Thoughts on the GIIS
I recently attended the Global Information Industry Summit, organized by the Software and Information Industry Association. I typically look forward to such opportunities to network with executives in the industry, but this event was particularly intriguing. I am not aware of any other event designed to connect the content publishing industry on a global scale. This inaugural Summit was an excellent first attempt, as the blend of European and American publishing companies represented there was impressive. Congratulations to Ken Wasch, Ed Keating and the rest of the SIIA team for making it happen.
What impressed me the most was the the performance by the lone practicing information professional attending the Summit. Claudia Juechs, VP of Information Research at Deutsche Bank, served as a panelist in a session on serving multinational customers and truly shined as a seasoned information executive. Then, during a session on copyright and intellectual property matters, talk of flexibility in licensing agreements led to some concerns about the management of protected content by users. One of the panelists suggested that any practitioners in the room should offer comment, and Claudia did just that! She emphasized to the audience of publishers that most companies want to do the right thing, but need help and would welcome it from their content suppliers.
Hmmmm.... I wonder if anyone in the room had the same "Aha!" moment that I did? Is there a business opportunity for content sellers in copyright/IP consulting? It seemed to me that one customer had just told them so.

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Posted by: Athena | October 11, 2006 at 09:25 PM