Piql - Our story

COMPANY PRESENTATION

Piql AS – our story

Piql’s vision is to give eternal life to information, through innovation. This is an ambitious goal, yet the company’s history proves that it is capable of turning innovative ideas into cutting-edge technology and global successes.

THE EARLY DAYS

common in the industry). Customers experi- enced higher quality, higher efficiency and cost savings. User-friendliness was also a focus, and in 2008 Piql was awarded with the internationally renowned Red Dot Design Award in the category of “Product Design”. The Cinevator continues to be recognised as the leading digital film printer on the market, in use by film labs and post-production companies all around the world. It’s users include companies such as Technicolor and Deluxe. The Cinevator has printed movies for a wide range of film studios including the Warner Brothers, Universal Studios, DreamWorks, Walt Disney and Paramount.

Piql AS was established in Drammen, Norway, in 2002. The company was founded by a team of people with background from digital imaging, led by Managing Director Rune Bjerkestrand. The vision at the time was to “bridge the gap between the digital and analogue world in the motion picture industry.” More and more movies were being shot and produced digitally, while glob- al distribution of motion pictures remained analogue. This presented a unique market oppor- tunity for Piql. Piql’s ambitions may have seemed unrealistic at the time, coming from a country with no track- record from the motion picture industry. Yet, the company managed to revolutionise the way the film industry printed movies. The digital film recorder, the Cinevator® printed movies up to 100 times faster than its competitors, and with better image quality. Sound and subtitles were added simultaneously (rather than as a separate process, GLOBAL SUCCESS WITH CINEVATOR

NEW APPLICATION OF CORE COMPETENCE

In 2007 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, known for the Oscar awards, published the report “Digital Dilemma” which addressed the challenges related to securing long-term ac- cess to the motion picture industry’s valuable as- sets; the movies. The report stated that even re-

cent Hollywood productions worth hundreds of millions of dollars may soon be lost forever as current preservation technologies were incapable of securing future access. Investigating this issue further made it clear that the threat of losing data was not unique for the motion picture industry, but is shared by all indus- tries and sectors that hold valuable digital data. A new application of Piql’s expertise in digital imaging was found; securing future access to valuable data by using photosensitive film as a digital storage medium. Piql’s vision is to reshape data preservation. This requires a holistic approach that ranges from software to hardware, from the preservation medium and its packaging to its physical storage. Piql’s vision of giving eternal life to information, requires a holistic approach that includes digital transformation, data treatment and preparation to the unique preservation medium itself and its sustainable storage. A HOLISTIC PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGY

To achieve this comprehensive task, the com- pany has undertaken a number of international R&D projects. As of July 2018, 28 million EUR have been invested into R&D. The EU has given strong support through its Eurostars, EUREKA, and Horizon 2020 programmes. The Norwegian government supports Piql through the Research Council, Innovation Norway and other local programmes. The R&D projects have involved close cooperation with respected institutions such as Fraunhofer (Europe’s leading research organisation), Norner (leading polymer insti- tute), the National Archives of Sweden, and the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance. A wide range of European technology companies have also contributed ex- pertise.

COMPANY PRESENTATION

After years of heavy investments in multi- disciplinary R&D, a solution developed specifically for the complex needs of data preservation is ready for the world. Piql has introduced its Services to the market in Europe, Asia, Africa and America. This was made possible by operating through a net- work structure, with trusted partners offering Piql’s Services to clients in their countries. The services are tailored to the needs of each client, benefiting from Piql’s expertise and unique core technology. Piql AS combines its disruptive technology with func- tional design and holistic service approach to create great customer experiences. Piql has received a number of awards including the Norwegian Design of Excellence Award in 2015, The Green Entrepreneur (Grønn Gründer) in 2019 and the Design and Architecture Award (DogA) in 2020. A VALUE-FOCUSED COMPANY Piql AS is headquartered in Norway with a growing net- work of offices around the world. Piql ensures that all Partners adopt its co re values:

• Innovative – by being creative challengers • Trustworthy – by being hands-on experts • Nimble – by being attentive service providers After having succeeded in changing the way motion pictures are printed, Piql is now entirely focused on digital preservation. The overall ambition is to make the worlds digital memory accessi- ble for generations to come. CUSTODIANS OF WORLD MEMORY In response to requests from clients, Piql aslo established the now well recognised Arc- tic World Archive (AWA), a safe repository of world memory on Svalbard. Data stored here on Piql’s technology, in ideal natural climatic conditions, can last for over 1000 years. Clients such as the Vatican Library, GitHub, UNICEF, museums, national archives, businesses and many others have deposited data into the secure vault, ensuring their data will live on - forever.

Piql AS Grønland 56 3045 Drammen NORWAY

T +47 90 53 34 32 M office@piql.com W www.piql.com