TrendAlert: Content Engineering - Defining a Discipline

Creating valuable content is not just for publishers anymore. As institutions develop their own information portals, they're learning that there's more to content than just delivering the 'water' of information through the 'pipes' of technology. Creating an environment where information is experienced in ways that provide high value to specific audiences in specific contexts is a discipline unto itself, one that Outsell labels 'Content Engineering.' Content engineering allows institutions to create content experiences in ways that impact their top-line revenues as much as their bottom-line world of IT and IC (Information Content) expenditures. This Briefing defines the parameters of content engineering and its implications for institutions that create, buy, sell, and facilitate Information Content.Key takeaways from this Briefing include:Information Is Not Content, It's Something that Becomes Content through Content Engineering. The processes that allow information to be experienced in specific contexts for specific audiences in ways that provide specific quantifiable value turn data, information and knowledge into actionable content that can help produce quantifiable value and revenuesInstitutions Used to Consuming Content Are Becoming the Leading Publishers of Content. Corporations and other leading institutions have access to a broader range of valuable information that helps them to make business decisions that result in revenues. The portals that they are now developing for internal and external audiences use content engineering techniques in ways that are at least as sophisticated as those of traditional publishers.Neither Institutions nor Vendors Are Adapting Effectively Yet to the Full Potential of Content Engineering. There are new roles and goals in publishing as institutions adapt these techniques. Being able to understand how to treat content as a component that generates revenue for institutions is key to moving forward into a new and highly productive era.