IBM to build Media Cloud Center in the Southern Press transformation

August 8, the Southern Press group formally with IBM, soft power in Kunshan, Jiangsu signed a cooperation ceremony, the three sides will jointly establish a media based cloud computing Center in Kunshan, Jiangsu.

This cooperation has been widely concerned by the media, because it is likely to give the transformation of the Chinese media industry to find new profit direction. Peter D. Murchison, IBM's global vice-president, said IBM had invested in the latest technology in cloud computing and big data, the first new media-related cloud computing center in the Greater China region.

The southern newspaper industry has invested in its own information product resources over the years, using the new technologies of large data and cloud computing to find new business models for news groups such as the southern press with massive information.

The southern press and IBM's top executives said in an interview that the current media patterns are being transformed from mass media to personalized media, and only through technology such as cloud computing can this trend be complied with.

So far, the parties involved have not yet announced the final appearance of the information products produced by this cooperation, but the relevant sources pointed out that the specific products will soon be launched.

Cloud computing Big Data helps media transformation

With the rise of the mobile internet and social networks, the business model of traditional media is being greatly impacted. 2012, the national profit more than 50 million provincial newspaper group only 3, and 2013 situation is still not optimistic, the traditional paper media transformation has come to a critical moment.

In the past, the way newspapers and magazines were profitable was too reliant on advertising, traditional media business models still follow the "two-sell" theory of many years ago, which relies on quality content to gain readers ' attention and then sell them to advertisers for profit, but when China's real economic growth slows, The overall media advertising market growth has also been significantly affected, the media urgently needs a new business model.

"Newspapers as the carrier of the media group, need to become a news service, content advisory services provider, need to rely on IBM, soft Qualcomm Such partners, new platform starting point to restart their own." Nanfang Newspaper Committee, editorial board member Cao Shu pointed out.

The southern press is China's leading news media group, with its "Nanfang daily", "Southern Metropolis Daily", "Southern Weekend", "21st Century Economic Report" and other well-known newspapers, here every day in the production of a large number of valuable information. But how to excavate the information through technical means, and produce more value, has been the southern newspaper in the thinking.

In the past, traditional media produced more news than information.

Cao Shu points out that there are many differences between news and information. "News may easily become something to satisfy reading or some understanding or even curiosity. But information is valuable and useful. "Cao Shu points out.

"In the past, an Obama speech, the Southern Metropolis Daily or the 21st century Economic report would have treated it as a diplomatic or Sino-American relationship or international news, but if I were a funding agency, I would have wanted to know some of the changes in the industry that Mr. Obama's speech brought about." Cao Shu says the media needs to produce content according to the reader's real needs.

In addition, traditional media have some inertia in the past, that is to give the reader the content is the best, that the reader "love to see". But in fact, many of the content is not necessarily what the reader really needs.

"Now the media backstage has not IBM or soft power such a special market-oriented database to organize, this is our lack." In addition, much of the media's information has been precipitated, and we are now not a database, only a repository. "Cao Shu pointed out that the media many valuable information because no data mining was wasted," if it really turned into a database, to become effective front-end to the market, product docking, it can be invigorated. "It is the traditional media of this urgent need for transformation, and ultimately led to the southern press and IBM, soft power this cooperation."

From mass media to personalized media

Traditional media, including the southern press, used to be dominated by mass media. In other words, maybe the old lady on the street and the boss of a public company are looking at the same newspaper, and in the new media environment, users need personalized information more and more.

"Now people want to be able to gather the information he really wants, not in a single version of the media," he said. "IBM software group Greater China Region Cloud computing general Manager Giushaokang pointed out that for example, a user is concerned about the Shanghai's more than 50,000 dollars a square meters of mansion second-hand apartments, if he a newspaper a newspaper to see, the efficiency is very low, and if to Baidu (136.73,-1.46,-1.06%) to search, And found that there are a lot of second-hand information on the Internet, it is difficult to find what they want, "but what you really need is the change in interest rates, Shanghai's land transfer policy, which is the real estate and foreign investment in this information." Giushaokang pointed out that the next media in the southern press through the technical means of mining, can really provide readers with the information they want.

In IBM's view, each user needs information is different, is very personalized, it is very necessary to use technical means of mining. "The simpler he gets for the customer, the more things we have to do in the back." "Giushaokang points out.

Previously, IBM has set up many types of cloud computing centers in China, and IBM has been looking to find a media cloud partner in China, and hopes to use these media information to combine with IBM's other businesses now.

Giushaokang pointed out that at that time, IBM in the international search for several well-known media groups as a reference, and has consulted the Bloomberg, Reuters and National Geographic. Bloomberg was later found to be partial to finance, while National Geographic was based on the sale of high-definition images, relative to Reuters more representative. While financial services account for a large share of Reuters revenue, Reuters is moving towards Non-financial information, and the proportion of non-financial information is increasing.

Giushaokang points out that at the Reuters terminal, click on a China A shares listed companies Jiangxi Copper, will also present the copper market in Petersburg, as well as Shanghai copper price trend, there are New York copper price, as well as crude oil, shipping prices, because most of the world's copper ore origin in Chile, Australia, the southern hemisphere, While industrialized countries are in the northern Hemisphere, shipping and crude prices can also affect the price of raw copper, which includes historical prices, even though it may jump out of the 1976-year July to September, the 90-day trend is extremely similar to the past 90 days, So investors may be concerned about how copper went in the October 1976.

"This information if you walk in the library, three hours may not be able to search out, now we can do a little intelligent terminal can appear in front of their own." Giushaokang pointed out that this personalized information service, which was customized by Reuters, was tapped using technical means, which is the new model that IBM hopes to work with the southern press.

"But we don't think Reuters is doing well enough, because the Reuters information in China is very limited, we all know that technically, the English single-byte data and the Chinese double-byte data is technically a completely different two systems, not to mention the meaning of a Chinese word is completely different. Giushaokang points out that China's cloud computing market has become more and more unique, rather than simply moving foreign models to China.

Since then, IBM hopes to find in China a most informative and valuable traditional media cooperation, after a survey that has a large number of media Southern Newspaper group is the most appropriate.

In this cooperation, the southern press is the provision of information and production side, soft power to provide the front desk technology specific implementation, IBM in the background to provide cloud development, and finally the entire media cloud computing center located in Kunshan, Jiangsu.

However, for the traditional news media group, the change of the product form from news to information has put forward a great change to the internal process.

"So we hope that in the cooperation of our internal to do some changes in the process, from the front-end reporter interview, to the processing of the real information service mentality to do." "Cao Shu points out.

As for the specific form of the information products produced by this cooperation, the cooperation Parties have not yet given a clear answer, the current southern press, IBM and soft power are in close consultation, and strive to launch an early market needs of new information products.

"It's hard to say whether this is a pay or advertising model, and we can continue to explore, as long as there is value, there is a lot of work to do." So we want to help the southern press group to dig out its gold, through its own means to activate this thing, through the technical means to convert information into gold, this is a long-term process. "Liu, chairman of the soft drive, said.