Category Archives: editorial board

Just A Few Questions: Penny Leach

Author: Hal Kirkwood, Bodleian Business Librarian and BIR Editorial Board member

In the second instalment of Just A Few Questions, I spend a little time with Penny Leach, Head of Business Information Services at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to find out more about her role and her perspective on the information industry.

Hal: Tell me about the EBRD and your role there.

Penny: The EBRD is the only International Financial Institution (IFI) based in the UK. Founded in 1991 in the post-Cold War era, to further progress towards ‘market-oriented economies and the promotion of private and entrepreneurial initiative’ in Central and Eastern Europe, we now operate across three continents in almost 40 countries and have as shareholders 71 countries as well as the EU and EIB. Our primary activity is to finance projects in our Countries of Operation so as to promote environmentally and socially sound and sustainable development; our investment work has evolved over the years, most recently with the Green Economy Transition approach.

I am the Head of Business Information Services (BIS) at the EBRD. We provide access to external content for our internal clients, either directly through licenses to data and research products, or via our team of researchers. Given the wide-reaching mandate of the Bank our client base is very diverse – bankers, risk managers, economists, political counsellors, lawyers, and compliance officers amongst others. The majority of the team are based at our London headquarters; however, in line with the expanding footprint of the Bank we now have staff based in subsidiary offices, including Istanbul now that Türkiye is the biggest recipient of our funds. Fortunately, unlike some of our colleagues in other multilateral development banks, our services are all virtual – we do not maintain a physical collection of any kind.

Hal: What are some of the specific projects you are currently working on?

Penny: BIS is very much part of the Bank’s first line of defence of the integrity of the Bank, helping protect its reputation and future through due diligence in relation to new business and existing transactions. Our Integrity operations have grown in volume and complexity, and we are reviewing the tools and processes we follow and use. The intention is to be part of the digital transformation of the Bank.

Obviously, we need to constantly review the skills of the team as well as the portfolio of external content we can access, to remain aligned with the Bank’s business and other initiatives. In recent years changes have included expanding our linguistic capacities to support the Bank’s geographical expansion in to the Southern and Mediterranean region and researching sources to support our Countries of Operation through the pandemic, the impact of the war on Ukraine, changing sector strategies (such as the move from fossil fuels to renewable energy) and the need for climate finance.

As a background to all our activities this year, we are making a physical move from the City of London to our new office in the Canary Wharf business district, and a virtual move with a migration to a new computing environment. Currently we are also implementing a new enterprise subscription management platform.

Hal: What do you see as the biggest or most influential trends within business information?

Penny: Naturally we subscribe to a wide range of data and information products ranging across many content types – market data, market research, ratings, risk intelligence, news, statistics and so on – as well as searching open sources. In common with other colleagues in the sector, we see that M&A activity is dramatically impacting the business information sector, causing disruption and uncertainty in managing agreements with providers and their mix of products. I look forward to further innovation from the investment in the market. We also see big players bundling products in to a ‘one size fits all’ offering; while internal customers want very granular data, potentially as feeds, raising the complexity of licenses – already more complex due to data protection and other provisions – and adding to the challenge of understanding and monitoring usage. Suppliers are affected too by change and cost pressures, with one seeming by-product a dramatic increase in the rate of churn across account contacts and, in some cases, a decline in service levels. When it comes to market research a particular challenge is distinguishing credible research providers against those offering very topical reports, but which are not necessarily based on anything other than mathematical manipulations of figures extrapolated from open sources or their more reliable competitors.

Hal: Considering the information profession as a whole, what do you see as the biggest challenges on the horizon?

Penny: I prefer to view this question as focused on opportunities for information pros. These are huge as the need for information and data, and their effective management, rises across sectors (academia, industry, third sector, etc). Roles can be very varied – researcher, knowledge manager, product developer, account manager, business analyst. However, it’s true that the value of information professionals may not be recognised against multiple perceptions of information as a commodity to be procured, as a business tool, as part of a technology platform, as a problem that AI will fix, as an activity where a commonly used search engine can find the answer. And we need to keep investing in our talent pipeline. Unfortunately, as witnessed by the challenges facing membership groups such as the SLA, the diversity of roles for information professionals can weaken the bonds of the professional community, otherwise a valuable source of education and experience for that pipeline. Nonetheless SLA Europe is celebrating its 50th birthday this year and is still going strong.

Hal: Thanks very much, Penny, for chatting with me today.

Just A Few Questions will become a recurring series here on the Business Information Review Blog. If you would like to suggest someone for a future interview, please email me at kirkwoodhal-birblog@gmail.com.

Surviving and thriving as an information professional in a corporate world

Author: Denise Carter, Managing Director & Principal Consultant DCision Consult and BIR Editorial Board member

Working in a corporate setting as an information professional has its own unique challenges. We are often working as a sole information professional, and as such we can get over-looked and under-valued. Getting recognition and acknowledgement for the very real value we can and do bring to organizations can be a challenge.

Based on 25 years’ experience here are my top 7 tips for being a successful information professional in a corporate world:

Know your organization and customers; keep learning constantly.
Define what you do carefully; don’t offer services you can’t maintain and do well long-term.
Sell your team by your name(s) AND the name of the team. Make sure the individuals delivering the service get recognition.
Sell your skills and expertise not just the services offered.
Take on new distinct shorter-term projects that have the potential to improve your knowledge and expertise and increase your value to the organization.
Be constantly ready, willing, and able to change and adapt.
Keep changing and adapting.

And then here is my take on what you need to understand and acknowledge about yourself and your organization to not only survive but truly thrive:

You are the expert: No-one else in the organization understands the tools, science, and art of managing information as well as you do.
No-one else is interested in the detail of how you do you what you do. Only the results count.
Results matter. Speed and deadlines matter.
Your boss will be likely be the person with the least interest/knowledge about what you do.
You will change boss / department frequently.
You will constantly have to explain / justify your work, your costs, your value.
You will be seen as a huge expense first and an asset second.
You will never have enough time.
Every day will be different.
You will likely be a different personality type than most people in the organization. You need to learn their language, what makes them tick, and what you need to say to get them to first, listen, and second, to act.
You must adapt yourself to the organization and its culture, or you will neither thrive nor survive. But at the same time, you must stay true to your ethics and values as an information professional.

Denise Carter is the Managing Director & Principal Consultant for DCision Consult, which conducts research and CI projects for pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies. Prior to this she worked for multi-national pharmaceutical and chemical organizations for 25 years.

Just A Few Questions: Seema Rampersad

Author: Hal Kirkwood, Bodleian Business Librarian and BIR Editorial Board member

In this first instalment of Just A Few Questions, I ‘sit down’ with Seema Rampersad, Senior Business Research and Service Manager at The British Library, and the current President-Elect of the Special Libraries Association to ask her about her current role at the British Library and what she sees as the key issues for the business information profession.

Hal: First, please tell me about the BIPC and your role there.

Seema: The Business & IP Centre at the British Library has been supporting start-ups and established businesses to grow and develop. We have one of the largest free collections of business information in the United Kingdom. Over the last 16 years, we have supported 10000s of entrepreneurs, and the success of the centre has created a strong blueprint brand to expand our network across the United Kingdom to other regionals and local libraries. We have also collaborated on European projects to support business such as in the Erasmus for Young Business and in our own Innovating for Growth programme.

I work in the reference and research section of the Business & IP Centre, which can be very varied on a day-to-day basis. I serve customers in our Reading Room in the centre with their reference or research queries, deliver workshops, webinars, one-to-one clinics, and project work. We have several business information databases which can only be accessed in the centre, these require showing customers how to use the systems, how to navigate the library electronic and hard copy sources. We have an online reference enquiry and chat service using the LibAnswer system where we answer general queries from an international audience. I provided a chargeable business information and evidence for patent litigation research to private international clients.

We have been running programme webinars for over ten years, which helped us transition seamlessly in the pandemic. I usually present about 2-3 business related workshops per month, and we hope to go into a hybrid model soon. There have been a few projects work over the years such as an Open Innovation with European Partners, training and sharing insights with the BIPC Network in the UK, and more recently, the Start up In London Libraries over 10 London boroughs. As a national library, we do host lots of visits, tours and talk on the collection, our services, and the centre.

Hal: Is there a high demand for business information to support entrepreneurial development and growth? What type of projects or clients do you work with?

Seema: Definitely there is a high demand for support, and it was one of the feasibilities for the expansion of the BIPC Network. There has been a phenomenal number of entrepreneurs over the years who are innovative on multiple sectors. We have seen a whole new tech industry develop over the last 15 years in London but also across the UK. There has been an organic growth in persons wanting to start their own businesses as well as using the positive developments of ecommerce and online presence. Business information is still at the crucial to a company who is planning their strategy for launching and growing. We encourage entrepreneurs to look at the commercialisation of their business idea, explore the market and look at the trends and forecasts for their sector, as well as assist them in finding B2Cs and B2Bs using the company data sources held in the library. Our unique selling point is the strong ties with the Intellectual Property Centre and with the collection for patent information, which complements business information for protecting businesses. We frequently provide expert intellectual property knowledge to customers and for project work.

We generally work with anyone wanting to start or grow a business, but we also have academic researchers, other corporations for their paid prior art or business research, and any readers who come into the library to use the collection or spaces. We do also have various partnerships and frequently liaise with our project partners inside the British Library and other outreach stakeholders.

Hal: Is there a strong and supportive information ecosystem between organizations like BIPC, academic business libraries, and other groups?

Seema: There were some organisations who do similar service such as ourselves for the business community such as the Small Business Research and Enterprise Centre (SMREC), London & Partners, the London Growth Hub, and we tend to refer our customers to these complementary organisations. In the past, we have had some projects with academic business departments such as UCL and Edinburgh University – it is an area of work that we can explore more in future; for example, I am aware that the CASS Business School do great work for business. I do regular tours for students on Goldsmith University’s Master in Creative Entrepreneurship. For intellectual property projects and initiatives, we do have regular projects with the PatLib Network, The IPO and the European Patent Office. And not forgetting, we now have a National Network of BIPC Libraries – which is a supportive information ecosystem attached to regional and local libraries across the country.

Hal: What do you see as the biggest or most influential trends within business information?

Seema: There will still be a focus on new data tools. Having seen the evolution of databases over decades, there have been gradual but consistent changes over the years to incorporate new data sets that are available from open data sources, such as the Statista database having a large percentage of content from open sources, as well as from their own content and analysis. The last few years have seen a change in the megatrends that is affecting the way we work and live our lives – this too is reflected in the information and the trends we find on business sources. Global sustainability goals are mentioned more in business information content, as we try to mitigate some of the issues and risks that the world is currently facing. Hybrid models of working have impacted on access and our information needs, plus we have seen a great positive digital transformation for organisations who may have been a bit slow in adopting digital and collaborative technologies. It can only get better.

Hal: Considering the information profession as a whole, what do you see as the biggest challenges on the horizon?

Seema: Financial stability and raising costs will be one of the biggest challenges as we go into the third year since a pandemic as well as the rising cost-of-living and inflation internationally. I am hoping this will not have an adverse impact on libraries, library and information budgets, and professionals as we have already had so much disinvestment over the last 15-20 years. This gives us more of impetus to find positive ways to showcase our role in stimulating business and the economy indirectly by the support we give to entrepreneurs and business small and large – near or far. We must demonstrate our unique access to specialist information, networks of expertise, and a skill-set that is great for supporting research, productivity, innovation and creativity. Therefore, we must actively advocate, invest, and find our allies in industry and the business community to highlight our roles in enabling and empowering economic and sustainable futures.

Hal: Thanks very much, Seema, for chatting with me today.

“The only constant in life is change” Heraclitus of Ephesus (535-475BC)

Author: Stephen Philips, BIR Board member

When asking colleagues “are you returning to the office”, it appears to be an emotive question, the responses to which run the gamut of emotions, all within a sentence or two.

As a society we adapted very quickly to the call to work remotely during the health crisis, indeed it was a welcomed shift. Okay, it presented some challenges and minor inconveniences, but overall many felt it was no sacrifice to not be in the office. As the health crisis continued, lockdowns came and went, some returned to offices whilst others continued to tough it out at home. Latterly, some started to lament their absence from the workplace, welcoming the opportunity to get back, recognising some very definite benefits of rebuilding their social capital with their colleagues.

Reflecting on these reactions, it seems to me there are parallels with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ “The five stages of grief” (https://www.ekrfoundation.org/5-stages-of-grief/5-stages-grief/), which she subsequently adapted to the change curve. Not everyone goes through all five stages, but there are indicators that many organisations and their employees are at different points along this curve:

The initial shock associated with the need to return to the office is quickly replaced by evidence of denial. A colleague recently went to a colleague’s leaving drinks. The venue was a crowded city bar, but he couldn’t find one colleague that had been working in the office that day. Many citing the risk of COVID for not going in.
Frustration manifests itself in a number of ways, but some colleagues express theirs by citing “Why do I need to go the office? I am just as productive at home”
Resignation has crept in with many admitting they will return to the office in some capacity at some point, it is just a question of time.
The experimental phase is where most currently find themselves, employers are setting expectations of their employees and providing guidance, with many offering hybrid working. Colleagues are figuring out how a hybrid model might work best for them. Whilst some employers are planning to reduce the salaries of those working remotely on a permanent basis, including Google and Stephenson Harwood.
The decision making stage has manifested itself in attrition, as people decide if they can work within the new paradigms or if they want to follow their own aspirations (Whitney Johnson, HBR: https://hbr.org/2022/04/the-great-resignation-is-a-misnomer). Contrary to what you might believe, colleagues I have spoken to appear to have had little trouble in finding new talent.
Integration is the final stage of the curve; accepting change, adapting to the new normal and getting on with it. Whilst I would contend that some organisations are already there, having largely returned to their pre pandemic work rhythms, many have some way to go.

The humanist in me would like to believe that the future of work will be shaped around people, in order to drive the best outcomes both for the organisation and the individual. I fear that will not be the case. The current labour shortage makes it a job seekers market, the UK ONS estimates there are 1 million fewer workers in the economy than pre pandemic and over 1 million vacancies to be filled. Organisations are increasing pay, perks and benefits to attract new talent and retain tenured staff by bringing them in line with market.

A global recession, caused by rising prices and interest rates, increased resource costs, volatile financial markets, the global upheaval caused by regional conflicts and increasingly strained supply chains may flip the jobs market on its head. It will also erode the finances of those that decided to retire or “downsize” during the pandemic. Work will once again become attractive, or a necessity and may signal the end of the hybrid working experiment. With less pressure to accommodate their demands, employers will be emboldened to re-engage staff on their own terms.

With so much of this out of our individual control, I tend to look for inspiration or words of wisdom from others. On this occasion, I will leave the last word to Socrates (470-399BC):

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new”

World Library and Information Conference review

Author: Hal Kirkwood, Bodleian Business Librarian, Said Business School, University of Oxford. President, Special Lib Assoc. 2019 and BIR Editorial Board member

In August I attended the World Library and Information Congress (WLIC) of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) in Athens, Greece. It was my first ever attendance at this global meeting of librarians and information professionals with over 3000 attendees from 140 countries. IFLA is a rather complicated organization of strategic programmes, sections, divisions, and special interest groups with the purpose of representing the interests of library and information science services and their users. The development and support of libraries and librarians around the globe is a key focus of IFLA activities.

The Congress was an interesting and engaging event with its theme of Dialogue for Change resonating throughout the keynotes and sessions. Starting out with the Newcomers Session I learned about the ins and outs of the Congress; the ability to sit in and observe any meetings; and the scope of all of the different entities within IFLA. The sessions I attended consisted of a mix of business meetings and content-focused presentations. Focus on the United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) filled the programme over the course of the weeklong event. It was fascinating to see librarians from all over the world presenting on the many common challenges that libraries struggle with collection development, information literacy, technology impact, and costs while at the same time presenting on very unique situations due to geographic, cultural, or political factors. From protecting cultural heritage to providing offline access to the Internet to supporting disabled library visitors to dealing with the variety of global copyright regulations, the variation went on and on.

One of the most impressive events held during the Congress was the poster event with almost 200 posters presented covering such a wide array of topics and issues. The scope and scale made this an information rich event to attend and showed off a tremendous level of experience and creativity. Browsing through the rows of posters and hearing each presenter explain their challenges and solutions put the diversity and depth of information professionals on full display. Many of these librarians should consider taking their ideas a step further to write a full article on their experiences, struggles, and solutions. The information profession will be the better for it if they were to share their accomplishments.

An amazing cultural event was held at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center for all of the attendees. The event included a variety of food and cultural entertainment all at an amazing center that houses the opera as well as a portion of the national library. The building itself is a stunning architectural achievement with gorgeous views of the coastline along with extensive gardens to walk through that are integrated into the overall design of the building. It was truly something to be experienced.

Two of the most notable actions to come out of the IFLA Congress is the Library Map of the World and the Ideas Store. The Library Map of the World https://librarymap.ifla.org/ is a data-rich graphical view of libraries and library statistics around the world. An additional layer includes specific stories on how libraries are connecting with the UN’s SDGs to meet local development needs. It is a very interesting project that can only benefit by additional libraries and associations joining in to provide access to broader and deeper data. The Ideas Store https://ideas.ifla.org/ is a growing collection of ideas about libraries and information literacy to inspire and instigate action. The Store allows you to filter by Opportunities, Idea Groups, Countries, and Regions to explore the 1200 ideas currently available.

Attending IFLA was an eye-opening experience in seeing what so many information professionals and librarians are working towards in their own regions, countries, and libraries. The expansion and increased access to information will inevitably create greater opportunities for multitudes of people around the globe. If you have the chance consider attending an upcoming IFLA World Congress to see the true scope of libraries and librarians.

Paul Corney – a very worthy winner of the 2019 K&IM Walford Award

Author: Denise Carter, Decision Consult and BIR Editorial Board Member

In these strange and turbulent times, we definitely need to take the time to celebrate those people who are doing excellent work. As a member of the BIR editorial board it is with pleasure that I can write one of the BIR’s frequent contributers, Paul Corney, Knowledge et al, has been awarded the 2019 K&IM Walford Award. The Award is presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of knowledge management and/or information management. Previous winners include David Gurteen and Sue Lacey-Bryant. As a well-respected Knowledge Management (KM) expert and guru who has certinaly made an outstanding contribution to knowledge management services, Paul is a very worthy recipient of this year’s award.

Paul is dedicated to improving professional recognition of KM. In particular he has been recognised for his selfless i support of CILIP in its aim of becoming the UK and International professional body for KM. He has been committed and tireless in promoting CILIP’s initiatives not only in the UK but also abroad – particularly in the Far and Middle East where he is recognised as a KM leader and has a high profile. Paul has worked as CILIP K&IM Ambassador since end of 2017. He has worked incredibly hard with CILIP to realise the K&IM Chartership as a valid option for professional registration for information professionals. By using his network and connections he opened doors for CILIP to speak to the right people at the beginning of the process and understand that there was an appetite for a Chartered KM professional qualification.

As part of the KM Chartership project board he has been able to ensure that the new programme avoids the pitfalls of some other attempts by other organisations in this space. He has also continued to promote and discuss the KM Chartership within the KM community worldwide and engage other influential Knowledge Managers to become involved with CILIP in speaking at conferences, and potentially acting as mentors or assessors for the new KM Chartership programme. He is always willing himself to mentor and nurture others in their KM work.

Along with his recent articles for BIR, Paul has written several books on KM. The most recent are Navigating the Minefield and the KM Cookbook published by Facet. In Navigating the Minefield, Paul provides a range of realistic up-to-date examples both on how to start KM in an organisation and also how to sustain KM. The examples are drawn from 18 KM programmes from diverse organisations from across the world and provide great stories to encourage KM in organisations and there are useful anecdotes that can be re-used to sell KM in organisations. The KM Cookbook is presented in an engaging way and includes big name KM case studies and references to the appropriate parts of the ISO/BSI KM standard. As a member of the BSI KM Committee, Paul has been able to draw on his internal knowledge of the standard and its process.

BIR call for editorial board members

BIR is seeking members to join its Editorial Board, alongside the Co-Editors of the journal. Responsibilities of the Editorial Board include:

Encouraging submissions: Encouraging quality submissions to Business Information Review helps the journal to grow in quality and reputation. As the journal is substantially based on commissioned content, an active member of the board would proactively speak to colleagues within their networks and regions to commission quality content for the journal. Please consider submitting a paper yourself to the Journal and actively encourage those you work with to

Suggesting special issues, ‘hot topics’ and review articles: Hot topics and/or review/special issues can attract more readers and citations to the Journal. If you spot any trends or areas that might help raise the profile or benefit Business Information Review please let the editors know your suggestions or submit your own for consideration. If you know of any colleagues best suited to a ‘hot topic’ or theme, please reach out to them to see if they would be interested in participating or curating a special issue.

Encouraging usage of the Journal: Encouraging your faculty, students and other professionals to use the Journal helps librarians to decide to retain/subscribe to the Journal at your

Encouraging your institution to subscribe to the Journal: If based at an institution and it does not already subscribe, please recommend Business Information Review to your Subscriptions ensure the Journal’s commercial success and increased circulation means increased usage and citations.

Participating in board meetings: By attending board meetings we can work together to develop the Journal. Your attendance at each meeting, feedback and experience as an editorial board member are central to informing decisions about the future of the Journal. If you cannot attend please send your feedback to the Editors or

Promoting the Journal at conferences: If you are attending any conferences and would like to take copies of the Journal, or promotional business cards, please contact the Publisher and they can arrange for these to be sent to Networking with colleagues and those in similar research and professional fields about the journal is imperative to the development and proliferation of Business Information Review.

Applications are welcome from well-networked practitioners and academics in the field of information provision and management. Those interested in submitting an application should send an up-to-date CV with a statement outlining their reasons for wanting to join the Editorial Board. Being a member entitles you to a gratis online subscription to the Journal.

All enquiries, expressions of interest and applications should be directed via email to:

Claire Laybats and Luke Tredinnick, Co-Editors

Email: businessinformationreviewj@gmail.com

The issue of personalisation and its impact on KM

Author Hal Kirkwood BIR Board member, Bodleian Business Librarian, Said Business School, University of Oxford. President, Special Lib Assoc. 2019

The current state of affairs was on full display at the last (November 2018) KM World Conference in Washington DC. I had the opportunity to attend for several days to see first-hand what is happening in the knowledge management realm. There were many themes prevalent throughout the conference; each day consisted of 3 tracks. The Day One tracks focused on KM & Culture, Digital Workspaces, KM Tools & Tech. Day Two tracks focused on Knowledge-Sharing Processes, Content Management, and KM Culture & Collaboration. Key takeaways and themes were the importance of collaboration; identifying the right tools to fit the problem and your organization’s culture; designing environments, both physical and virtual, for employees and clients; determining how to transfer knowledge; developing information ecosystems; and the implementation and impact of artificial intelligence and machine learning. The clear underlying theme is the continuing intersection of people and technology.

One aspect that is gaining traction into KM is personalization; utilizing individual user data to provide a more focused recommendation or timely suggestion. Technology, in conjunction with access to massive amounts of data, is driving momentum towards ever greater personalization. Personalization, not customization. Consumers become weary of making choices when these systems can make relevant choices for them based on their prior experiences. Consumers are showing preferences towards companies that provide effective, relevant personalization. However, since knowledge management focuses on the internal management of a company’s knowledge personalization at the employee level has been slower to develop.

Personalization has primarily been within the purview of marketing and consumer buying habits. The power of personalization relies on a combination of data that was once inaccessible; namely geolocation crossed with purchasing habits. It has become especially powerful when the immediacy of time is included to deliver personalized information and recommendations to a potential customer at the most optimal moment to affect their behavior. Artificial intelligence and machine learning will make significant inroads in the personalization strategies of companies marketing plans to provide more focused experiences for customers. ¹

The challenge for many companies is to scale this personalization to the masses. AI and machine learning will increase the capacity to track multiple data points for larger numbers of customers. This will increase the expectation of customers for improving levels of service that meet their exact needs and requirements. Evidence shows that it is highly successful when implemented in increasing sales and customer satisfaction. but that most companies are not implementing it.

Every company is now looking for ways to gather customer data that can be used to make more informed, and more specific, decisions on individuals. Many companies are also capturing terabytes of data on customer behavior to then sell to businesses for this very reason. There is the issue however, that the attempt at personalization will be wrong based on the AI processing poor or inaccurate information. As personalization becomes more accurate, and more ubiquitous, it will seem all the more glaring when AI-driven personalization is incorrect. Consumers are likely to feel more uncomfortable about what data is ‘out there’ on them and its accuracy, or lack thereof. This is a complicated issue of human perception of technologically driven services. How much control we have over all of this data is also a major concern. In Europe, GDPR is beginning to make an impact by providing consumers with more control over what data is collected and how it is used. It remains to be seen how exactly this will impact the data collection and utilization process. Many consumers, when surveyed, approve of the use of their data if they will receive a tangible benefit. There are some conversations taking place about implementing some form of GDPR in the United States, but little in the way of concrete details have provided.

Companies such as Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, and several other key companies are pursuing, and leading, the development of even greater data collection to develop ever more enhanced services for individuals. Areas like physical fitness, healthcare, and personal finance are becoming driven by apps that collect personal data to then provide recommendations relevant to an individual’s life. Consumers will allow themselves to be tracked in this way because of the return on investment of their personal data.

The majority of personalization development has been in the B2C marketplace; there will likely be increased demand for it on the B2B side. The key element will be systems that collect client-level data that can be assessed by AI applications. Many companies are moving into this to deliver solutions for collecting and analyzing data. Business intelligence systems will develop as AI and machine learning are layered into them for much greater personalization of services and deliveries to corporate clientele. Companies must make the choice to implement an AI-based system to drive their decisions. Not an easy task when it often requires a significant operational and cultural shift in how they conduct business. Companies making this decision are likely to benefit but must be wary of the myriad pitfalls. What ramifications this will have on the competitiveness of companies and markets, as well as within the broader business information environment still remains to be seen.

2018 a year of welcome, congratulations and goodbyes at BIR

We are just in to 2019 and already we are looking at papers and planning for the end of the year! Reflecting on how quickly things move along I thought it would be good to look back at what had happened at BIR in 2018.

It certainly wasn’t a dull year. We had a number of editorial board member changes and were pleased to welcome Hal Kirkwood to the team who has just taken up the post of SLA President for 2019 in addition to his work with BIR and his day job as Bodleian Business Librarian at Oxford University. We’d like to wish Hal all the best and congratulations in his new post as President of SLA.

Congratulations are also due to a past editor of BIR, Sandra Ward. Sandra was awarded CILIP’s highest honour, an honorary fellowship in recognition of her work and many contributions to the information profession throughout her career. In their November newsletter CILIP said “ We are also delighted to announce that Dr Sandra Ward has been recognised by CILIP for her many contributions to the Information Profession throughout her career and particularly for her fantastic contribution to CILIP’s Knowledge and Information Management Project and the launch of the Knowledge & Information Management Special Interest Group”. Congratulations Sandra from all of us here at BIR.

Thanks should also go to our board members who have retired from the board this year, Martin White and Penny Leach for their support and contributions to the journal.

We have also added to our awards section, encouraging both those starting in their career as well as the more experienced members of the profession to develop their skills and knowledge and write for the journal and be considered for one of our annual best paper prizes. We will shortly announce the winner for 2018’s best paper prize and are actively encouraging early career professionals (first or second jobbers) to submit papers to be considered for our Early Career paper prize (launched at the end of last year) which we hope to be assessing towards the end of 2019.

Emerging technology and content buying

Author: Penny Leach, Associate Director, EBRD, and BIR Editorial Board Member

Please note this post contains the personal views of the author and are not connected with her employer.

Emerging technology and innovation are impacting content buying – and selling – in multiple ways. This was the conclusion of a lively session held at the SLA Conference this year. The situationis evolving rapidly, with varying levels of appetite and capacity to optimise the exciting opportunities. As is so often the case, collaboration between multiple parties is more likely to lead to success, makingthe most of harnessing data in ways thatfree human intelligence for more value-add activity, and create appropriate commercial models. However there are challenges and concerns – the fear of unknown costs, of loss of control over proprietary content,of missing out (and being disenfranchised) due to a lack of knowledge or resource and appropriate infrastructure, raising both private and public sector concerns.

The SLA Conference this year was held in Baltimore in June. The Conference is a great way to meet other information professionals and other members of the information community from across the globe and build better connections in person. Every year the SLA Leadership & Management Division’s Content Buying Section brings together an experienced panel representing different approaches in thecommunity of content of vendors and buyers, to provide reality-based insight. This year the panellists were Amy Davis, Senior External Content Advisor at EY; Tim Baker, Global Head of Innovation at Thomson Reuters (now Refinitiv); and Bill Noorlander, Director of BST America (Conference sponsor).

The panel focussed on four emerging technologies that are creating content and new ways of deriving value from content: the Internet of Things (IoT); Data Analytics; Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics Process Automation (RPA). Early on, the largely buyside audience was reminded that content is not normally for sale but rather is leased for specific purposes – hence the complex contractual terms that are needed to protect all parties (content creator, provider and user).

Several themes emerged from the discussion,and from audience questions during the interactive session. Generally the new content and technologiesare seen to enable several kinds of ‘smarter’, such as better client experience when deploying more visual and user-friendly products, more machine-ready data that customers can use in their own apps, and more efficient companies using their own data effectively to reduce cost (automated processes) and add value (e.g. finding more content to enrich products).

There is increasing usage of sensor-based devices in personal, industrial and civic applications (IoT). This is creating new and extremely high volume data streams to add to the fast-growing mass of structured and unstructured data that isalready part of our digitised world. This data ‘exhaust’, as a by-product of core businesses, offers opportunities for monetisation – for example in the financial sector– but with caveats that (as ever) mean ‘free’ is not really the case. These alternative data sets are messy, fragmented, lack standardisation and history, and are hard both to use effectively (signals can be weak), and to price. For vendors, it is costly to develop and maintain new commercial offerings where client needs might be very specific. There are hurdles, too, around data privacy and ownership, and legal terms such as the definition of users. ‘Bots’ for example, one of the tools created by AI and an example of RPA that can free humans from repetitive tasks, may be prohibited by legacy contracts. And just how do you count ‘eyeballs’ and fingertips?

On the buy side, the panellists concurred that it is better if multiple stakeholders are at the table – information professionals familiar with content licensing and the concept of reference interviews to articulate data needs, IT, procurement, legal advisors, and of course, the business process owners – to determine the requirement, negotiate new or amended license rights, match price to available budgets, and finally but not least, implement the new tools.

New players are emerging- new intermediary service companies such as data ‘wranglers’ as data science and analytics skills (e.g., Quandl) and new roles such as Chief Data Officers (CDO). More tools are needed to commoditise processes to reduce development costs and to deal with challenges. Blockchain for example may help with the tracking of data elements. As ever, watch this space!