Austrian Standards produces around 60 of its own standards each year and implements approximately 1,050 CEN documents. The Create! platform, developed together with EBCONT over many years, supports national standardization processes and metadata management.Growing requirements for automation and digital products called for a modernization of the existing system landscape. The goal was an XML-first architecture that replaces legacy systems and integrates external systems. Structured content would provide the foundation for automated workflows and further uses of the standards.

Standards Production Needs a Structured Digital Foundation

EBCONT supports Austrian Standards as a systems integrator. SiteFusion CMS and the Fonto XML Editor form the core of the new architecture.The implemented workflow starts with existing PDF content. Samosa automatically creates German-language XML drafts from these documents. The drafts then move through SiteFusion for quality assurance and process management before becoming available in Create! for standards production.Camunda automates the processes defined in BPMN 2.0. The technical setup includes XML, DITA, and NISO-STS. Typefi and InDesign support largely automated PDF production.This connects the structured preparation of existing content with subsequent processing and production.

A Connected Workflow Turns PDFs into Structured Standards

The solution integrates AI services for metadata creation and tagging. Intelligent search and automated alt-text generation also support content discovery and accessibility.The infrastructure runs on-premises on Kubernetes. This deployment supports Austrian Standards’ high requirements for data sovereignty.

AI Services Support Content Production and Discovery

SMART Standards gives Austrian Standards the technical foundation to further develop its standards production. The workflow from PDF through Samosa and SiteFusion to Create! is already implemented, providing a basis for additional digital offerings.Connecting ONE for digital products and new business models is planned as a next step. Multichannel publishing and additional digital services are future opportunities enabled by the structured content.Erich Zeisl, Head of Production at Austrian Standards, describes the value of the project:“With SMART Standards, we make standards machine-readable, more efficient to produce, and the foundation for new digital services.”Looking to automate your content production and make content available for new digital offerings? Contact Jürgen Ritschka-Kohl to discuss the next steps for your organization.<h3>Contact: Jürgen Ritschka-Kohl <a href="mailto:juergen.ritschka-kohl@ebcont.com">juergen.ritschka-kohl@ebcont.com</a></h3>

Machine-Readable Standards Provide a Foundation for New Digital Offerings

Austrian Standards is modernizing its standards production with EBCONT. SMART Standards combines automated processing of existing PDFs with an XML-first architecture. The result is machine-readable content and a technical foundation for multichannel publishing, AI services, and new digital offerings.

SMART Standards: Standards Production Goes XML-First

Around 300 technical committees, subcommittees, and task groups contribute to standards development at the American Welding Society (AWS). This consensus-based process relies on collaboration among subject-matter experts. Over the years, however, their work had become spread across numerous tools and file formats. Beacon brings the core stages together in one environment and establishes a consistent data foundation for the entire standards lifecycle.

Drafts were created in Word, tables in Word or Excel. Ballots and reviews were handled via email, while final files were produced in FrameMaker and Acrobat. Some comments still arrived by mail or fax. Before introducing a new platform, AWS redesigned the underlying processes to simplify collaboration and make standards available as structured, machine-readable data.Together with EBCONT and Fonto, AWS developed Beacon to support this approach. The platform connects authoring, review, committee management, and publishing. Authors and committee members work in an integrated environment that supports the core stages of standards development.

One Platform Simplifies Collaboration

FontoXML provides the foundation for editing, review, and publishing. NISO-STS serves as the structured XML format in the backend. Content is created and managed in a structured format from the start, enabling consistent reuse.The technical complexity remains largely invisible to users. Subject-matter experts can focus on content without having to work directly with XML or ontologies. Beacon connects the work of developing standards with a consistent data foundation for their subsequent use.

Standards Are Structured from the Start

Development followed an agile approach, with direct feedback to the Fonto product team. Input from the American Welding Society contributed to enhancements in Fonto, allowing the collaboration to benefit the underlying product as well.Peter Portela, Director, Standards Product Development at AWS, describes the collaboration with EBCONT:“With EBCONT’s support, we strategically redesigned and rebuilt our platform in just three months. Combining deep engineering expertise with modern technologies, AI-driven development practices, and agentic coding, EBCONT helped us build a stronger, more scalable architecture and significantly accelerate our path to market.”

Direct Feedback Shapes Product Development

Beacon creates a consistent foundation for working with standards throughout their lifecycle. Structured content opens up opportunities that extend beyond traditional publishing.The platform provides the foundation for queryable tables, machine-to-machine integration, and AI-assisted tools, as well as integration with engineering and requirements systems.

Machine-Readable Standards Enable New Uses

Looking to bring the development and publishing of technical content onto one platform? Contact Lars Schlatermund to discuss how to prepare your processes and content.Contact: <a href="mailto:lars.schlatermund@ebcont.com">lars.schlatermund@ebcont.com</a>

Make Your Technical Content Structured and Reusable

With Beacon, the American Welding Society brings authoring, review, committee management, and publishing onto one platform. Together with EBCONT and Fonto, it is creating the foundation for structured, machine-readable standards.

Beacon: Building the Future of Standards Development

People preparing for exams or developing their professional skills bring different levels of knowledge and different goals. Digital learning materials need to accommodate those individual learning paths. For Verlag SKV, this comes with a clear quality requirement: the educational foundation must remain the publisher’s verified content.With LERN:GALAXIE, the Swiss educational publisher has created an interactive environment for vocational education and professional development. NAVE adds AI-powered learning support. Both offerings draw on the same structured content base, combining SKV’s editorial quality with new ways for learners to work through the material at their own pace and according to their needs.

Over the past three years, Verlag SKV has transformed its traditional learning materials into a digital learning environment. The requirements went beyond making content available online. Complex materials had to be easy to manage, work across devices, and provide an accessible, engaging experience for different user groups. The platform also needed to handle peak demand reliably at the start of the school year and during exam periods.Designed as a modular “planetary system,” LERN:GALAXIE combines multimedia content with interactive exercises to support practical, self-directed learning. Teachers can assemble content into customized courses, share them, and integrate them into existing learning management systems.This gives teachers the flexibility to adapt materials to different classroom needs. Learners can work through the content in ways that suit their individual requirements.

LERN:GALAXIE Makes Learning Materials Modular and Flexible

The next step was to add AI-powered learning support and exam simulations. Closely integrated with LERN:GALAXIE, NAVE supports learners individually. The AI learning coach identifies their strengths and goals and provides personalized learning experiences. It also helps teachers create assignments and support groups of learners with different needs and abilities.NAVE draws exclusively on Verlag SKV’s verified, structured XML content. This shared content base provides educationally reliable, factually accurate answers.Denise Neuschwander, Managing Director of Verlag SKV, explains the quality requirement:“With NAVE, we have created a learning coach that draws on our verified publishing content rather than generic AI data. That was a key quality requirement for us. EBCONT made it technically possible.”

NAVE Supports Learners with Verified Educational Content

The XML content base is created using SiteFusion CMS and Fonto Editor. It supplies content to both LERN:GALAXIE and NAVE, giving learners two different ways to access the same verified educational materials.Content distribution is automated. New content reaches the digital platform within one minute, creating a short path from content delivery to use by learners and teachers.EBCONT implemented the solution with Python on the backend and Svelte on the frontend, using Elastic and PostgreSQL for data storage. The infrastructure includes a Kubernetes cluster and LLM models in Azure. Agile software development and the consistent use of open-source libraries underpin the technical implementation.

One Content Base Powers Both Learning Experiences

At the start of the school year and during exam preparation, large numbers of users access digital learning resources at the same time. The scalable architecture accommodates these peaks: LERN:GALAXIE and NAVE remain stable even under high loads.NAVE is a production-ready AI learning coach that extends the existing offering. Users can choose between a traditional learning experience and an AI-supported learning path. LERN:GALAXIE remains the interactive multimedia environment, while NAVE provides additional personalized support based on the same educational content.

Reliable Performance During Peak Learning Periods

As an advanced feature, NAVE Voice extends the offering with AI-powered conversation simulations, with NAVE acting as the dialogue partner. It adds another way to prepare alongside studying content and completing exercises: practicing through conversation.For SKV, this creates a digital learning offering that makes verified educational content accessible in different ways. The modular learning environment, personalized AI support, and automated content distribution all build on a shared, structured content base.

NAVE Voice Adds Conversation Simulations

Want to use your existing educational content to build a digital learning platform or an AI learning coach? Contact Jürgen Ritschka-Kohl to discuss your requirements and explore implementation options.Contact: <a href="mailto:juergen.ritschka-kohl@ebcont.com">juergen.ritschka-kohl@ebcont.com</a>

Put Your Educational Content to Work in Digital Learning

Verlag SKV is expanding its digital learning environment with NAVE, an AI learning coach built on verified educational content. EBCONT provides the technology that enables personalized support for learners and helps teachers in their day-to-day work.

A New Dimension of Learning: LERN:GALAXIE & NAVE

We’re pleased to announce that EBCONT has achieved Select partner status in the Claude Partner Network Services Track.Through the Claude Partner Network, Anthropic works with companies that bring Claude into production for their clients. The Services Track recognizes partners that build a certified delivery team, implement Claude use cases for clients, and demonstrate their work through public customer references. Partners progress through four tiers: Certified, Select, Preferred, and Global Premier.

At EBCONT, we’ve been working with artificial intelligence and machine learning since long before today’s large language models gained widespread adoption. We’ve advised clients in this field for years and successfully delivered numerous projects. As generative AI emerged, we were early adopters of AI coding tools in our own software development. Our focus extended beyond the technology itself to how these tools can be used responsibly in enterprise environments: with clear governance, compliance with regulatory requirements, and full control over data and processes.

From Machine Learning to AI-Assisted Software Development

Today, we share this experience with our clients. To provide the best possible guidance and support, we need to stay current with technological advances. With Claude, powered by Anthropic, our certified teams take use cases from concept to production. Select partner status now formally recognizes this expertise.Our <a href="https://www.ebcont.com/news/success-story-ai-coding-justalis">Justalis success story</a> shows what this looks like in practice: Claude Code and Cowork are embedded in the development process.

Keeping Pace with Technological Advances

“What matters to our clients is what’s running in production. Our Select partner status in the Claude Partner Network confirms that our team delivers exactly that with Claude, and we’ll continue to build on that foundation.” — Markus Stangl, COO &amp; Group Managing Director, EBCONT

Want to know how AI can help your business move forward, from strategy to production? We’re here to help.

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EBCONT is now a Select Partner in the Services Track of Anthropic’s Claude Partner Network. This recognition affirms our team’s expertise in implementing Claude solutions for our clients.

EBCONT Achieves Select Partner Status in the Claude Partner Network

Where does our data reside? Who has access to it? And how much flexibility do we have as regulatory, economic, or technology requirements evolve?Digital sovereignty has become an important factor in cloud decisions. With its new STACKIT Gold Partner status, EBCONT is deepening a partnership that began in 2024 and giving customers more options for their cloud strategy.

Today’s cloud strategies need to balance a wide range of requirements. Performance and scalability matter, as do security, compliance, resilience, and control over data and infrastructure.These questions are especially relevant to the public sector and regulated industries, but they matter well beyond these sectors. Across industries, companies are increasingly evaluating which data and applications should run on which infrastructure and what dependencies come with those choices.“Cloud sovereignty is not about isolating yourself. It is about having the freedom to make informed choices.”A sovereign European cloud gives organizations more choice. STACKIT operates its cloud infrastructure in Europe, with a strong focus on data sovereignty and data control.

Digital Sovereignty Means Having Options

EBCONT and STACKIT have been working together since 2024. Achieving Gold Partner status further strengthens that partnership.EBCONT combines STACKIT Cloud with hands-on experience delivering customer projects and a broad range of cloud services. These include cloud migration, application development, DevOps, data management, infrastructure, and cybersecurity.This expertise helps customers meet their sovereign cloud requirements across the entire lifecycle, from architecture and migration to development and ongoing operations.

Taking the Partnership to the Next Level

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to cloud strategy. Requirements for data residency, security, existing IT environments, regulatory compliance, and scalability vary from company to company and sometimes even from one application to another.Expanding the STACKIT partnership gives customers more choice. They can use European cloud infrastructure where it best fits their business, technical, and regulatory requirements.

The Right Cloud Depends on the Use Case

Christopher Anderlik is EBCONT’s contact for questions about STACKIT and sovereign cloud solutions.

Are Digital Sovereignty and Cloud Infrastructure currently a Priority for Your Organization?

EBCONT has achieved STACKIT Gold Partner status, further strengthening its partnership with STACKIT on European sovereign cloud infrastructure.

EBCONT and STACKIT Strengthen Partnership with Gold Partner Status

The market for correctional software is small and has been dominated for years by a handful of established providers. Their systems have evolved over a long period of time and, as a result, offer a broad range of features. New solutions therefore face the challenge of catching up to this lead in a relatively short period of time.The technical foundation for this is Justalis’s architecture. The system was designed from the outset to be modular, incorporating the latest technological concepts and clearly separated functional modules. At the same time, the operational environment places high demands on the solution: high availability, strict security and data protection requirements, end-to-end traceability, accessibility as a contractual criterion, and operation on sovereign infrastructure.Added to this are the requirements from public tenders. The specific functions required are not known until the relevant documents are published. Only then can it be assessed which requirements are already met and where improvements must be made within the tender period.However, this requires a comprehensive analysis first. The request for proposal documents must be thoroughly reviewed, and each individual requirement must be compared with the system’s current status. Only on this basis can we reliably determine which functional gaps actually exist.This process is both technically and time-consuming. With a traditional development process, it would have been nearly impossible to meet the deadlines set for this project under these circumstances.

The Starting Point: Catching Up in a Saturated Market

The first step was to use AI for code generation. Based on initial experiences, workflows, subagents, and rules were developed for Claude Code, which define the project’s conventions and processes.These structures are continuously refined and reviewed with each sprint. Approaches that do not prove effective are adjusted, while successful processes are further refined and expanded.In the next step, the workflow surrounding the backlog was also expanded. Claude was given direct access to the tickets and can process tasks from them all the way through to the finished pull request.Humans remain involved in the process throughout. Between the ticket and the pull request, progress is regularly reviewed and corrected as needed. Responsibility for the code remains with the developers. Anyone who approves a pull request must be able to understand and defend the code it contains at the same level as if they had written it themselves.In addition, the pipeline includes technical guardrails that apply regardless of whether AI is used. These include architectural tests, static analyses, security scans, and automated tests. They ensure that the project’s defined rules and quality standards are adhered to, regardless of whether the code was created by a human or by Claude.

Integrating AI into the Development Process

After the first few sprints, the team had become sufficiently familiar with using Claude in the development process to expand its scope of application. Since then, product owners and stakeholders have also been using its capabilities alongside the developers when working on tenders.Claude is used in two key areas: for the structured analysis of the documents and for addressing those requirements that are not yet fully covered by the current state of the system.Claude Cowork and Claude Code handle different tasks in this process. Cowork reads the complete request for proposal documents and extracts the individual requirements from them. Claude Code knows the current state of the platform and compares these requirements with the existing solution.The result is a gap analysis that shows, for each individual requirement, whether it has already been met, partially met, or not yet implemented. Before Claude was introduced, this analysis took an average of four working days per RFP. Today, it is completed in around five hours—a reduction of approximately 85 percent. This allows Product Owners to start addressing the identified gaps on the same day the RFP documents are published.The identified gaps are added to the backlog as new requirements. Since Claude Code understands the existing architecture, each of these work items already includes a description of how the required functionality integrates into the existing modules. They then go through the same process as all other tickets: implementation, pull request, and review.In this way, the missing features were implemented within the deadline. Since the comparison is performed directly against the codebase, it is clear for each requirement from the request for proposal where it is already covered in the system and where it needs to be implemented.

From the tender to the Gap Analysis

At the beginning, each member of the team had individual access to Claude and used the tool according to their own work style. While this already saved time on individual tasks, it had only a limited impact on the development process as a whole.The effect became significantly greater with the introduction of shared standards and clearly defined governance. Since then, workflows, rules, and subagents have applied to the entire team and are versioned centrally in the repository. This produces comparable results that can be verified in a traceable manner and utilized by all stakeholders.Another lesson concerns the scope of individual changes. With AI, even larger features can be implemented in a single pass. However, this quickly results in extensive changes across numerous files, which become difficult to review in detail.This point becomes particularly relevant during human reviews. A pull request with several hundred modified lines may be technically correct, but it can only be reliably verified with a correspondingly high level of effort.To ensure that responsibility truly remains with humans, tickets must therefore be structured appropriately, and pull requests must be deliberately kept manageable. Only in this way is a thorough and traceable review possible.

Common standards make all the difference

“With EBCONT’s structured support, we have firmly integrated AI into our day-to-day development work: from the development of concepts and user stories to feature development and automated quality checks. This has significantly increased our productivity and enabled us to implement projects that were previously hardly feasible from a business perspective.”Dietmar Stefani, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Justalis Holding AG

Greater productivity creates room for new projects

Justalis has quickly evolved into a competitive product. The development process that has emerged in the process now extends well beyond individual coding tasks. Today, AI supports the workflow from ticket to pull request, while architecture, security, quality, and accountability remain the responsibility of the team.At the same time, the process remains intentionally adaptable. Workflows, rules, and guardrails are reviewed and refined with every sprint. New generations of models also continuously influence which tasks can be meaningfully supported or automated.EBCONT also assists other companies in implementing such working methods, from strategic alignment and technical setup to playbooks and governance that are directly embedded in the development process and the code.Learn more at <a href="https://www.ebcont.com/ebcont-agentic-engineering">EBCONT Agentic Engineering.</a>

A Process That Grows Along With the Product

RFP gap analysis: 4 days → 5 hours. The structured comparison of RFP requirements with the current state of the system previously took an average of four working days. Since Claude Cowork began extracting the requirements and Claude Code started checking them against the codebase, the process takes around five hours—reducing the effort per RFP by approximately 85 percent.Completed user stories: +88 percent per sprint. The number of user stories completed per two-week sprint increased from an average of around 10 to around 18, with the same sprint length and team size as before Claude was introduced.Test coverage: 30 → 85 percent. Automated test coverage of the Justalis codebase increased from 30 to 85 percent over the same period. In an environment with strict requirements for security, traceability, and availability, the higher delivery speed did not come at the expense of testability. Today, the quality gates in the pipeline are backed by significantly broader test coverage.

Results Overview

The development of Justalis initially followed a traditional process: requirements refinement, manual backlog maintenance, implementation, review, and testing. Today, Claude supports this workflow from the analysis of a request for proposal all the way to the finished pull request, while the business and technical decisions remain with the team. The results are measurable: The gap analysis for a public request for proposals now takes about five hours instead of an average of four workdays; the team completes nearly twice as many user stories per sprint; and test coverage has risen from 30 to 85 percent. This way of working was established in several steps and has contributed significantly to meeting the requirements of multiple public requests for proposals within the specified deadlines.

How AI Accelerates the Development Process at Justalis

At the 31st Comenius EduMedia Awards in Paderborn, Ernst Klett Sprachen’s digital learning platform allango received the 2026 Comenius EduMedia Seal.The jury particularly recognized the platform’s innovative use of AI. allango brings together textbooks, readers, self-study resources, and teaching materials with digital features such as a worksheet generator, formative feedback, and an AI-powered vocabulary buddy.

Comenius EduMedia Award 2026 for allango

allango connects printed language textbooks with a wide range of digital learning resources. Teachers have access to digital editions, classroom management tools, interactive whiteboard features, and materials for differentiated instruction. Learners can use supporting media, exercises, progress tracking, and personalized feedback. The platform works across devices, both online and offline.Making these digital experiences possible, and continuously improving them, requires the right content and production architecture behind the scenes.

Digital and AI-powered features enhance language learning

EBCONT and Ernst Klett Sprachen have worked together for many years to advance digital content production and continuously develop allango. A key part of this is media-neutral content creation. Content is structured and managed centrally, making it easy to reuse across a wide range of print and digital channels.Key areas of the collaboration include:<ul><li data-list-item-id="e7cb454c26e824d809ac723371d15b7e0">Media-neutral content creation with SiteFusion and Fonto based on DITA LCE: Content is structured and managed centrally, making it available for a range of print and digital products.</li><li data-list-item-id="e8e5cdb5025347629f55d949fe325655c">Automated publishing processes: Structured content is efficiently delivered across multiple channels. This includes a streamlined print workflow that directly integrates external service providers into book production.</li><li data-list-item-id="e09e777e31be74b8e6004928105b33d05">Centralized media and rights management: Titles and assets are managed in one place. Integrated rights management keeps the associated media rights transparent throughout the production process.</li><li data-list-item-id="e4b8ed9959d8ca3723bff51712dee7597">Migration and preparation of existing content: Existing titles, data, and assets are transferred to the new production environment, allowing them to be reused for new digital products and services.</li><li data-list-item-id="e6d0d467a711dbd34511a6d2c4398ba69">Development and operation of allango.net: EBCONT developed the interactive learning platform and provides Managed IT Services to ensure stable, scalable technical operations.</li></ul>

Structured content provides the foundation for print and digital products

Combining structured source content, automated production processes, and a digital platform makes it easier to develop and launch new features faster. Today, this includes AI-powered learning experiences in particular.For publishers, this means existing content can be used and further developed across multiple channels. At the same time, new digital products can build on content that is already structured and ready for reuse.Recognizing years of collaboration“Congratulations to Ernst Klett Sprachen and the entire allango team on this well-deserved recognition. allango is the result of many years of collaboration, from structured content and digital production processes to the platform itself. It’s great to see that work recognized with this award.”— Jürgen Ritschka-Kohl, Executive Vice President, EBCONT

Structured content accelerates the development of new learning experiences

EBCONT helps publishers and content organizations create structured content, manage it efficiently, and publish it across different channels and formats. The Content Management &amp; Authoring offering brings together content architecture, authoring, automated publishing processes, and digital platforms.→ <a href="/magnoliaPublic/en/services/publishing.html">Learn more about Content Management &amp; Authoring</a>Looking to modernize your content production?Whether you want to make better use of existing content across print, digital products, and new AI applications or further develop your own digital platform, EBCONT’s publishing experts can help identify the right technical approach for your requirements.Get in touchYour contacts: <a href="mailto:juergen.ritschka-kohl@ebcont.com">Jürgen Ritschka-Kohl</a> <a href="mailto:andreas.hoffmann@ebcont.com">Andreas Hoffmann</a>

Content Management and Authoring for Modern Publishing

Ernst Klett Sprachen’s digital learning platform allango has received the 2026 Comenius EduMedia Seal. EBCONT has supported the publisher’s digital content production for many years and developed allango.net. Its technology foundation spans structured, media-neutral content and automated production processes through to the operation of the learning platform.

allango Receives 2026 Comenius EduMedia Seal for Digital Learning

A breakfast with a view , in every sense of the word. For the 44th WOMENinICT Breakfast Salon, Ilse Merkinger-Boira, WOMENinICT Ambassador and People Counselor &amp; PR Lead at EBCONT, and Markus Stangl, Managing Director at EBCONT, welcomed the community to the Millennium Tower. With panoramic views across Vienna, the morning focused on a topic that has been important to us for some time: “Let’s Talk Allyship: Men as Allies in IT.”WOMENinICT was founded in 2020 as a Special Interest Group of VÖSI (Austrian Association for Software Innovations) and has grown into Austria’s largest network for women in ICT, with more than 250 ambassadors and role models from different career levels and ICT professions. Its work is built around three key pillars: visibility &amp; role models, networking &amp; community, and education &amp; mentoring. Its aim is to inspire more girls and women to pursue careers in ICT, strengthen connections among women within the industry, and advance topics such as equal opportunities and digital gender fairness.The Breakfast Salon is one of the formats that brings the community together to discuss current issues and generate new ideas for greater equality of opportunity across the industry.

During this inspiring morning high above Vienna, Bettina Richter, Experience &amp; DEI Lead at EBCONT, and Horst Valentin from SAP shared insights into our Male Allyship initiative and what we have learned so far.The journey began in December 2024 with an initial workshop exclusively for male leaders at EBCONT. Philipp Poropat has been part of the initiative from the very beginning, supporting it as an internal Male Ally and bringing the perspective of male leaders into the shared learning process.Because gender diversity cannot be the responsibility of women alone. Sustainable change must also happen where structures are shaped, decisions are made, and corporate culture is put into practice.Across four dialogue workshops, our male leaders explored topics including privilege, unconscious bias, inclusion, mentoring, and sponsorship. The discussions centered around questions such as: Which privileges might I not even be aware of? Who is given space and visibility? And how can I use my position to actively create change?

A Journey That Began in 2024

Awareness is the first step. But allyship becomes most meaningful in our everyday actions: when we speak up against sexism, consciously make space for female colleagues, highlight their achievements, and actively seek out different perspectives.Transformation requires continuous reflection – and the courage to accept that we may not immediately have an answer to every question. What matters is turning insights into action.That is why the next step will follow in October 2026. In a follow-up session, previous participants will come together with WOMEN@EBCONT leaders to continue the work and bring their perspectives together. In particular, we want to revisit the key “aha” moments from the journey so far. What has already changed? Which insights have been put into practice? And what further measures can we derive from what we have learned? The focus will be on making the shift from knowing to doing.

From Reflection to Change

For us, the WOMENinICT Breakfast Salon marked the first deliberate step in taking this conversation beyond EBCONT.We want to share our experiences, learn from others, and connect with more companies and allies who are ready to embark on their own Male Allyship journey. By doing so, individual experiences can evolve into best practices that can help other organizations as well.Because sustainable change does not come from individual behavior alone. We also need to address the structures themselves: decision-making processes, career opportunities, leadership, visibility, and the question of who is heard and who has the opportunity to influence decisions. At EBCONT, we have started a journey. Now we want to widen the circle. Because real change can only happen together.Thank you to WOMENinICT – especially Christine Wahlmüller-Schiller – to Bettina Richter and Philipp Poropat from EBCONT, Horst Valentin from SAP, and all participants of the 44th Breakfast Salon for the open exchange and their willingness to keep thinking, learning, and moving forward together.Let’s talk Allyship. Let’s share what works. And let’s create change – together.&nbsp;

<h2>Now We’re Opening Up the Conversation</h2>

How can we create real change and achieve greater gender diversity in IT? By not only talking about supporting women, but by working together to address the structures that create inequality. At the 44th WOMENinICT Breakfast Salon, we shared our experiences with Male Allyship beyond EBCONT for the first time and invited representatives from other companies to join us on this journey.



44th WOMENinICT Breakfast Salon at EBCONT: Let’s Talk Allyship!

Historical information loses its value when it exists but is difficult to find or use in day-to-day work. Many organizations face exactly this challenge. Archives built up over decades, printed reports, and documents stored across different locations contain valuable knowledge. But as long as this information exists only on paper or in individual PDF files, it remains largely inaccessible to modern processes.Wolfsberger Stadtwerke faced this challenge as well. The company manages a contract archive dating back to 1901. At the same time, it regularly collects water measurement data that, until now, was available only in printed reports or PDF files. While these two use cases are very different in nature, they share the same objective: making information accessible and efficient to use in daily operations.

The first use case focused on digitizing historical contract documents. Property transfers, lease and rental agreements, construction plans, and utility line documentation had been collected over more than 125 years. Finding a specific document required manually searching through physical folders and archives. There was no digital document management system with search capabilities.The second use case involved drinking water quality. Results from regular water analyses were available only as printed reports or PDF files. As a result, the data could not be analyzed in a structured way or connected with other data sources. Future analyses, such as combining measurement data with weather data from GeoSphere Austria, first required a reliable digital foundation.Both challenges reflect a situation common to many infrastructure companies and public sector organizations. Digitization often starts with capturing information. The real value, however, comes from turning that information into usable knowledge.

Two Challenges, One Goal

Digitizing documents does not automatically make their content usable.For the water measurement data, accuracy was critical. Even a single incorrectly recognized character or number could lead to incorrect conclusions. The automated extraction process therefore had to be reliable, with results that could be verified.The historical contract documents presented a different challenge. Many were written in Kurrent script or highly stylized handwriting. They also included different document types, construction plans, and utility line documentation from various decades. Traditional OCR methods quickly reach their limits with this type of material. The goal was not simply to extract fragments of text, but to identify structured information such as the year an agreement was signed, cadastral numbers, or the people involved.

Why Scanning Alone Is Not Enough

Together with Wolfsberger Stadtwerke, EBCONT developed a serverless, NIS2-compliant AWS data platform that supports both requirements on a shared technical foundation.AWS S3 serves as the central data lake for documents and data assets. AWS Lambda handles automated information processing. Structured data is stored in Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL, providing the foundation for further analysis.For the water measurement data, EBCONT uses Amazon Textract. The service automatically extracts measurement values from reports covering the years 2011 through 2024. The results are then validated against a benchmark dataset to ensure high data quality.For the historical contract documents, Large Language Models accessed through Amazon Bedrock are used to help interpret content, extract structured information, and make historical documents, construction plans, and utility line documentation digitally accessible.Use Case 1: Water Measurement Data as a Foundation for Informed AnalysisFor the first time, the platform makes water measurement data available in a structured format. Instead of manually transferring information from individual reports, relevant values are extracted automatically and validated for quality.A proof of concept was also developed to connect the measurement data with weather data from GeoSphere Austria. This creates a reliable foundation for future analyses and potential predictive models.Use Case 2: Turning a Historical Archive into a Digital Knowledge BaseMore than 60,000 pages of documents are being digitally processed and made accessible in a structured way for the first time. These include historical contracts, construction plans, and utility line documentation spanning more than a century.

One AWS Data Platform for Two Different Use Cases

Until now, there was no complete overview of the information contained in the historical archive. Structuring the content will make it possible to assess documents more systematically and identify relevant information more easily. This creates greater transparency and provides the foundation for systematically reviewing previously unknown contract records.The next phase of the project will focus on expanding the solution for production use. Planned features include a document dashboard, global full-text search, OpenSearch-based classifications, and preparing the data for the potential use of chat agents.

The benefits extend far beyond digitization itself.

The project has made more than 60,000 pages of historical documents accessible and, for the first time, structured water measurement data from 2011 through 2024 in a digital format. This reduces manual effort, creates transparency across information accumulated over decades, and provides a foundation for future automation and informed decision-making.Christian Schimik, Managing Director of Wolfsberger Stadtwerke, describes the value of the project as follows:“The goal of digitizing these documents is not only to enable targeted searches and prepare for the future, but also to understand the past and make it usable by structuring the information contained in more than 60,000 pages of documents.”

From Documents and Data to a Digital Knowledge Base

Digitization does not end with scanning documents or capturing data. Its greatest value emerges when information is structured and transformed into knowledge that supports people in their daily work.This is the foundation Wolfsberger Stadtwerke and EBCONT have created together. A historical archive built up over more than 125 years and dispersed water measurement data are gradually becoming a digital knowledge base that simplifies processes and supports informed decision-making.

Digitization Does Not End with Capturing Information

Whether you’re working with a historical archive, document management, or a data platform, <a href="mailto:harald.kerck@ebcont.com">Harald Kerck</a> is available for an initial, no-obligation conversation to explore how you can make your information assets more accessible and easier to use digitally.

How EBCONT helps Wolfsberger Stadtwerke make a historic archive and critical measurement data searchable, ready for automation, and built for the future.

When Kurrent Script Meets AI: Turning 125 Years of History and 60,000 Document Pages into a Digital Knowledge Base

As a leading European platform for legally binding e-signatures with locations in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, MOXIS is built on maximum availability and uncompromising data privacy. These aren&#39;t optional extras&mdash;they are the foundation of the company&#39;s entire business model.

Until recently, infrastructure monitoring followed a traditional approach, which created distinct day-to-day challenges:

<ul>
	<li>
	Reactive operations: Performance drops and technical issues were usually only detected after they had already occurred.
	</li>
	<li>
	Gradual performance degradation: Subtle, slow-burning system declines often went unnoticed, buried in everyday background noise.
	</li>
	<li>
	Time-consuming troubleshooting: When an issue did arise, finding the root cause required tedious, manual analysis.
	</li>
</ul>

For a company handling highly sensitive customer data, this was not a sustainable long-term approach. The goal was clear: detect and resolve issues before they ever impact the end user.

The Bottleneck: When Monitoring Only Warns You After the Fact

Together, MOXIS and EBCONT built a centralized observability solution powered by the Elastic Stack. Log data from all 400+ systems now flows into a high-performance Elastic cluster. Instead of isolated, siloed solutions, there is now a single, consolidated view of the entire infrastructure&#39;s health.

Additionally, Java-based applications are monitored using Application Performance Monitoring (APM). This surfaces bottlenecks right at the source, long before the system noticeably slows down. The project was executed through a structured, four-phase approach: from the initial assessment and building a robust cluster to the gradual integration of the first dashboards and alerts. Since launching in 2023, the system has been continuously expanded to include new data sources.

The Architecture: All Data in One Central Location

With this consolidated data foundation in place, automated machine learning processes take over the heavy lifting. They continuously analyze performance patterns, autonomously correlate log data, and immediately flag anomalous behavior.

As soon as irregularities occur, automated alerting pipelines kick in. Integrated SLA monitoring is deeply woven into daily operations, allowing the operations team to step in early and nip potential IT issues in the bud. This approach has noticeably driven down the number of reactive support tickets.

&quot;With Elastic Observability, we have successfully shifted to proactive operations. Today, we catch bugs and performance bottlenecks before our customers even have to open a ticket. It has become a foundational pillar for the quality of our SaaS operations.&quot;

&mdash; Stephan Kochauf, COO of MOXIS

Early Detection: Automated Analysis Instead of Manual Troubleshooting

One critical factor sets this project apart from standard cloud solutions: the entire infrastructure runs fully on-premises and containerized via Docker in an Austrian data center. No sensitive signature or log data ever leaves the environment for external clouds. The project proves that cutting-edge early detection and strict European data privacy standards can go hand in hand perfectly.

Uncompromising Data Privacy: Intelligent Analysis Entirely On-Premises

The MOXIS use case clearly demonstrates that proactive monitoring isn&#39;t a question of company size, but of the right architecture. For those looking to keep complex software structures stable while maintaining full data sovereignty, this on-premises architecture delivers the ideal solution.

Ready to shift your IT monitoring from reactive to proactive? Let&#39;s start an informal conversation about what a modern observability infrastructure could look like for your systems.

Get in touch directly with our expert&nbsp;<a href="mailto:christoph.eder@ebcont.com">Christoph Eder</a>.

Key Takeaways for SaaS Providers

Supporting over 400 client instances from an Austrian data center with absolutely zero tolerance for downtime, MOXIS—a leading European platform for legally binding e-signatures—faced a challenge familiar to many SaaS providers: traditional monitoring eventually becomes a bottleneck. Partnering with EBCONT, MOXIS broke through this barrier, successfully shifting from reactive firefighting to proactive operations.

Proactive IT Operations: How MOXIS Catches Issues Before They Become Tickets

Not exactly what you&#39;d expect to hear at a cybersecurity executive breakfast. Yet that idea became a common thread throughout the morning: resilience isn&#39;t built through constant action. It&#39;s built by knowing what truly matters, filtering out the noise, and staying capable of making the right decisions when it counts.

At EBCONT&#39;s Executive Breakfast, The Resilient Organization, leaders from business and IT explored how organizations can strengthen their resilience in the face of growing cyber threats, increasing regulatory complexity, and an increasingly uncertain geopolitical landscape.

Sometimes, it&#39;s okay not to care about everything.

Tilman Epha, Sales Director DACH | XM Cyber

Cybersecurity isn&#39;t about fixing every vulnerability. It&#39;s about fixing the right ones.

Tilman Epha explained why prioritizing vulnerabilities solely by CVSS scores often misses the bigger picture. What matters isn&#39;t how severe a vulnerability appears on paper. What matters is whether it is actually part of a viable attack path within your own environment.

At the same time, AI is dramatically accelerating the speed of cyberattacks. Tasks such as reconnaissance, information gathering, and creating highly convincing phishing emails now take minutes instead of days.

The most common entry points remain remarkably consistent:

<ul>
	<li>Misconfigurations</li>
	<li>Stolen credentials</li>
	<li>Excessive privileges</li>
</ul>

The encouraging news: only about 2% of known vulnerabilities are actually part of critical attack paths. Organizations that consistently identify and remediate these exposures can reduce their overall cyber risk disproportionately.

This aligns with Gartner&#39;s prediction that organizations adopting Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) will experience at least 50% fewer successful cyberattacks by 2028.

Not Every Vulnerability Is a Real Risk

Sven Kirchmayer, Principal Solution Architect | Elastic

The biggest challenge in modern cybersecurity isn&#39;t a lack of data. It&#39;s a lack of visibility.

Sven Kirchmayer explained that security data is often spread across 60 to 80 different tools. The result: organizations see countless individual events but struggle to connect them into a clear, actionable picture.

This is where true resilience is put to the test.

The cycle is simple: See. Understand. Act.

In practice, the breakdown usually happens between seeing what&#39;s happening and understanding what it actually means. That&#39;s where organizations lose valuable hours, sometimes even days.

The numbers put the challenge into perspective:

<ul>
	<li>On average, it takes 241 days to detect and contain a cyberattack.</li>
	<li>If an attack remains undetected for more than 200 days, the average additional cost is $1.88 million.</li>
	<li>For larger organizations, one hour of IT downtime can result in losses of more than $300,000.</li>
</ul>

Another strategic consideration is where this data is processed. Elastic can run on premises, in any public cloud, or on European cloud infrastructure, giving organizations full control over where their data resides and how it is managed.

There&#39;s No Shortage of Data. Only of Visibility.

Andreas H&ouml;llrigl | STACKIT (Schwarz Digits)

Andreas H&ouml;llrigl emphasized that digital sovereignty is no longer just an IT topic. It&#39;s a strategic business decision that directly impacts an organization&#39;s ability to act. The freedom to switch providers when needed creates real negotiating power, making decisions about where data is stored and processed a matter for executive leadership.

For years, many organizations justified their dependence on non-European hyperscalers by pointing to a lack of viable alternatives. That argument is becoming increasingly difficult to defend.

The European Union is investing heavily in its own digital infrastructure while advancing initiatives such as the European Chips Act and broader technology sovereignty programs to strengthen Europe&#39;s digital independence.

One visible example is STACKIT. The company has been selected by the European Commission as one of four providers for sovereign cloud services and has also been approved by the Dutch government as an official cloud alternative.

Digital Sovereignty Has Become a Business Decision

Executive Roundtable 
Moderated by Christopher Anderlik | EBCONT

With J&uuml;rgen Heschl (Red Bull), Oliver Monari (Austrian Post), Stefan H&ouml;ller (St. Vinzenz Group), and Michael F&uuml;rlinger (Gartner KG)

The event concluded with an executive roundtable that brought together practical perspectives from different industries. Rather than focusing on theory, the discussion centered on real-world experiences and lessons learned.

One message quickly became clear: resilience doesn&#39;t mean preventing every disruption.

Not every incident requires maximum escalation. In some cases, an application can be unavailable without putting the entire organization at risk. The real challenge is knowing what matters most, setting the right priorities, and staying calm under pressure.

The same principle applies to cybersecurity as it does in everyday life: locking your front door won&#39;t stop every burglar, but it makes opportunistic attacks much less likely. For organizations, that means consistently addressing known vulnerabilities and eliminating the most obvious attack paths first.

The logistics perspective reinforced this idea. Traffic jams, supply chain delays, and unexpected disruptions are part of daily business. Resilient organizations aren&#39;t defined by the absence of problems, but by how quickly they adapt and recover.

The discussion also highlighted the value of short decision-making paths. Family-owned businesses, for example, can often respond especially quickly during a crisis. One example shared was the rapid setup of a COVID testing center, made possible by pragmatic decisions and the ability to adapt without delay.

The roundtable concluded with a simple but powerful takeaway:

Resilience isn&#39;t about making sure nothing ever goes wrong. It&#39;s about being prepared, focusing on what matters most, and staying capable of acting when it matters most.

Resilience Is Proven When Things Go Wrong

We&#39;re happy to share the presentation materials upon request.

If you&#39;re interested, feel free to reach out to <a href="mailto:christopher.anderlik@ebcont.com.">Christopher Anderlik</a>.

Continue the Conversation

Cyber threats are evolving faster, regulatory demands are becoming more complex, and digital dependencies continue to grow. Building a resilient organization takes more than strong technology. It requires clear priorities, transparency, and the ability to make sound decisions under pressure. Key takeaways from our Executive Breakfast on organizational resilience.

Focus first. The foundation of organizational resilience.

For the fourth time, EBCONT proudly welcomed colleagues, clients, partners, and friends aboard the Pride Boat. Once again, the Danube became the setting for an unforgettable evening filled with meaningful encounters, inspiring discussions, and a vibrant atmosphere.

From Vienna to Greifenstein and back, one theme united everyone on board: togetherness. Together with colleagues, customers, partners, and guests from companies including IKEA, &Ouml;BB, Bayer, Wiener St&auml;dtische Versicherung, Erste Group, and many others, we experienced the value of exchanging perspectives beyond organizational boundaries.

One of the highlights of the evening was our panel discussion on LGBTQIA+ employee networks and allyship. The conversation reinforced an important message: diversity and inclusion do not stop at company borders. By sharing experiences, learning from one another, and supporting each other, we can create meaningful and lasting change together.

As if the evening itself wanted to underline this message, a brief summer shower accompanied us on the Danube before giving way to a beautiful rainbow stretching across the sky. It was a magical moment that perfectly captured the spirit of the event.

Of course, the celebration continued long after the discussions ended. There was laughter, dancing, and unforgettable moments shared together&mdash;creating the unique atmosphere that has become the hallmark of the EBCONT Pride Boat.

For the fourth consecutive year, the EBCONT Pride Boat set sail!

But Pride is about much more than celebrating for one evening. It is about fostering workplaces where everyone&mdash;regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity&mdash;feels safe, respected, and empowered to be their authentic selves.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed to making Pride Boat 2026 such a memorable experience, especially Bettina Richter, EBCONT&#39;s DEI Lead, whose dedication made this event possible. We are already looking forward to setting sail again next year.

Pride is about connection, solidarity, and embracing diversity. The fourth EBCONT Pride Boat was much more than an event—it was an evening of inspiring conversations about allyship, genuine connection, and a rainbow stretching across the Danube, creating a powerful symbol of what is possible when we live diversity together.

EBCONT Pride Boat 2026 – United in Diversity 

Today, digital sovereignty is critical for keeping businesses and institutions agile and resilient. To make this abstract concept highly tangible, ORF and the Association of Austrian Software Innovations (V&Ouml;SI) have launched a groundbreaking initiative. Under the banner &quot;Comparable. Explainable. Sovereign.&quot;, an interdisciplinary team of experts is creating the first transparent reference model to accurately measure digital sovereignty.

As an active member of this Special Interest Group (SIG) Digital Sovereignty, EBCONT is working alongside leaders from business, research, and the public sector&mdash;including the Federal Chancellery and the Federal Computing Center (BRZ)&mdash;to establish clear criteria that expose hidden tech dependencies.

The model targets the three core pillars of sovereignty:

<ul>
	<li>Operational: Staying fully agile in daily operations.</li>
	<li>Strategic: Maintaining long-term freedom of choice.</li>
	<li>Legal: Ensuring compliance and true data ownership.</li>
</ul>

Collaboratively Building Objective Metrics for Tech Independence

At EBCONT, we believe IT sovereignty is all about self-determination. Through years of partnering with our clients, we know firsthand that you can&rsquo;t buy sovereignty off the shelf. That&rsquo;s why we leverage a robust partner ecosystem to back up this independence with solid tech architecture.

We treat technological autonomy as a non-negotiable part of modern risk management. It&rsquo;s about proactively spotting threats to business success&mdash;like over-reliance on a single platform or brittle global supply chains&mdash;and neutralizing them with tailored architectures. Our experts Christopher Anderlik, Thomas Kiniger, and Dominik F&uuml;rst are driving this initiative forward, lending their expertise to ensure IT landscapes stop being a &quot;black box.&quot;

Tech Freedom Over Vendor Lock-in

The SIG Digital Sovereignty is developing a strictly non-commercial, vendor-neutral model. By establishing clear standards for software origin, licensing, and data residency, we are bringing true transparency to the market. EBCONT is proud to champion this process, giving public sector entities and regulated industries the confidence they need when making complex tech decisions.

Ready to see where your IT landscape stands? &gt; Discover how to evaluate and optimize your digital sovereignty using these new standards. Our security, architecture, and IT governance specialists are ready to assess your current setup and chart a clear path to tech independence.

Read the official press release here: <a href="https://voesi.or.at/digital-sovereignty" rel="noopener" target="_blank">voesi.or.at/digital-sovereignty</a>

A Sovereignty Audit for Your IT Landscape

EBCONT has joined forces with VÖSI and ORF in a new expert initiative aimed at putting a concrete number on digital sovereignty. By building an objective KPI model, the working group is developing a 'Digital Sovereignty Score' to help companies and public institutions spot vendor dependencies and confidently take control of their IT strategies.

Measuring the Unmeasurable: EBCONT Helps Shape VÖSI’s New Digital Sovereignty Framework

The recognition honors EBCONT as a partner that has consistently grown its Lenovo service business &mdash; with a clear focus on Premier Support, TrueScale, and Sustainability Services.

That Lenovo introduced the &quot;Service Champions Club&quot; as a standalone award in 2025 is no coincidence: services have become a core part of modern IT procurement, not an afterthought.

When an award reflects what you do every day

As a Lenovo 360 Gold Partner and Preferred Partner for Azure Local and Microsoft CSP, EBCONT combines powerful hardware with flexible as-a-service models &mdash; tailored for mid-market and enterprise needs. This recognition reflects something EBCONT has practiced for a long time: IT doesn&#39;t end at the point of purchase. From rollout to ongoing support to sustainable lifecycle management, we think end-to-end

What this award means for our customers

Markus Ferstl is happy to help: <a href="mailto:markus.ferstl@ebcont.com">markus.ferstl@ebcont.com</a>

Planning a hardware refresh, exploring as-a-service, or looking for a Microsoft CSP partner?

EBCONT is among Lenovo's top partners in the DACH region — and has now been officially recognized with the Lenovo Service Champions Club 2025 award, ranking #1 Gold in the ALPS region.

EBCONT named #1 Gold: Lenovo Service Champions Club 2025, ALPS Region

44% of companies consider themselves highly family-friendly &ndash; yet only 24% of employees agree. This gap highlights an important reality: work-life balance is far more than a benefit on paper. It is experienced in everyday working life &ndash; through genuine flexibility, support for personal responsibilities, and an understanding of different life stages.

This is exactly where kununu&rsquo;s award comes in. It makes visible how employees truly perceive their working reality &ndash; based on independent reviews. Only around 3% of companies meet the required criteria, and the award will be presented for the first time in 2026.

EBCONT is among this select group of employers whose employees report a particularly high level of satisfaction with their work-life balance. Because family-friendliness is not defined by individual measures, but by everyday practice: flexible frameworks, understanding for individual life situations, and the natural integration of different life phases.

&ldquo;Today, work-life balance goes far beyond traditional family models. It includes a wide range of life realities &ndash; from childcare to caring for relatives,&rdquo; says Nina Zimmermann, CEO of kununu. &ldquo;With this award, we are recognizing companies for the first time that enable this diversity in everyday working life and thus set a strong example for modern employer attractiveness.&rdquo;

&ldquo;For us at EBCONT, work-life balance means creating conditions that reflect the real-life situations of our employees. The fact that our colleagues experience this in their daily work and confirm it on kununu makes this recognition particularly meaningful to us,&rdquo; says Johannes Litschauer, Managing Director of EBCONT.

The award is based on clearly defined criteria and is granted exclusively on the basis of authentic kununu reviews. It highlights how crucial the employee perspective is when it comes to shaping work-life balance in a credible and sustainable way.

We are incredibly proud: EBCONT has been awarded the kununu Top Rated Family-Friendliness 2026 distinction and is therefore among the few companies where work-life balance is truly lived in everyday working life – as confirmed by independent employee reviews on kununu.

EBCONT is named a Top Rated family-friendly employer by kununu!

The Children&rsquo;s Portal has established a central digital platform that significantly simplifies the search and pre-registration process for childcare and early education facilities. At the same time, administrative processes for municipalities and provider organizations have become more efficient and transparent.

EBCONT played a key role in shaping both the concept and the implementation of the platform&rsquo;s usability. A clearly structured layout, intuitive user guidance, and easy-to-understand processes were at the heart of the design approach. The goal was to make digital workflows as simple as possible&mdash;for families as well as for administrative bodies.

The award for the Province of Styria confirms that a consistent focus on usability and process quality delivers real results. Positive feedback from stakeholders and the high level of platform adoption demonstrate that modern service design can make a decisive contribution to the quality of public services.

Vesna Krnjic, Technical Project Lead for the Children&rsquo;s Portal at the Province of Styria, emphasizes the importance of a &ldquo;user-friendly platform for parents and guardians&rdquo; and highlights that modern technologies ensure reliable use aligned with the needs of the target group. &ldquo;We are absolutely delighted that the Styria Children&rsquo;s Portal has been honored with the &lsquo;Manage Instead of Administer&rsquo; Award 2025. This recognition confirms that we have successfully modernized administration and created real added value for citizens. My special thanks go to EBCONT&mdash;the professional and collaborative partnership on equal footing was key to the success of this project.&rdquo;

We warmly congratulate the Province of Styria and all project partners on this well-deserved recognition and look forward to many more successful collaborations in the future.

&nbsp;

At the beginning of the year, the Styria Children’s Portal was honored with the ‘Manage Instead of Administer’ Award 2025 by the Styrian Economic Chamber (WKO Styria). This award recognizes projects that modernize public administration and create real added value for citizens.

Styria Children’s Portal wins award

What a strong result: EBCONT has been named a &ldquo;Top Employer&rdquo; for the tenth consecutive year in 2026!

And that&rsquo;s not all &mdash; we also made a remarkable leap in the rankings, climbing from 131st to 48th place. This makes us one of the biggest climbers of the year.

Within the &ldquo;Internet, Telecommunications &amp; IT&rdquo; sector, EBCONT further strengthened its position, improving from 11th to an outstanding 5th place. This result highlights the continuous development of the privately owned IT service provider as a modern, employee-focused employer.

The award is based on a comprehensive and independent study: more than 340,000 evaluations from employees, trend readers, and members of the career networks Xing and kununu were included in the ranking. In total, over 1,400 companies with at least 200 employees in Austria were analyzed. One of the most heavily weighted questions was: Would you recommend your employer?

Johannes Litschauer, CEO of EBCONT: 
&ldquo;This development clearly shows what is possible when many committed people pull together. Thanks to everyone who shapes EBCONT and makes it so special.&quot;

EBCONT has been named a ‘Top Employer’ for the tenth year in a row in 2026 and is one of the year’s biggest risers, jumping to 48th place. Within the IT sector, the company has also advanced significantly and now ranks in the top five.


10-Time Top Employer — Now Ranked Among the Top 50!

For us, expansion means far more than additional space. It represents even closer proximity to our customers, room for developing innovative ideas, and a modern working environment in which our teams can thrive. With our new office at Kranichberggasse 2 in Vienna&rsquo;s 12th district, we are creating the ideal conditions for this.

In mid-March, we celebrated this important milestone together at an opening event. Numerous long-standing clients and valued partners &ndash; including Gerhard Wagner (KSV), Franz J&auml;gersberger (BMF), and Gerlinde Scholler (Schrack Seconet) &ndash; accepted our invitation and made the occasion truly special.

Our site manager Florian Walter, who has been closely connected with clients in the region for many years, provided initial insights into the new premises: 
&ldquo;I am very much looking forward to this location generating many new impulses and to further developing innovative projects together with our clients. With the new office, we are strengthening our presence in the south of Vienna and creating space for even closer collaboration and sustainable solutions.&rdquo;

With EBCONT Vienna South at EUROPLAZA, we are sending a clear message: 
Welcome, future. Welcome, expansion.

EBCONT continues its growth trajectory and expands its presence in Vienna: We are delighted to announce the opening of our new location at EUROPLAZA Vienna South – at the same time marking our return to one of Vienna’s most important office hubs.

EBCONT opens a location at EUROPLAZA Vienna South

Educational publishers today face the challenge of balancing rising expectations, complex product portfolios, and ever-shorter production cycles. Together with the Austrian Federal Publishing Office (&ouml;bv), EBCONT implemented a modern publishing architecture that centralizes content, streamlines processes, and enables automated multi-channel delivery&mdash;from mathematics textbooks to interactive digital exercises.

Educational Publishing at a Turning Point

The &ouml;bv&rsquo;s production previously relied on Word manuscripts, PDF-based corrections, and separate systems for digital exercise formats. As product complexity increased, this approach became increasingly labor-intensive and difficult to scale.

With the introduction of a centralized content model in SiteFusion, &ouml;bv is moving toward managing all content in a structured, single source. Learning objectives, tasks, solutions, and metadata are stored in consistent data pools and automatically delivered to all output channels&mdash;whether print, HTML, or digital exercise formats.

A content-first approach that simplifies production

In the first phase, selected authors and the editorial team work together in a shared online portal. Corrections, feedback, approvals, and the parallel creation of tasks and solutions all take place within a single, end-to-end workflow.

Examples of the improvements:

<ul>
	<li>Automatic numbering and linking</li>
	<li>Extended exercise types in Fonto</li>
	<li>An optimized user interface</li>
	<li>Transparent, traceable feedback processes</li>
</ul>

The result: less manual effort, fewer sources of error, and significantly more efficient workflows

Collaboration that saves time and improves quality

Thanks to the XML-first approach, InDesign files for textbooks and solution books can be generated automatically&mdash;including mathematical typesetting and language-specific variants.

At the same time, the new architecture enables output as HTML packages that can be transformed into more than 20 interactive exercise types. This is complemented by diagnostic tools for competency analysis&mdash;an important step toward modern digital learning formats.

Automated production for print and digital

All channels draw from the same structured content base. 
The result: no duplicate data, no version conflicts, and fewer errors&mdash;combined with significantly shorter production cycles. New product ideas can be realized faster because the foundation is already consistent and scalable.

One source, many formats: true multi-channel publishing

From the migration to DITA LCE strict to the expansion of exercise types, &ouml;bv and EBCONT have established a robust technical foundation.

Centralized competency catalogs, automated workflows, and standardized outputs provide the basis for responding flexibly to new market requirements.

A scalable foundation for future innovation

We&rsquo;re happy to discuss the potential that structured content, automation, and the right technology can unlock for your organization.

 
We look forward to your challenge: 
juergen.ritschka-kohl@ebcont.com

&nbsp;

Looking to modernize your publishing workflows?

With centralized content management, automated workflows, and smart technology, ensuring consistent quality across all channels.

From Manuscript to Multi-Channel
How the Austrian Federal Publishing Office modernized its production processes

Many organizations use Elastic, but turning it into truly sustainable value for security, search, or observability takes deep expertise. That&rsquo;s exactly what EBCONT has been bringing to the table for over a decade: solid architecture consulting, proven best practices, and hands-on experience from more than 60 Elastic projects.

This combination has also convinced Elastic &ndash; earning EBCONT the recognition as Elastic Innovation Partner 2025.

Precise Search, Strong Security, Full Control

For more than 12 years, Elastic technology has been a core part of our work&mdash;across large enterprises as well as the public sector. During this time, we&rsquo;ve delivered a wide range of tailored solutions: from precision search to robust security setups all the way to full observability platforms.

We support our clients throughout the entire lifecycle: from architectural decisions to setup and stack upgrades to ongoing operations.

What&rsquo;s Behind the Innovation Award

<ul>
	<li>Security &amp; SIEM: from log correlation to threat detection</li>
	<li>Observability: monitoring, alerting, and performance transparency</li>
	<li>Search &amp; AI: enterprise search, semantic search, and AI-powered features</li>
	<li>Data Integration: connecting a wide range of data sources to Elastic</li>
</ul>

And on top of that: with EBCONT, Elastic can be seamlessly integrated on-premises, in the cloud, or in hybrid environments.

Our Elastic Focus Areas at a Glance:

As an Elastic ELITE Partner and authorized reseller, EBCONT delivers an end-to-end offering&mdash;consulting, implementation, and operations from a single source:

Consulting 
&bull; Strategic architecture consulting, best practices, and performance optimization 
&bull; Workshops and training for teams, plus technical deep dives

Implementation 
&bull; Setup and upgrades of the Elastic Stack 
&bull; Tailored solutions: from SIEM to observability to AI-powered search 
&bull; Integration of diverse data sources and existing systems 
&bull; Regular joint events with Elastic for updates and deep-dive insights

Operations 
&bull; On-premise, cloud, or hybrid operations 
&bull; Managed Service with SLA support 
&bull; Administration of Elastic subscriptions

Our difference: consulting excellence, deep technical expertise, and a seasoned operations team. The result isn&rsquo;t proof-of-concepts that sit in a drawer&mdash;it&rsquo;s scalable, secure, and future-ready platforms.

More Than Consulting: A Holistic Elastic Approach

The title Elastic Innovation Partner 2025 stands for trust, expertise, and tangible results. For EBCONT, it&rsquo;s both a confirmation and a motivation: to continue delivering projects that make an impact&mdash;technologically smart, collaboratively strong, and always with an eye on the bigger picture.

Conclusion: Innovation in Action &mdash; Now Awarded

Whether SIEM, search, or observability&mdash;if you want to get more out of Elastic, we&rsquo;re here to help. 
We&rsquo;ll show you what&rsquo;s technically possible, what makes sense from a compliance perspective, and what delivers sustainable business value.

Get in touch and put Elastic to work where it matters most.

Use Elastic with Purpose &ndash; with EBCONT as Your Implementation Partner

Outstanding Partnership – EBCONT Recognized for Innovative Elastic Solutions

Apps, CMS, Publishing Channels & E-Learning

Comenius EduMedia Siegel 2026 für allangeo: Auszeichnung für digitales Lernen

Vom Manuskript zum Multi-Channel: Wie der öbv seine Produktionsprozesse modernisiert hat

Eine neue Dimension des Lernens: LERN:GALAXIE & NAVE

Beacon: Die Zukunft der Normenentwicklung

SMART Standards: Die Normenproduktion wird XML-first

Aus 60.000 Dokumentenseiten wird eine digitale Wissensbasis

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