PDT Europe started in 1992 as a project sponsored by the European Commission and initiated by Prof. Horst Nowaki (Technical University, Berlin) as a communication place for like-minded European specialists in the then emerging field of product data technologies. It was soon managed by Bill Mesley of Quality Marketing Services in the UK, who was the soul of the event until 2003. Since 2004 the event is run by Eurostep.

Over its lifecycle, the conference evolved into the leading pan-European event for the diverse aspects of product data technology in key industries. These industries included heavy weights, such as the automotive industry, aerospace- and defense industries, plant / building design and construction, offshore and petrochemicals, the emerging e-business domain and many more. A key aspect during recent years has been the need for interoperability and openness.

One of the conference’s key characteristics was its public-private partnership concept. Sponsors included not only organisations such as the European Commission and the European Space Agency but also leading European manufactures, such as BMW, Shell and Fiat-CRF. In addition, IT companies like Microsoft and IBM supported the event on various occasions. In fact, because of this concept, all key players in the field of product data technologies were provided with a place to exchange and share ideas on a regular basis and over a long period of time – something not be found too often in today’s technical conference field.