Digital Discourse / Events

Kentucky’s Implementation of Common Core State Standards Demonstrates Key Role of Technology

April 19, 2012 By Lindsay Harman Leave a Comment

Kentucky was the first state to adopt the Common Core State Standards and has become a pioneer in implementation. Cindy Parker, a representative from the Kentucky Board of Education spoke recently at a National Adolescent Literacy Council event about the challenges and solutions to implementing the Common Core Standards. Kentucky began to implement CCSS for the 2010-2011 school year with very little funding support from state legislature. Educational technology has helped Kentucky by providing new and innovative methods for professional development, curriculum dissemination and teacher support.

A robust teacher training online platform was created to update teachers on the best practices for implementing the new standards. Lack of funding for traditional development methods created unique challenges that were overcome by implementing more flexible and easily accessed digital tools to support Kentucky’s educators.
Examples include:

  • iTunesU is used for podcasts and webinars for professional development of teachers. A monthly webinar with the state’s Education Commissioner and the district Superintendents has been established to create better communication.
  • Race to the Top funding was used to create “Literacy Central,” a website designed to aid teachers in professional learning. Videos, lesson plans, and forums are contained on the website and act as guideposts for teachers.
  • The Continuous Instructional Improvement Technology System (CIITS) was created in partnership with Pearson Schoolnet. This was designed as a one stop online platform for teachers to access CCSS literacy plans.  Modules within the site provide analysis of CCSS requirements and how to incorporate those into day to day classroom activities. Professional growth plans and consolidated professional development resources are also included.

The implementation of the CCSS in Kentucky led to not only classroom technology upgrades and changes, but also important changes in professional development. As new content and new guidelines were introduced, Kentucky reacted by creating technologically savvy teacher training. The important role of technology and digital learning, both for curriculum as well as for professional development, is clear.

SIIA’s recent CCSS webinar and Ed Tech Government Forum session are available to SIIA members seeking additional information about how they can support education’s needs with CCSS aligned content, technologies and resources. Further reading can also be found in Ed Week’s recent article.

 

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

Filed Under: Ed Tech Industry Summit, Education, Education Policy, Events, Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Google, Oracle Execs & Pulitzer Prize Finalist Nick Carr to Keynote All About the Cloud

April 19, 2012 By Rhianna Collier Leave a Comment

Executives from Google Enterprise and Oracle, along with Pulitzer Prize finalist Nick Carr, a columnist and celebrated author of “The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains,” have been announced as keynote speakers for the 2012 All About the Cloud conference. The seventh annual event will take place May 8-10 at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel.

All About the Cloud is the software industry’s most comprehensive ISV conference on cloud computing and is presented by the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA)—the principal trade association for the software and digital content industries—in partnership with OpSource, a Dimension Data Company—the leader in enterprise cloud and managed hosting.

This year’s conference will focus on a range of emerging trends and critical issues—including mobile, security and compliance, big data, and more. Through keynote speeches, panels and product demonstrations, the event will explore how the cloud is revolutionizing the way software is developed, consumed and delivered.

Keynote speakers include:

• Chris Baker—Senior Vice President, Global ISV/OEM Sales for Oracle Corporation
• Nick Carr—Author of “The Big Switch” & “The Shallows” and Columnist for the Guardian
• Michael Lock—Vice President, Americas for Google Enterprise

Rhianna Collier is VP for the Software Division at SIIA.

Filed Under: All About the Cloud, Cloud Computing, Events, Software, Software Events Tagged With: , ,

Focus On: Video Distribution Webcast is Now Available On Demand

April 19, 2012 By Jennifer Hansen Leave a Comment
In case you missed it, the focus on webinar on video distribution is now available! During the one hour video you will learn how to grow your audience, subscribers, or licenses for your content-based video application. Specifically the sessions covers:
  • The importance of developing a video creation and distribution strategy to support your business goals.
    How easy (and affordable) it can be to create video.
  • The best options for publishing and distributing video to almost any platform, including the web, tablets, mobile, connected TVs, and more.
  • The secrets to making your video searchable and discoverable as text.

View the Video Now

Jennifer HansenJennifer Hansen is Program Manager for the SIIA Content Division.

Filed Under: Content, Content VIA Platforms, Uncategorized

SIIA Member Spotlight: Crowd Fusion, The Agile Data Model

April 2, 2012 By Kathy Greenler Sexton Leave a Comment

I had a chance to talk with Crowd Fusion’s CEO Brian Alvey to learn how Crowd Fusion uses an Agile Data Model to shake up the market and get customer’s sites and apps to market quickly and efficiently. Brian is also speaking at Content VIA Platforms  on May 10 in San Francisco where he will share experiences and war stories gained working on behalf of major publishers interacting with Apple, Facebook, Android and other platforms.

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Kathy: Hi Brian, tell us about your Crowd Fusion, what you do?

Brian Alvey, CEO, Crowd Fusion

Brian: Crowd Fusion is high-end multi-platform publishing software. These days publishers need to do more than ever, but they need to do it with tighter budgets. Crowd Fusion makes it easy to publish the same content to all the latest platforms and devices — all without expanding their production teams.

 

Kathy: Who are your customers?

Brian: Publishers and large brands. Our platform has been used by TMZ, Warner Bros/Telepictures, Myspace, The Daily, Essence and Best Buy’s Tecca.com.

 

Kathy: Tell is what is unique about Crowd Fusion?

Brian: We invented an agile data model that lets us and our customers get sites and apps to market faster and iterate more frequently.

 

Kathy: What are some unique challenges you’ve experienced at Crowd Fusion?

Brian: We work with high-end publishers and big media brands, so we’ve had to solve for 3 kinds of scale: traffic, content and workflow. One of our strengths is that our platform is cloud-native. Not only can you manage content in our CMS, you can also launch new servers and coordinate infrastructure all using a web browser — even on an iPad.

 

Kathy: What do you see as the biggest trends in the industry the next 12-18 months?

Brian: Tablet publishing. Multi-platform publishing. Mobile commerce.

 

Kathy:  What do you hope to get out of your SIIA membership?

Brian: Meeting people who face the same publishing and technology challenges we deal with.

 

Kathy: One thing the industry doesn’t know about you or others in your company?

Brian: We are a completely virtual company. We have no real office space. Our team works from home, Starbucks, customer offices, grandma’s house, wherever. We have 30 people and they are spread out across 18 U.S. states, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Italy.

 

Kathy: Whats the best way to contact you?

Brian: On Twitter: @crowdfusion or @brianalvey for me, Or by email: brian@crowdfusion.com.

Kathy Greenler Sexton is Vice President

Filed Under: Business Models, Content, Content VIA Platforms, Platforms, Social Media Tagged With: , , , ,

Creating Energized Enterprises: A New SIIA Member Interview with Marc Strohlein of Agile Business Logic

March 29, 2012 By Kathy Greenler Sexton Leave a Comment

I had a chance to talk with  new SIIA Member Marc Strohlein of Agile Business Logic and learn how Agile Business Logic is helping create energized enterprises. Marc is on also on the Steering Committee for Content VIA Platforms May 9-10 in San Francisco.

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Marc Strohlein, Agile Business Logic

Kathy: Tell me about your company, what you do.

Marc: At Agile Business Logic we create energized enterprises by helping organizations to optimize strategies, people, processes, and technologies and their interactions. I apply my experience gained as COO, CTO, CIO, and SVP of Operations at companies including Outsell Inc., Classroom Connect/Harcourt, Gartner Group, and Dataquest, to ensure that my clients have the right strategies, talent, organization, and technologies to succeed.

My passion and focus over my career has been in unlocking energy, focus, innovation, and growth in individuals, teams, and organizations—creating energized enterprises that outperform their peers. Now at Agile Business Logic , I work with technology and help with positioning, messaging, and go-to-market strategies. Technology marketing is growing increasingly difficult with crowded and noisy markets—it takes highly relevant and well-timed content to get potential buyers attention. I help vendors implement a “buyers journey” approach to content marketing.

 

Kathy: That’s great Marc, and what types of organizations do you typically work with?

Marc: I work with organizations of all types, but especially like working with publishers and information providers. I have been in the information industry much of my career and I have a deep appreciation for the power and value of getting the right information to the right person at the right time to help businesses cope with challenging and volatile business environments. I also like working with associations as I bring ideas and expertise from the for-profit world that are often new to non-profits. And, as I noted, I work with technology vendors, especially those that sell content software technology solutions.

 

Kathy: What is unique about your approach?

Marc:  I focus a lot of attention on the components of an organization and how they interact; in other words, I take a holistic systems view of organizations and create recommendations and solutions based on that viewpoint. I also pay a lot of attention to people, culture, and management styles, even when the problem at hand is purportedly technology related. Most technology-driven initiatives, whether product or enterprise, either succeed or fail based on how well peoples’ needs and behaviors are considered and integrated into solutions.

That also applies to the vendor side of my practice—the challenge for vendors is to get inside the heads of their prospects and I use my years of experience as a CIO and CTO buying and managing technology, as COO and business executive leveraging technology, and as an industry analyst studying and writing about technology to help them solve that challenge.

 

Kathy: Thanks Marc, is there any new or recent news you would like to share?

Marc: I’m three chapters into writing a book on Energized Enterprises for publication later this year.

 

Kathy: Very exciting!  Tell me more about what the book will cover.

Marc: Sure–the book is about tapping hidden or latent energy in organizations. It’s for managers and executives that have made investments in talent, technology, and consulting and training, but still find their teams or organizations unable to perform effectively. The book contains frameworks and tools to help tap the latent energy and create “energized enterprises.”

 

Kathy: We’ll keep our eye out for updates on the book. What do you see as the biggest trends in the industry the next 12-18 months?

Marc: Tablets, HTML5, cloud computing, mobile and big data are the most obvious technology trends, but I like to study disruptive forces and their interactions and have found that the most potent disruptive forces come from the confluence of multiple trends. For example, while the rise of cloud computing, big data, localized computing, semantic technology, and social media are all important trends on their own, collectively they are going to enable massively scalable hyper-personalized content and advertising—that is beyond the 18 month horizon, but the early strands are starting to become visible. This is a classic “skate to where the puck is going” opportunity for publishers.

 

Kathy: So what is the best way for people contact you?

Marc: Email me at mstrohlein@agilebusinesslogic.com or call me: 650.766.1067

 

Kathy: Thanks Marc, we’ll also make sure to look for book and business updates via twitter @mstrohlein!

Kathy Greenler Sexton is Vice President and General Manager for the SIIA Content Division.

Filed Under: Content, Content VIA Platforms Tagged With: , , ,

SIIA Announces Partnership with InfoCommerce Group to Produce Information Industry’s Only Data Content Conference

March 27, 2012 By Kathy Greenler Sexton Leave a Comment

SIIA’s Content Division today announced that it has partnered with InfoCommerce Group (ICG) to produce the annual DataContent Conference. The event, which takes place October 9-10 in Philadelphia, PA, is the only conference devoted solely to producers of commercial data products.

DataContent has become the primary meeting ground for publishers to get in-depth and up-close looks at the new ideas, new business models and innovative new companies that are defining the business of business information. DataContent is distinguished by the quality of attendees, which include large numbers of C-level publishing executives, entrepreneurs, bankers, private equity groups and advisory companies. In partnering with ICG, SIIA will apply its more than 20 years as a leader in the information and content industry to develop new programs and broaden the event’s reach.

Combining our years of experience in information and content with ICG’s tremendous commercial data expertise will make DataContent even more valuable to attendees. We’ll bring new ideas, access to leading executives, and a broad reach among audiences that care about data publishing. The DataContent Conference and ICG’s principals have been serving this industry for over 25 years. The event is a catalyst for new talent entering the industry and has a deep and powerful connection to established players.

The DataContent Conference is focused on data publishing and draws information-based businesses, from established traditional enterprises in various stages of evolution, to cutting-edge technology in search of a viable business model. These businesses come together to learn about the latest industry developments, hear from top speakers, and identify new opportunities with those who can help make them happen. No other conference both offers a deep and highly focused discussion of business information and attracts nearly all of the leading players driving the industry. SIIA and ICG are currently working to develop the program for 2012, and more details will be announced in the near future.

Kathy Greenler Sexton is Vice President and General Manager for the SIIA Content Division.

Filed Under: Content, Events Tagged With: , ,

SIIA Survey: Publishers Prioritizing Multiple Platforms as they Develop Content Distribution Strategies

March 20, 2012 By Kathy Greenler Sexton Leave a Comment

SIIA’s Content Division today announced results from a survey that shows the challenges and opportunities content creators have in aligning their organizations to keep up with fast-evolving platforms.

Most of the 85 publishing executives surveyed said their companies are thinking about how to publish their content across multiple platforms.When respondents were asked to name the “high priority” platforms they plan to focus on during 2012, the answers were extremely varied.

According to the results of the SIIA Content Platforms survey:

• About 60 percent of respondents classify tablet publishing, mobile publishing and/or launching new web-based products as a high priority;
• Forty-two percent prioritize licensing and syndication; • Nineteen percent prioritize video;
• Business-to-business (B2B) companies tend to prioritize new web-based products slightly above mobile and tablet publishing, whereas business-to-consumer (B2C) companies prioritize tablet publishing above all else;
• B2B companies are twice as likely to prioritize licensing and syndication versus their B2C counterparts;
• 50 percent of director-level individuals prioritize tablet publishing, versus 69 percent of C- and VP-level managers and their manager-level counterparts;
• Only 25 percent of individuals in sales roles prioritize tablet publishing, versus 70 percent of their marketing counterparts;
• 75 percent of individuals in sales roles prioritize web-based publishing—the highest of any group—versus 50 percent of their marketing counterparts.

The content platforms on which companies are currently publishing also vary. Overall, and by a fairly wide margin, companies are leveraging Apple platforms – the iPad and the iPhone. The survey found that 68 percent are currently publishing on the iPad and 58 percent on the iPhone. Meanwhile, 38 percent are publishing on Android-based phones, and 35 percent are publishing on Android-based tablets. Just 17 percent are leveraging Facebook (Open Graph), and 16 percent are publishing on the Kindle.

Large enterprise information and digital content companies are deploying more products and services on Apple, Android, Kindle and even Facebook than their SMB counterparts. And when it comes to developing apps for mobile and other platforms, B2C companies and large enterprise content companies are more likely to outsource than their B2B and SMB counterparts.

We conducted the survey to gain a greater understanding of publishers’ needs in advance of Content VIA Platforms, an all-new conference to help publishing, media and information companies design effective distribution strategies for mobile, social and other content distribution platforms. Full results of the survey will be released at Content Via Platforms, held May 9-10 in San Francisco.

Kathy Greenler Sexton is Vice President and General Manager for the SIIA Content Division.

Filed Under: Content, Content Events, Content VIA Platforms, Events, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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