By C. A. Pomeroy
The so-called "content business" -- now being eyed by many carriers
now that NTT's iMode has garnered much praise for activating the mobile telephony
sector -- is set to be further shaken up by the introduction of an innovative
perspective as regards "management as assets of digitalized information" by
a Japanese group consisting of accounting, legal and marketing as well as technology
experts.
Grounded on the fact that telecommunications and broadcasting are converging
thanks to the adoption of the new technology that have been spawned along with
the use of the computer, this "Digi-Asset Management (DAM)" group is seeking
to disseminate, through the medium of the Internet, use of its ideas to all
kinds of markets now being effected by representations in digital form.
According to H. A. Arnsmeier, IP analyst for Japan Engineering News Inc., there
are "digital assets" concepts, such as those talked about by digital office
equipment manufacturers (e.g., Canon, which is focusing on patents) or printing
pre-press outfits (especially in North America), being floated, but without
becoming a wholistic scheme like the one being promoted by the Japanese group.
At the heart of the new DAM move is the "Kamimura" method of categorizing and
handling as tangible figures the "digi-assets" (objects of evaluation) using
the matrix concept based on a variety of benchmarks. Further information can
be obtained by accessing the homepage set up by this group.
In a similar vein, industrial behemoth Hitachi, together with Sega Enterprises
and music distributor Nippon Columbia, is pushing to develop a system for tracking
distribution of all types of "digi-assets" using a DVD and a non-contact (radio
frequency) ID chip to ensure that copyrights of digital content are protected.
Another tangible endeavor is that of a computer graphics developer called AGI,
with cooperation with Fujitsu, Fuji TV and camera maker Minolta as well as toymaker/game
producer Takara, working to offer "digi-assets" over telecommunications networks
using an interactive software that fathoms customer emotions through voice analysis.