The power of prosumers in publishing

Project Information

Mobius

Grant agreement ID: 957185

DOI

10.3030/957185

Project closed

EC signature date 24 February 2021

Start date 1 March 2021

End date 29 February 2024

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Total cost

€ 5 516 397,50

EU contribution

€ 4 942 460,00

Coordinated by

FUNDACIO EURECAT
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Mobius (The power of prosumers in publishing)

Reporting period: 2022-09-01 to 2024-02-29

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

MOBIUS has aimed to revamp the traditional value chains and business models that have long been the industry's foundation. The project acknowledges the rise of digital technologies and the emergence of prosumers—individuals who both produce and consume content—which necessitates a shift in how the publishing industry operates. To this end, MOBIUS has developed tools to harness the potential of prosumers in the innovation process, fostering a more user-centric approach to content creation. This includes the creation of a prosumer intelligence toolkit and the establishment of new business models that promote fair cooperation between all stakeholders. Additionally, the project has developed cross-media, interactive, and immersive book experiences, which enrich the reading experience and meet the evolving demands of modern audiences. MOBIUS is poised to contribute to a renewed and invigorated European publishing sector, ensuring its resilience and relevance in the digital age, by providing them with methods and tools to leverage the potential of prosumers in innovation processes and thus guaranteeing user-centric and user-driven perspectives in the design and delivery of new enriched media experiences, and also:

● Capitalize on production and consumption behaviours of both open and publisher-managed prosumer bases for informing publishing decisions and triggering innovation processes.
● Extend trend- and talent scouting opportunities to informal networks and communities of authors and influencers.
● Maximize visibility and publicity strategies through cooperation with influencers operating in online communities of interest, and the creation of cross-media immersive and interactive book experiences.
● Increase likeliness of market uptake of content and technology-driven innovations.
● Create business opportunities by evaluating new prosumer business models.ublishing is the larges
● Strengthen the European media ecosystem by paving the way for cross-sector scalability.

Möbius overall objectives have been:

1. Create a framework for user-driven innovation in the European publishing sector
2. Deploy and validate methods and tools for extracting actionable knowledge from both publisher-managed and open prosumer bases
3. Co-create and demonstrate the Möbius book with prosumer groups
4. Explore and assess the market potential and feasibility of the prosumer business model for the publishing industries
5. Ensure long-term sustainability and cross-sectoral upscaling of Möbius innovations

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Möbius project is based on the direct engagement of the users to drive and inform the technical and theoretical development. In addition, the involvement of users has been the cornerstone of our living lab approach, specifying the close collaboration with different stakeholders throughout the project lifetime.
The target stakeholders participated in the collection of user requirements during the preparatory phase. These requirements were then used by the partners involved in the technical development to consider for further technical implementation. After that, the different user categories have been included in an iterative workflow to provide feedback and input on the intermediate concepts and prototypes to be integrated in further implementation during the first and second pilot phase. The users are also key part of the impact assessment, as most of the indicators are assessed by them.
Data retrieved from different fanfiction platforms were used to study collective behaviour patterns in prosumer communities, and to define models and metrics to characterize user generated content, authors and users according to their popularity, controversy, centrality, emotions and language, among other aspects. Models and metrics were developed to meet the needs and requests from publishers and relevant stakeholders, integrating their input and feedback received in workshops, interviews and surveys carried out to this end.
A final prototype of interactive dashboards (the Prosumer Intelligence Toolkit (PIT) has been released to allow end users explore the data and browse relevant content generated by the communities.
Furthermore, Möbius has developed two different types of software applications which are part of the Möbius book: 1) the Möbius Creators Toolkit for helping professional users in the publishing industry to create and manage content in the new format, and 2) the Möbius Player, capable of reading and displaying this information to the end- users and allowing them to control the different interactive aspects.
Both applications are aimed at the end-users, with the Creator empowering the prosumer, and the Player allowing readers to engage with a new immersive reading format.
Finally, Möbius has been mapping the current business models and revenue streams most common within the publishing industry.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Möbius key innovations lie in a three-fold strategy for addressing user-driven and enriched experiences in a comprehensive and cross-sectoral perspective:
1. A new prosumer intelligence framework and technology-enabled methods and tools based on data analytics will provide the foundations for establishing effective cooperation with both publisher-managed and open communities of prosumers at all stages of the value chain.
2. A set of robust prosumer business models for the publishing industry will assess the feasibility and market potential of possible cooperation arrangements with prosumers.
3. The Möbius book experience, a new concept enabling cross-media, interactive and immersive book experiences in the format for the digital publications, the EPUB standard. It levers interactive and immersive cross-media technologies to support social interactions, both physical and virtual.

Impacts in the publishing and the cultural and creative industry ecosystem:

● New contents through the prosumer intelligence toolkit: Unprecedented scaling up of consumer intelligence, booth in reach and scope, for informing editorial decisions.
● New business opportunities through the prosumer business models: Foster a fair and sustainable publishing ecosystem in which prosumers add value into the publishing value chains.
● New products and services through the use of co-creation approaches: Reducing the risk and increasing likeliness of uptake of innovations, and cross-media and immersive experiences.
● New audiences through the Möbius book experience: New ways of delivering appealing contents and making it visible for engaging targeted audiences.

Möbius immersive experiences