The revolution from monomedia to multiple media publishing has created vast requirements for training, consulting and research. Media companies need to know about the best practices and best investments in convergence in order to construct their own convergence strategies.
Ifra has been a leader in the areas of research, consulting and training for cross-media integration from the beginning of the convergence revolution.
Upon identifying the industry media trend, Ifra set out on a sophisticated, 14-month research study to understand the future media marketplace and its many plausible futures. It employed scenario planning research, and from that research, Newsplex was born.
The $2.5 million IfraNewsplex at the University of South Carolina in the United States is a prototype micronewsroom for demonstration, training and research in next-generation newshandling tools and techniques. It was completed in November 2002 and began operation the following February.
The Newsplex is located at and operated in cooperation with the University of South Carolina College of Journalism and Mass Communication in Columbia, S.C.