Gurgaon Based Mediology Software Redefines the Future of Publishing
Publishing is known as the production and dissemination of literature or information, the activity of making information available to the general public. Since the invention of the printing press, the internet has been the greatest revolutionary catalyst to publishing, as it is no longer limited to paper, and the distribution of publications is no longer limited by physical barriers. Further, publications have evolved from static text and images printed on paper to being interactive and digital, complete with embedded audio and video.Publishers have often felt intimidated and outpaced by the rapid advances in internet technology. This is exactly why Gaurav Bhatnagar and Manish Dhingra decided to launch a technology that would redefine the future of publishing. Their venture, Mediology, offers a platform that empowers publishers to leverage technology in order to improve their content creation and extend their reach to a larger audience.
Mediology assists companies in embracing technology to increase productivity, reduce costs, and enhance user experience. This includes solutions to pre-press workflow, multi-channel publishing, social networking, and even the monetization of assets.
Mediology’s team has developed the digital publishing platform in an extremely creative way that allows publishers to create their own interactive publications, even without any training in investment or technology.
How It All Works
Mediology’s platform enables publishers to directly take their content online. The company’s cloud hosted solutions work with new or existing print content (via PDF files, XML or HTML) and digitize it so that it can be offered on the web as well as on all leading mobile and tablet devices.
The publisher first uploads a press-ready PDF file in to the system and then they are provided an intuitive user interface which can be used to insert videos, hyperlinks, forms, and other interactive elements within the publication. Once the publication is ready, it gets published automatically to the web, as well as mobile and tablet devices at the click of a button.
By using technology creatively, Mediology has managed to bring the cost of utilizing such a sophisticated digital publishing system to $5 per document, which has created a level playing field for small publishers, who can now demonstrate their creativity in the digital domain without having to invest heavily in expensive technology.
Mediology generates revenue by both charging a digitization fee and by placing ads in the digitized content. A portion of the ad revenue is shared with the publishers which generates additional revenue streams for them as well.
The Challenges of Starting Up in the Publishing Sector
“From a publishing perspective, the Indian digital landscape is unique. Most Indians access the internet via a mobile phone, while using a very large number of regional languages. Further, low internet bandwidth is a challenge in India. Because of this, unique solutions tailored to the Indian publishers and their audience need to be created. Mediology has taken the onus of working with publishers closely to create these solutions” says Gaurav.
Further, Gaurav says, “In a country as diverse as India, the cost to distribute paper publications is very high. Hence, with the proliferation of mobile phones and internet, our digital distribution platform is playing a very key role in taking published content to newer readers in every corner of the country.”
“More than challenges, we see opportunity in the Indian publishing scene because our solutions specifically solve the challenges that publishers face today. So as an enabler for digital publishing, we see a very bright future for Mediology in the Indian publishing industry.” Gaurav concludes.
Gaurav Bhatnagar, an Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi) graduate was the winner of British Council’s Young Creative Entrepreneur- Publishing Awards, 2011.When asked about his experience he says “I had a wonderful experience participating in the YCE contest. The contest layout and questionnaire forced us to think through and elucidate our business model succinctly. The presentation to the judges was very interactive and I got excellent constructive feedback from them The event also afforded us the opportunity to network and interact with fellow entrepreneurs.”
To learn more about the Young Creative Entrepreneur- Publishing Awards, click here. Follow the Young Creative Entrepreneur Awards (YCE) on Facebook.
