LEAD STORIES

Content management vs. the brain drain headache

When Northrop Grumman was forced to lose 12,000 staff, they learned the key to retaining workers' knowledge lay in content management. DCL reports.

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Using Effectivity to meet the single-source publishing challenge

Since it became a W3C standard in the late 90s, there’s been a push to utilize XML to solve those problems that desktop word processing tools can’t. One of those problems faced by organizations is getting the correct information out to the right people on time. The solution has to be scalable and cost-effective.

This guest article from X.Systems discusses the benefits of using Effectivity to overcome these difficulties. DCLnews reports.

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EXTRA

SPL and Beyond: XML in the Life Sciences - Audio conference

Is your organization getting good value from its approach to SPL compliance? In this upcoming audio conference, Data Conversion Laboratory’s Don Bridges and Joe Jenkins of RWD Technologies ask whether a review of your procedure may be in order.

When the requirement for SPL compliance was first announced most organizations hurried to adapt on time. Now, with SPL continuing to evolve and becoming commonplace throughout the FDA, it’s time to make sure that your original approach to SPL compliance is the best strategic fit for you. Depending on how you go about it, SPL compliance can result in either a time consuming and costly submission process, or it can provide good long-term value across the board.

This audio conference will cover the following topics related to SPL, PIM and standard response letters:

1. SPL
   • Results to date (for human prescription drugs)
   • Expansion of SPL across other FDA divisions (Medical Devices, Vaccines, and Veterinary)
   • Impact of Physician's Labeling Rule (PLR) on SPL
   • Ability to leverage SPL content for other labeling-related outputs
     
     
2. PIM
   • Activity to date
   • Why PIM is (in many ways) different than SPL
   • Implementing an effective and efficient translation process
     
     
3. Standard Response Letters (Call Center Letters)
   • Business drivers
   • Benefits of an XML-based solution
   • Single source of labeling content from regulatory submission to response letters

Please join us on April 6 at 11:30am to 12:30pm EST.

Register here for audio conference: http://www.fxtrans.com/resources/ac/future/ac20060406.htm#1

OTHER NEWS

Sony Reader kickstarts new chapter in publishing

Sony is set to launch its iPod style ebook reader in the United States this year. The Sony Reader allows users to download up to 100 ebooks and turns pages at the touch of a button. Publishers have welcomed the emergence of new technology that relies on its content. However, the availability of their books online has raised concerns over copyright and security.

Adrian Strain, a spokesman for the International Federation of the Phonographic Industries, said that the publishing industry was facing some of the issues to confront music companies a couple of years ago.

“For record companies, [music downloading] has created a fantastic opportunity to license music in diverse new ways - but at the same time there has been the challenge of stopping the content getting pirated and making sure the artists and producers get properly paid for it,” he said.

However, Victoria Barnsley, chief executive of Harper Collins UK, doesn’t anticipate this being a drawback in publishing: “This is more of a problem in the music industry, where people could share their CD collections on illegal websites,” she said. “They can’t exactly do the same thing with their book collections.”

She said that publishers are counting on devices such as the Sony Reader to be a success. “We have started creating a digital library of our whole catalogue. Whether it is the Sony Reader that proves successful or the next generation of reading devices, this could be a big market and provide opportunities for publishers.”

Sony is especially keen for its Reader to be a success. Its invention of the Walkman in 1979 changed the way that we listen to music, but it has lost out to Apple’s iPod. It now wants to do for books what Apple did for music.

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Electronic health records loom large in Big Apple

New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, recently proposed that $100 million be spent on electronic health records (EHR) systems for the city. The plan would be to equip 100 clinics and doctors’ offices with EHR systems, and would represent one of the world’s biggest health IT initiatives.

"Public health is a fundamental responsibility of government, and we are going to do everything we can to help New Yorkers continue living longer lives," Bloomberg said in his State of the City speech.

The mayor plans to ask federal and state governments, as well as a number of private sector entities, to fund the initiative. He said that the IT initiative would make the Big Apple national leaders for providing quality health care.

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., has an annual budget of more than $4 billion, and sees 5 million patients a year at some 100 community clinics and 11 hospitals.

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Getting ahead of the game

During the Super Bowl XL in February, some 65,000 football fans could be assured of their safety. Several dozen National Guard troops were patrolling the stadium and nearby neighborhoods with handheld computers linked wirelessly to sensors mounted in fixed positions around the area.

The system, which was developed to fight terrorist threats, enabled the troops to monitor any potential trouble using the real-time data they received. The handhelds are designed to send readings back to a base station without user intervention. If any readings are abnormal, the base station can communicate with the soldiers by radio and have them investigate further.

“The big advantage here is that it uses Internet protocols, so [the incoming data] can be loaded into secure or classified Web sites, so personnel up to thousands of miles away can get readings in real time,” said Lt.Col. Clark Hinga of the Michigan National Guard’s 51st Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team.

And what of the future? According, Jeffrey Ricker, CEO of Distributed Instruments - who developed the sensor fusion technology used in the system - it won’t be long before we see small wireless cameras linked to facial-recognition software databases that would help identify suspects in crowds. “It can be kind of scary,” Ricker said, “but it’s not as scary as the alternative.”

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Paperless courthouse is good for environment...and legal eagles

Oakland County began a program last week that could eventually lead to its courthouse becoming paperless. Oakland's is one of four pilot programs in Michigan to begin e-filing.

Oakland County court officials say the program will save time, storage space and ultimately, trees. More than 2.5 million pieces of paper are filed each year in Oakland County Circuit Court, said County Clerk Ruth Johnson. More than 600,000 case files dating back 30 years are stored in two warehouses and two offices in Oakland County.

"This truly will be a paperless court," said Circuit Judge Michael Warren, who will be conducting the pilot in his courtroom.

The program is especially attractive to attorneys who spend time, and money, traveling to the courthouse in Pontiac to file documents or hiring couriers to do that work. "A huge part of my overhead is getting documents processed," said Troy attorney Donald McGinnis.

Initially, the program will apply only to civil, not criminal, cases in which all parties agree to electronic filing.

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NYPD gets hi-tech in fight against crime

The NYPD has added another hi-tech tool to its crime fighting arsenal. The $11 million NYPD Real Time Crime Center uses cutting edge technology to speed up police work. The center will provide officers with vital information such as, aerial photos of the crime scene, and details of every criminal complaint and arrest in the vicinity. According to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, analysts will access information that, “before it might take detectives hours, days or weeks to obtain on their own. Now we can send them critical details before they even arrive on the scene.”

The center will start out taking requests, mostly by phone, from commanding officers, and only for serious crimes such as shootings and homicides. It will likely take a while before every police officer knows it's available to them. “We're a big agency,” said Kelly. “We have 37,000 uniformed officers, so getting people to know about this center and using it prudently and to make certain that we don't overwhelm it, it's going to take training, and we’ll be engaged in it.”

It’s hoped that, in the future, the center will be used for other things, such as counterterrorism.

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ASIDES

Oh the times, they are a changin’

Things were different ten years ago: An “application” was for employment; “windows” were something you hated to clean and a “hard drive” was a long trip on the road. You’ll be surprised how much things have changed.

Read on to find out more...