Digital industries: a road to nowhere?
Jinfo Blog

27th September 2010

By Joanna Ptolomey

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From TV to economies – it is all about ‘digital’. Hardly a minute goes by without someone mentioning the ‘digital world’ in which we live, work and play. I picked up the Financial Times today and read an advert from an IBM campaign - ‘smarter planet is a more secure planet’ – where their estimates of information created content will ‘quintuple in the next 2 years to more than 2.5 zettabytes’. In organisations and as individuals we make decisions every day about what to buy and try in this digital world. Are we driven by what we actually need, by what looks shiny or by what others seem to using or talking about? Probably a combination of all. And how much are we bounded by the industry sector in which we work in? This week I will be at DigiPharm (http://digbig.com/5bcmbx) – a meeting of minds for the pharmaceutical sector marketing and communications folks. It will be a showcase of debate about online communication and customer relationship in a heavily regulated industry. Part of me is hoping for a good old fashioned bun fight – you can follow the conversation on twitter at #digipharm. ‘Becoming digital’ is not an overnight decision even if you wholeheartedly want to embrace this model of business. It requires a shift in culture combined with the good sense to know that the offline world is still important. Building two way relationships is also a part of the ‘digital world’ – easy to say, but harder to achieve especially if part of your engagement is with patients suffering from chronic disease or acute medical conditions and their health care providers. So hold on there uneasy partners – does the pharmaceutical industry need a new way to manage this change? How can this ‘community’ work together? What have they already learned, achieved and where will they go now? How do you facilitate the conversation between the patient, the provider and the industry? I have a vested interest in the STM industry sector. The pharmaceutical sector is one part of this industry – but we all need everyone to turn up for the bun fight to make it work. I will be reporting from #digipharm on trends, conversations, transformational changes and the occasional bun fight. I am hoping that lessons can be transferred to other industries too. Watch this space…………

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