The New Information Platform consists of:
Creating the New Information Platform requires co-ordinating various entities. Information publishers need to be convinced of the need to add RSS to their websites, users need to be convinced to start using RSS viewers, service providers need to offer the Cloud services. All of these activities need to happen in parallel for a positive feedback loop to happen in terms of adoption. The challenge lies in bootstrapping the process.
Luckily, much of this has already been happening in the world of weblogs. What is now needed is to take these ideas and apply them to the mainstream world of Indian content. There is very little legacy, so it should be possible to speed up a change in the way users consume content.
In fact, Indian portals have little choice but to think of disruptive innovations which can help build out the new information ecosystem. Google looms as the ultimate competitor, offering a platform for small advertisers to connect to those who use the search engine. Google has shown that is it possible to create microcontent (its search results) which can be targeted to lots of small advertisers paying micromoney (a few cents per click). Unless the Indian portals think creatively, they will realise that the advertising revenues which will increase in the coming years will no longer be theirs when the time for monetisation comes.
There are three ideas built around the New Information Platform which can help them counter-attack and launch the next generation of activity in the Internet space: NINE, PIN and STIM.
Tomorrow: Three India Portal Ideas
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