Digital Discourse / Information Industry Summit

Mark Anderson’s Tech Predictions for 2012

January 25, 2012 By

Contributed by Susan Becker, Consultant

On opening day of the SIIA’s Information Industry Summit, Mark Anderson, CEO, Strategic News Service made his top technology calls for 2012. His theme for the year is “Integrate Everything”.

Anderson opened with three items:

1) IP – There is an increasing threat to intellectual property with theft of IP growing at an alarming rate and intensity;

2) Europe – Merkle will save whatever is worth saving in Europe and the region will soon morph into three: Nordic Europe (out) core Europe (stays in), marginal Europe (leaves or gets kicked out); and

3) China is going to hit a wall with pollution and the lack of a free market economy.

Anderson’s predictions as of December 8, 2011:

1) TV becomes the new center of gravity. Smartphone TV integration software becomes a new category. Apple hustles to get out Apple TV.

2) Tectonic shifts in phone markets. Asia is in. Skandanavia is second and Nokia loses top spot. Smartphones will dominate the total cell market. Why would you have anything else.

3) Clouds are for consumers and pilots. Enterprises should stay away due to security and reliability

4) Security hits the tech world for real – big spend.

5) SIRI stuns the world. The new world of personal assistants has arrived. New assistants will begin entering the world.

6) Voice recognition comes of age. Connection to SIRI. The time has come for computers and humans to talk together. By the end of this year, talking to machines in normal voice works.

7) eReaders prosper, but Pads will dominate. Pads are at their core consumption devices.

8)  The consumption world explodes. New players, new consumption models, new content, etc. People are now ready to pay.

9) Governments and corporations focus on IP. IP is not valued as replacement cost, but as it’s global strategic value.

10) Amazon gets it all. Outselling the booksellers, outmalling the malls, etc. One company can have it all. Plus eBooks, self-publishing and distributions. It is trying to have it all. Will have a terrific year in 2012.

More on Mark’s predictions:

John Blossom of Shore Communication’s blog post

Steve Lohr’s post in New York Times’ Bits blog

Share|
Filed Under: Content, Information Industry Summit Tagged With: ,

The British Invasion: Leading the Global Media Charge at the Information Industry Summit

January 25, 2012 By

Contributed by Susan Becker, Consultant

On the first day of the SIIA Information Industry Summit, attendees listened to a lively discussion of what it takes to be a successful publisher in the global world. Michelle Manafy, Director of Content, Free, Pint Limited moderated a panel of senior executives from four remarkable UK-based brands that are consistently cited for outstanding performance: Eric Maumes, CTO of the The Economist Online; John Leitch, Executive Director of Metro UK, Ann Sarnoff, COO of BBC Worldwide America and Elissa Tomasetti, VP Marketing & Global Audience Development of the Financial Times.

The British Invasion

In each case, the organizations took their vision global after a successful run in their home market. Each talked about the need to combine strategy with data driven experimentation. Social media has been at the heart of their growth. The Economist went global via a two-prong approach, looking abroad for both content and subscribers. The Metro UK was started as a free newspaper that capitalized on London commuters and they eventually replicated the model to 50 other cities across the world. Only now as they form a relationship with Amazon, are they looking to introduce a pay model. The BBC Worldwide has grown commercial licensing and audience in order to reduce their reliance on fees paid by UK citizens. The Financial Times, internationally recognized for the global business community was the pioneer of the metered pay model.

The first question posed by Manafy was, “Should all media companies consider going global?” From Metro’s point of view, the answer is no because the content has to be relevant to the readers which makes sense based on their city-centric focus. Tomasetti says that the FT learned to combine local content and global content. As the BBC sees it, “It’s all about offering a hybrid content offering” in order to satify subscribers and advertisers. The Economist Online provides a view of the world and then customizes through regional publications.

Social media has been central to growth. While organizations like the Financial Times, are employing community managers (and making them accountable for the community relationship), The Economist was able to take it one step further by leveraging a self-organized community of 40,000 – 50,000 members to innovate new widgets.

Lastly, the panel debated the growing significance of mobile in their growth strategies. For the Financial Times, mobile has become the largest source of subscriptions because users are more engaged. For the Economist, 10%-20% of the audience comes from mobile devices. Metro UK is moving its print audience online and figuring out how to monetize through strategic partnerships with eCommerce partners. Clearly the combination of mobile plus social is clearly an area to watch in 2012.

More on The British Invasion:

Blog post by John Blossom of Shore Communications

Article by Christopher Hosford in BtoB Media Business

Share|
Filed Under: Content, Information Industry Summit

First-Ever Peter Jackson Innovation Award Goes to Internet Archive Founder Brewster Kahle

January 25, 2012 By

Yesterday, SIIA unveiled the first-ever Peter Jackson Innovation Award and presented it to Brewster Kahle, digital librarian and founder of the Internet Archive. The award honors the late Thomson Reuters vice president and chief scientist, and his profound impact on the B2B publishing industry. Dr. Jackson was an active board member of the SIIA Content Division.

SIIA created the Peter Jackson Innovation Award to recognize individuals who are an inspiration to the entire digital content industry. Brewster Kahle is an industry pioneer who has dedicated his career to philanthropy and efforts to improve and preserve digital content.

Because of Brewster’s work, the Internet Archive now offers a staggering 85 billion pieces of web geology. His unyielding vision and creativity has made it possible for our society to chronicle the growth of the Internet and continually celebrate the lasting impact of digital content. In the same spirit as Dr. Jackson, Brewster has demonstrated tremendous commitment to advancing digital media, and in doing so, has been an inspiration to so many of us.

The Peter Jackson Innovation Award was given to Kahle during the SIIA’s annual CODiE Awards dinner, held in conjunction with the Information Industry Summit. In addition to the award, a donation of $1,000 will be made in Kahle’s name to the Peter Jackson Fund for Keyboard and Guitar at the MacPhail Center for Music. The Peter Jackson Fund for Keyboard and Guitar recognizes the profound impact of music on Dr. Jackson’s life by providing music lessons for disadvantaged children.

Beyond his achievements with the Internet Archive, Kahle has worked in other areas of digital content and technology, including the Open Content Alliance, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the GNU Project. His academic studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) were in the area of artificial intelligence—an area of interest also shared by Dr. Jackson.

View the memorial video for Peter, which was shown during the reception:

Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA.

Share|
Filed Under: Content, Information Industry Summit Tagged With: , ,

SIIA Announces CODiE Award Winners for Digital Content Industry

January 25, 2012 By

SIIA announced the winners of the 2012 CODiE Awards in the digital content industry during a special awards reception and dinner yesterday. Fourteen winners were recognized for products and services deployed specifically for the digital content market, in conjunction with SIIA’s 11th annual Information Industry Summit, held Jan 24-25 in New York City.

IIS Jan 2012 NYC-218

View SIIA and John Blossom‘s pictures from the awards reception.

The 89 nominated products and services were first reviewed by third-party judges, whose evaluations determined the 52 finalists. SIIA members then reviewed these finalists and voted to select the winners.

The CODiE Awards, originally called the Excellence in Software Awards, were established in 1986 by the Software Publishers Association (SPA), now SIIA, so pioneers of the then-nascent software industry could evaluate and honor each other’s work. Since being established in 1986, the CODiE Awards program has recognized more than 1,000 companies for achieving greatness in the software and information industries.

Check out tweets, photos and more from the awards reception on the CODiE Awards Storify.

The 2012 CODiE Award Winners, listed by category, product/service and company, include:

Best Consumer Information Resource
Safari Books Online – Safari Books Online

Best Content Aggregation Service
ProQuest – The Vogue Archive

Best Digital Rights Management Solution
SafeNet, Inc. – SRM Group – Sentinel Cloud

Best Financial/Market Data Information Service
PitchBook Data, Inc. – PitchBook

Best Governance, Risk & Compliance Information Solution
Bloomberg Government – Bloomberg Government (BGOV)

Best Lead Generation Service
NetProspex – NetProspex B2B Contact Solutions

Best Legal Solution
LexisNexis Group – LexisNexis Client Center

Best Medical and Health Information Product
Leadership Directories, Inc. – Leadership Health Focus

Best Online Business Information Service
Cision – Cision

Best Online News Service
Thomson Reuters – Thomson Reuters Multimedia Center

Best Online Science or Technology Service
Reprints Desk, Inc. – Bibliogo

Best Political Information Resource
LexisNexis Group – Nexis

Best Sales & Marketing Intelligence
Eloqua Corporation – Eloqua Revenue Suite

Best Solution Integrating Content Into Workflow
NetProspex – NetProspex B2B Contact Solutions

Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA.

Share|
Filed Under: CODiEs, Content, Information Industry Summit Tagged With: , ,

Executives from News Organizations to Address Economics of Digital Content at Information Industry Summit

January 17, 2012 By

At SIIA’s eleventh annual Information Industry Summit, keynotes from NBC, BNA and Strategic News Service will address top tech predictions for 2012, investment strategies, and BNA’s acquisition by Bloomberg.

The two-day event, which kicks off January 24 in New York City, is one of the most important gatherings for executives involved in the creation and distribution of digital content.

Heated competition and market consolidation are two big realities facing the digital content industry in 2012. These two issues will be in focus at this year’s Information Industry Summit.

The following keynote presenters will help senior B2B information executives navigate these and other emerging market trends:

Mark Anderson, CEO, Strategic News Service
“Top Tech Predictions for 2012”
Mark Anderson

Anderson is known for accurately forecasting important shifts in the economic landscape and technology markets. With the theme “Integrate Everything,” he will be making his top technology calls for 2012. Is your company ready?


Michael Chen, Fmr President, NBC News’ Strategic Initiatives Group, & Founder, Peacock Equity Fund
“Inside Secrets of a Media Investor”
Michael Chen

Want to understand how to position your company based on what the market is looking for, and how to talk to VCs, bankers or even strategic investors? Michael Chen will offer his unique perspective based on 20 years of providing financing to companies in need of growth capital.


Paul Wojcik, Chairman, BNA
“Transformation Amidst Market Consolidation”
Peter Wojcik

BNA, which was just acquired by Bloomberg in September 2011, was one of the oldest and largest independent professional information companies in the legal, tax, and regulatory space. Wojcik will discuss how BNA navigated change and transformation, made the hard strategic decisions they needed to, and ultimately decided to join forces with Bloomberg in a move he says “makes perfect strategic sense to change the industry’s competitive landscape.”


Laura Greenback is Communications Director at SIIA.

Share|
Filed Under: Content, Information Industry Summit Tagged With: , ,

SIIA Previews Interview with Praetorian Group

January 12, 2012 By

At SIIA, identifying the next generation of game changers is as much our passion as it is our job. Join us as we take an inside look at six companies that are poised to make an impact on the content industry: BestVendor, Crowd Fusion, First Stop Health, Narrative Science, Praetorian Group and ReportLinker. Today we’ll be taking a look at Praetorian Group.


1. What problems does Praetorian Group try to solve?

Praetorian Group provides first responders with an array of expert content that helps keep themselves and their community safer on a daily basis. Officers are constantly in need of information to increase their awareness or refine their training and we provide an online network where this is readily available. Additionally, we effectively connect leading public safety manufacturers and distributors with our substantial member base in an environment where they are proactively researching their products or services.

 

2. What advantages do you have that are unique to your company?

Our primary competitive advantage is being able to effectively combine over a decade of public safety market expertise with online knowledge and resources. Within our market we are the leader in linking first responders with online technology as well as being able to successfully monetize those resources.

 

3. Where does your company fit in the business life-cycle and why?

Praetorian Group has been profitable since 2005 and currently services 450 active advertisers within a network of over 850,000 subscribed members. In 2011 we generated $8.5M in revenue and are growing at a rate of 15% per year.

 

4. What are your goals for presenting at IIS?

We are looking to increase our company visibility, network with like-minded organizations and make connections related to growing our business through partnerships or investment.

 

5. What’s something unusual about your company?

There is an inherent contrast between our employees and our members that, while unusual, has worked out very well and lent us balance as a company. Praetorian Group is a young, thriving online media company headquartered in San Francisco who serves a very traditional and for the most part conservative market. As it turns out, our creative strengths and personality as a business in many ways compliment the evolving public safety market as they continue to become more technology savvy.


The deadline to register for IIS is fast approaching.  Register here

Share|
Filed Under: Content, Information Industry Summit, Uncategorized

SIIA Previews Interview with ReportLinker

January 10, 2012 By

At SIIA, identifying the next generation of game changers is as much our passion as it is our job.  Join us as we take an inside look at six companies that are poised to make an impact on the content industry: BestVendor, Crowd Fusion, First Stop Health, Narrative Science, Praetorian Group and ReportLinker.  Today we’ll be taking a look at 2012 SIIA CODiE Awards Finalist and Previews company – ReportLinker.


1.  What problems does ReportLinker try to solve?

Any time you need to define a market strategy, work on a business plan or prepare a presentation, reliable, up-to-date industry data – such as market size, market forecasts, market share, demand drivers and technology trends – is key to supporting your arguments and convincing your audience.

Every day, thousands of market data updates are published by trusted public and private sources on the internet, but the information is often buried in different kinds of documents (court decisions, annual reports, investor presentations, trade association presentations, press releases and so on).

ReportLinker bridges the gap, using advanced search technology to find and filter the latest market intelligence available, presenting the results in a format that is easily viewable and usable. ReportLinker analyzes and organizes content by context, offering access to over 1.2 million public reports with key market data on 350 global industries – all in one location.

 

2. What advantages do you have that are unique to your company?

Unlike our competitors, ReportLinker:

  • Uses targeted semantic technology to find and index 120,000 reports every day (most of which average about 50 pages in length) published online by trusted private and public sources –– and users can set up automated alerts to get the latest reports for selected industries as soon as they are available.
  • Filters content according to 100,000 industry concepts across key global industries, including agriculture, consumer goods, technology, life sciences and many more.
  • Offers global content coverage, with a catalogue containing reports published by more than 200,000 sources on over 350 industries in nearly 200 countries.

 

3. Where does your company fit in the business life-cycle and why?

Launched in March 2007, ReportLinker currently has 2,000 subscribers. We are growing at an annual rate of 40% and invest 15% of our revenue in R&D, with plans underway to add many new features and services in the next few months.

Our operating company Ubiquick SAS has both won and been nominated for several awards, including the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA 2010, Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA 2011, CODiE Award Finalist 2012 and two other leading French technology innovation awards.

 

4. What are your goals for presenting at IIS?

Online content – and the semantic technology that drives it – is our core business, and we value the IIS summit as an opportunity to strengthen our strategic partnership program with US-based companies as well as a chance to showcase our search engine and share ideas with industry experts. We are also interested in this year’s ‘Buyers and Suppliers’ focus so we can find out about current partnership trends and how information industry networks are evolving.

 

5. What’s something unusual about your company?

Though we (co-founders) are French and our company is physically based in France, our team of 21 is certainly international, representing 7 nationalities and just as many spoken languages. It definitely helps us keep a global perspective and more easily understand the specific requests of our clients – who (apart from 5% in France) are from all over the world.

 

To see these and other companies at IIS register here


Share|
Filed Under: Content, Information Industry Summit, Semantic Technology Tagged With: , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »