Back in 1986 I was fortunate to be exposed to a network of publishing professionals eager to share their knowledge with their fellow colleagues via what was then called The Newsletter Association. A few decades later this same group (now called the Specialized Information Providers Association) carries on this important
Data publishers love structure. Very granular fielded data allows their customers to locate very specific things — for example, all investment banks in Boston that invested in green energy start-ups — instantly. Fielded data allows quick apples-to-apples comparisons, lets you know more about your prospective customers, and makes data analysis
All businesses struggle with seasonality or variability in their labor requirements, in one way or another. Resort hotels are busy in summer and much slower in winter. Tax preparation firms are swamped during the April crunch. Alaskan seafood operations work around the clock in summer and then stop completely in
Those of us in the information business are usually too busy working with our customers and refining our business models and production processes to think about the basic question of “What is information?” but let’s stop for a moment to consider it. Information is not a self-contained “thing” but rather
In the 1990s, large manufacturers spent millions on software to streamline their supply chains, and they continue to invest in refining processes to make those supply chains as efficient as possible. For those companies whose business is the manufacturing and sale of information, the redesign of “data supply chains” came
Information Evolution reached its fifth anniversary at the end of 2012. I’d like to take a moment to talk about where we came from and where we are going. Partners not Vendors Our model from the beginning was to be more than just a trusted partner for our customers. We
The explosion of data-driven reporting, recent data privacy legislation, and the unfortunate loss of one of the Internet’s leading lights have brought the definition of “public” data back to the forefront of discussions about the information industry. At this late date in the game, it is astounding that there is
The idea of harnessing work as a utility (i.e, like flicking a switch to turn on labor “power”) is gaining traction. Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins recently included it in her list of technology trends to watch (one of the few surprises in that presentation) and Gary Swart, CEO of
Businesses based on selling data on a subscription basis are in a truly turbulent period right now. Competition from open source databases and low-cost API databases is starting to emerge and firms with killer workflow integration software are also hungrily eyeing B2B database publishers’ steady revenue streams. Adding to the
Some analyses of crowdsourcing have described it as a form of “social” network. But is crowdsourcing really social? Can paid work be social? Government, nonprofit, and even some commercial firms use volunteers for crowdsourced tasks. Volunteer-based crowdsourcing is inherently more social than the semi-anonymous piecework of commercial crowdsourcing, because the
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