Information is the new petroleum. Just as oil and its by-products, including gasoline, drove innovation and development in the 20th century, information will spearhead change across the decades of the 21st century.
Industry analyst Doug Laney has defined infonomics as the study of the production and consumption of information. In this view, information is accounted for and managed as a business asset.
As publishers remake themselves into information providers for the Digital Age, they should abandon the notion of content as their product, says Grace Hong, Vice President of Strategic Markets & Development and General Manager of Learning Solutions for Wolters Kluwer’s Tax & Accounting division. Instead of content in the traditional sense, she explains, publishers must move to the marketplace that Big Data has opened up.
“When it comes to big data – and especially when we think about organizations like traditional publishing organizations – data in and of itself is not valuable. It’s really about the insights and the problems that you’re able to solve,” Hong tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.
“From a product standpoint and from a customer standpoint, it’s about asking the right questions and then really deeply understanding how this information can provide value to the customer, not only just mining the data that currently exists. It’s really about creating that meaning through asking the right questions,” she explains.
Vice President of Strategic Markets & Development and General Manager of Learning Solutions for Wolters Kluwer’s Tax & Accounting division, Grace Hong leads strategic initiatives to transform the U.S. Research & Learning business unit, overseeing new product development, business intelligence/analytics, and technology. As General Manager of the Learning Solutions business, she is responsible for platform enhancements, content investment and innovation, and market expansion.