Frankfurt Book Fair 2018 Day 3: Investing in a Data Future

AI, algorithms, data mining, and research data – data is on the agenda as the foundation for the future at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

At the MarkLogic stand the conversation has been about adding data as a core asset for publishers. There is so much that can be done around the content to improve user experiences and products – and much of it starts with data.

• “Everyone is innovating at the end of the content production process. It’s a surprise that it hasn’t got further upstream. Publishers are still focused on the value of the end product, not on the knowledge contained inside.” – Jen Shorten
• “It’s all about truly embracing the process of change. Creating the vision, shaped by business drivers, gaining buy-in from the decision makers, and then putting the right technology in place.” – Ernst Kallus

How do you see data impacting the industry? Come on by 4.2 L94 and share your ideas with us.

Data for Knowledge and Open Access For Books

Some of the most attended events at the show touched on just how important data can be for this future.

The SpringerNature session on data mining and analytics was just packed with everyone from all parts ofthe industry wanting to learn more about techniques and processes to produce and use data from text. Powering better search and discovery, creating links to relevant products, and enabling domain-specific research and key use cases. Tools like the SpringerNature TDN APIs and CrossRef enable teams to quickly get started.

Data also played a big role in the discussion of open access monographs. While the dynamics of open access articles are well understood (if still being worked out), “we are struggling” with monographs – single subject scholarly books – according to David Worlock. This is because so many of the fundamental ways we produce and use books need to change to make them usable for a wider, open access audience.

“In 5 years, over 50% of our ‘readers’ will be machines. The books will begin to speak to the books.” According to David, the industry needs to rethink the development of these books and invest in the data and multimedia around them.

Open access also means exploring new funding processes. Knowledge Unlatched is pioneering programs where libraries can join together and crowd-fund books. Once a work is funded it is open to all. According to Brian O’Leary, this is one example of how “open access is mostly a supply chain issue” and, as the demand grows, publishers must be a part of these changes. But the future is bright with a larger base of users with new and novel uses for monographs and is within reach with the proper investment in data around the books.

EBCONT Delivers Information for Industry

Joiningus on the stand this year is EBCONT Group and old friends Alex Deles, Juergen Ritschka-Kohl, Andreas Hubmer, and Gregor Sieber. The EBCONT team have been long-time MarkLogic partners and have created great projects for customers in publishing and other industries seeking to get the most out of their data and content.

A good example of this is their work with Schrack Seconet. This producer of fire safety and communications systems installs thousands of safety devices (such as fire and smoke alarms) in each individual customer location. The content that is needed to seamlessly operate these devices starts with the documentation and includes the records for installation and maintenance. This is critical information for technicians – having the wrong information about a device can mean an additional trip back to the shop to get the right tool.

But with the latest in IoT and connecting industrial data (something we are also seeing with our customers), the devices are all now generating data and controlled with management software. This means there is even more critical data for the technicians – and all this data and content needs to be integrated and updated with the latest activity and information on the status.

The EBCONT team created a solution for Schrack Seconet that brought together this data and content. This information is accessed by technicians in the field using mobile devices and presented in dashboards to management. Just like in publishing, giving your users the right information and data at the right time can make a big impact: for Schrack Seconet this means saving technicians hundreds of hours and finding ways to save millions more with process efficiencies.

Helping organizations of all kinds get value from their data is core to the mission of EBCONT. To better help their customers, the team is investing in machine learning, text categorization and image categorization to automate content and data processing and let subject matter experts focus on the process and quality of the data.

The team has just opened their new German office in Frankfurt and are planning a business breakfast on these topics soon. To get in touch with the team marklogic@ebcont-et.com and keep a lookout for the Germany event coming up!

SiteVision Joins the Team

We are very pleased to announce our OEM Partnership with SiteVision. This flexible CMS, dedicated to the publishing industry, has been a big part of the German Publishing market for years. The new version of SiteVision is powered by MarkLogic and we’re looking forward to helping them bring even better and more flexible content management to their existing customers…and to working together to let publishers use all their data to make better products.

My Turn in the Hot Seat

I’m up next for the Office Hours in the MarkLogic stand 4.2 L94 – 10:00-12:00. I know, Friday morning! But if you have missed us at the fair and want to chat, I’m around to discuss any subject…as long as it’s about the importance of data to publishing!

See you later!

Blogging from Frankfurt, Matt Turner, CTO Media & Manufacturing

P.S. In case you missed my previous posts from the fair, you can read them here:

• Day 1: Characters Drive Publishing
• Day 2: Experts Define the Future