Syndication
If we take syndication to mean making content available to other sites/subscribers (e.g., web syndication) then although enterprises seem to be happy with the idea of syndicating public facing content such as press releases, articles or white papers via social media, the idea of syndicating enterprise data isn't yet mainstream.
So the definition of data syndication would be that data is published simultaneously in a number of other channels - those channels could be outside, or inside the enterprise.
If you're inside the enterprise it makes it more likely that whatever channel is preferred by a user, the user gets the exposed to the data. Perhaps more importantly, it ensures that whatever the data source is, there's a common way to access it. By syndicating the data into multiple channels, the data can be event driven to the user, who can then take control it - it's there on demand as opposed to needing to be found. So the benefit is speed; awareness; engagement.
The case for syndicating data externally is potent. Firstly, it's transparent, so it builds partnership and trust; for instance, the near instant visibility of customer demand down the supply chain can reduce the 'bullwhip effect'. In addition, real-time situational awareness speeds up vendor response. Perhaps organisations will want to bring customers into the product/service development process even earlier than they already are. Or customers could take a complete, cradle to grave view of product quality.
Democratisation
Democratisation concerns the spread of knowledge amongst end-users as opposed to a hierarchical broadcast mechanism. Kevin Rose (@kevinrose) makes some interesting points about the sheer volume of data on the internet and how democratisation is the masses deciding what's important or relevant.
Users in the enterprise face the same challenges as users on the internet; the volume of data is huge and increasing. (This is why enterprise search is big business - HP are buying Autonomy, Google are pushing their search appliance and Microsoft are working their FAST acquisition/Bing into the enterprise where they can). The enterprise needs the same democratisation capability as the internet. Users need to be able to find and through sharing 'vote up' those key trends and issues that need attention, whether it's the trend of data from a manufacturing plant instrument or an unresolved safety audit finding.
Democratisation means the right attention can be given to the right issues at the right time.
Of course, this is a tough thing to do; the nature of data in the enterprise is different - the historical lack of enterprise-wide search means metadata is lacking or inaccurate and vendors have spent years implementing protected, proprietary, and closed systems. But with intelligent design we can overcome this.
Curation
And so to curation. Buzzword du jour. There's a definite move away from the academic definition to curation as a development of the democratisation of internet content, usually via social media. The key factor is that content is filtered and organised by a human for a community of people with common interests, rather than aggregated by an algorithm designed to respond to a single query.
This is a logical step; faced with huge quantities of available data, there's just got to be some way to make sense of it all; what's worth reading and what's worth keeping? An algorithm can't answer those questions because it doesn't appreciate the nuances of the community and those shared interests. You need a curator to take the step from the personalisation around their interests (dealt with in Web 2.0) to the relevance of content or data to the wider community built around shared interests.
As I write this in August 2011, there are few content curation solutions out there - most are in private beta and all are aimed squarely at the internet and socialising content.
Just as it's the next logical step for the internet, it's the next logical step for the enterprise. The enterprise is full of communities, from those with a shared interest in cycling to those with a shared interest in energy and sustainability, or safety. Communities are reliable, robust and inclusive; they lead to better decisions and by their very nature engage users and ensure that the relevant data gets to interested parties. A well curated community kills a reliance on email, or any other form of serial information delivery. Developing the idea of curating syndicated data mentioned above opens the door for expert third parties to be consulted or offer services.
Altogether now…
Simply put, I believe that democratising syndicated enterprise data through user communities is a good thing. Each enterprise and each employee that works within it can be more autonomous, more expert and better connected. It's a killer combination.
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