Ictect

Ictect, Inc is pleased to announce the Intelligent Content Innovation Program in collaboration with UW-Parkside. The program is funded in part by WiSys Technology Foundation, Inc. The goal of the program is to promote content innovation in organizations to solve their business content problems. Ictect and UW-Parkside will offer technical assistance, resources and an exceptional learning experience for participating organizations.

In summary,

• The Ictect and UW-Parkside Content Architecture team will work with your organization to develop a prototype for an identified business problem.
• Through participation in the program, your organization will expand their knowledge and awareness of intelligent content solutions, which will help you build a business case to support your goals.
• A case study for education purposes will be developed for each project completed in the program. All proprietary information regarding the participating organization will be kept confidential.

Who is the program for?

The program is for organizations with 100 or more employees that need a better way to manage a large amount of content and want to reduce the time, errors and cost associated with all phases of the production of the content. In particular, the following types of organizations may be interested in the program:

• Non-profit organizations
• Government organizations
• Publishing organizations
• Healthcare organizations
• Large Manufacturing Organizations

Why should an organization participate in this program?

This is a low risk approach using minimum resources and funding that will give you an opportunity to explore ideas about solutions on how to streamline your content processes. Additionally, the program will help you prepare a business case that will define your goals and help you plan, justify, and manage your intelligent content solution projects.

What can Intelligent Content do for you?

Intelligent Content will maximize the value of the content that your organization creates and minimize the cost that your organization incurs maintaining that content. Specifically, Intelligent Content will help you to:

• Deliver personalized information to your customers
• Re-use standardized content such as safety warnings, legal notices and branding messages
• Coordinate authoring activities around a single content repository that is efficient to maintain
• Leverage whatever channels are most effective for your customers such as print, web and mobile
• Apply greater automation to the formatting of your information with a resulting decrease in cost and increase in quality and consistency
• Position yourself to exploit the capabilities of the latest device or social media channel

How do you achieve those results?

The content architects begin with the review of your content, objectives and the development processes to identify opportunities for improvement. A proof-of-concept prototype will then be defined and implemented that demonstrates how intelligent content can be used to realize concrete business benefits. As part of the prototype, the team will undertake the following activities:

• Comprehension of your business objectives
• Review of your current and desired workflow
• Content analysis
• Proposal of alternative prototypes
• Development of a prototype
• Presentation and delivery of the prototype
• Assistance in development of the business case for deploying the demonstrated capability within your organization

What types of projects are suitable?

This program will explore innovative ideas that maximize the value and lower the cost on your existing content. When it comes to your company needs, you are the expert and you will determine the project and the goals you want to achieve with this initiative.

Examples of feasible projects can include:

• Sales proposals
• Safety instructions
• Healthcare procedures and patient guidance
• Product information including user documentation
• Web Site Content

How does the program work?

Organizations that participate in this program will discuss their content innovation needs with Ictect and UW-Parkside content architecture team. Together, they will finalize the project focus area and a high-level scope of work. The collaboration then begins and in approximately 8 weeks, the project team develops and delivers a prototype application that demonstrates the benefits that are possible.

What tools or technologies are used in this program?

Selection of the tools or technologies will depend on each individual situation and final goals. The prototype or full architecture may involve multiple products. These products can come from commercial vendors, or from the open-source community, such as:

• Microsoft Word
• Intelligent Content Plug-In (http://www.ictect.com/technology-features.html)
• Web-enabled collaboration and publishing tools
• DITA Open Toolkit (Open Source)
• Commercial technologies including Microsoft SharePoint Portal

How long does it take?

The prototype development will depend on the scope of the project deliverables and should not exceed an 8-week development period.

How much time will I have to devote?

You will invest a minimum of 20 to 30 hours in the program throughout approximately an 8-week period. It is recommended that the organization consider allocating additional resource time with the goal of building in-house capabilities with intelligent content. The goal of the investment will be that the organization will develop new ideas for cost savings and performance improvement that will more than pay for their investment in the process.

Is there a cost?

Yes, there is a fee for participation in the program, which will be determined upon final agreement and based on the high-level scope of work. For Wisconsin companies, the fee is reduced significantly based on funding from WiSys. This fee will cover some of the costs associated undertaking each engagement and it will represent a savings over what would be possible outside of the program.

What if the organization wants to continue development?

If additional development is desired, Ictect and UW-Parkside will discuss the needs of the organization and suggest possible alternatives.

Sample Case Studies of Organizations and Their Solutions

• The World Bank, a leading international financial organization, needed to streamline their Process Flow Documents. A prototype was developed in 6 weeks using Microsoft Word, Intelligent Content Plug-In, Visio, and an XML Server.
• The Perspective Charter School in Chicago asked us to develop a Formative Assessment process for students using Microsoft Word, Intelligent Content Plug-In, and a custom Web Application.