark
 Digital pen/paper technology combines the portability and acceptance of traditional pen and paper with a computer’s ability to store, share, and act upon the information collected. Digital pens are used like standard pens – only they are embedded with technology capable of storing time-stamped data. Users write on the specially printed paper (subtle pattern of dots similar to map coordinates), enabling the pen to know which form is being used, what is being written, where on the form and when. Also, each pen has a unique identifier allowing all information recorded by it to be traced back to the pen source. The data stored in the pen is transmitted through a synching station or even a Bluetooth mobile phone to a central server for distribution and storage, where further processing and analysis, or transmission can happen. ProWess believes digital pen and paper to be especially relevant in sports situations requiring a scoresheet and/or statistics recording, and the original written copy is necessary.
The benefits of this technology include
- speedier forms processing – written information is electronically transmitted to a central database where it can be accessed, without having to wait for it to be re-keyed into an enterprise’s system.
- automatic backup – digital pen and paper creates a virtual double up of records and forms that can be accessed enterprise-wide, while guarding a paper trace if required which should improve reporting and compliance where needed.
- Readily accepted transition to new technology – the pens are so easy to use that little to no training is required. Users can perform their duties as they always have while benefiting from improved performance.Furthermore, digital pen and paper is less physically intrusive than PCs or laptops in situations such as financial discussions or census interviews;
- traceability and timecoding – the paper can have unique identifiers which enable the open to track and identify.Information is traceable back to a specific pen and data is timestamped for added accountability.
Equipping your statisticians and scouts with a digital pen and paper for forms processing would cost a fraction of supplying them with computers or mobile devices – both initially and for replacements. With a relatively modest investment and minimal instruction, companies could achieve significant cost savings, streamline processes, and get a headstart on the competition. |
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Not Just Sport - Other Industry Uses
Membership organisations could reduce the costs linked to paper processing and increase revenue through not losing customers during the application process. Digital pen and paper ensure legal protection by having original copy and signatures on the forms as well as retaining the human touch which is essential when discussing and recording sensitive information.
Auditors and accountants could make significant savings by using digital to paper processing and increase revenue through automated note taking during meetings and interviews. In management or directors meetings, the minutes could be recorded with the digital pen and then distribute copies quickly afterwards.
The insurance and financial industry could ease the costs linked to paper processing and increase revenue during a lengthy approval process. Also banking institutions could save money and improve customer services in areas such as loan applications or setting up new accounts, by reducing response time. Digital pen and paper technology would maintain the legal protection of having original signatures on forms, and retain the human touch which is essential when discussing and recording sensitive information.
Digital pen and paper could be used to transform the manual task of completing patient observation charts. Information recorded by the pen would be transmitted to a central server and integrated into an electronic patient record which could be accessed by authorized third parties such as other attending physicians, insurance companies, and pharmacies or another use could be in combating fraud.
Cars on assembly lines could be issued with a checklist which workers can complete with a digital pen for each vehicle they work on which could be fed into a central system where management could monitor quality. The technology could also be used for collecting and transmitting safety critical information for aircraft and machine maintenance where the pen’s time-stamp and unique identification features would prove invaluable.
For law enforcement, digital pen and paper could help reduce the enormous amount of time involved filling in forms such as incident reports. Postal and courier services could use this technology for tracking deliveries, and filling in customs forms. Census takers could be equipped with a digital pen and paper to enable statistics to be tallied more rapidly and securely.
Digital pen and paper is an emerging technology set to take off. As the cost of the pens decreases even more, ProWess Sports believes that their use will become more widespread, and that new features and innovations will be introduced.
In the meantime, innovative organisations and companies can gain a serious competitive advantage by:
- identifying areas where costs are significant due to the current use of pen and paper and where processes could be accelerated to give competitive edge, or where new revenue streams could be generated through the introduction of the digital pen and paper;
- conducting a value-targeting exercise to determine how digital pen and paper technology can be applied to address your company’s key business issues and integrated into your overall infrastructure – including enterprise applications, mobile devices, and IT platform;
- developing a business case for incorporating digital pen and paper technology;
- rolling out a pilot to test its effectiveness and acceptance.
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