From attending to collaborating…this year, we have decided to go for a conference concept rather than a formal theme. The conference will continue to address relevant topics for pharmaceutical software users and this year, we want to promote new ways of sharing knowledge and interact in those face-to-face meetings. This vision started back in Basel 2009 when the Discussion Clubs were introduced and the feedback we received since then encouraged us to continue on this path.

PhUSE already provides a Wiki platform and Blogs Section to the PhUSE website where members already post, share and debate the whole year long.  A great addition too will be that presenters will have an option to be able to submit their papers as Wikis instead of static pdf files, which will open the topic to a wide range of potential co-authors.  PhUSE Wikis provide a great opportunity to keep our contributions as presenters up to date and allow for others to add their piece of knowledge to the puzzle.  The presentations remain the corner stone of the conference and making the papers available as Wikis will provide a great opportunity for everyone to share knowledge moving forward.

In Budapest, PhUSE will be launching its first conference app including all abstracts, authors, schedule, maps and the functionality of tweeting about the presentations or events directly from the app.

You will also have the opportunity to learn new tools and techniques via computer-based hands-on training sessions together with other colleagues from the industry. 

The discussion clubs will give the opportunity again to discuss face to face with all the main actors (Sponsors, CROs, Consultancies, Regulatory Agencies, Software vendors, etc.) the challenges and opportunities our industry poses and offers for the future. Budapest will also be the opportunity for the user groups formed earlier in March at the FDA/PhUSE computational science symposium to meet again face-to-face, follow-up on progress and benefits from input from a larger audience.

The PhUSE society is developing towards a more collaborative virtual organisation where members will be sharing, learning and advancing throughout the year and we hope you will engage with us on this path and see many of you in Budapest for our conference 2.0!

Kind regards
Jean-Marc Ferran (Qualiance)
2012 Annual Conference Chair