Hello world!

We live in an age where we’re more connected to each other than at any other point in history. Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are breaking down geographical barriers, and have created thriving online communities. Yet, with all the technologies and tools available to us, we know very little about the space in which we work. Our various levels of government cannot be relied upon to help us understand the size and scope of our industry. Through Statistics Canada, obtaining data about our industry is costly and difficult at best. Their data collection process occurs every five years, with the next round of surveying is slated to begin in 2011.

The providers of digital media services are classified in a way that isn’t indicative of the industry’s true organization, and two more years will pass before the NAICS classification is rewritten. To compound the matter even further, the data currently being collected only reflects the genetics of large organizations who provide digital media services, while ignoring the small to medium-sized businesses, the primary drivers of our economy. And finally, we know very little about the needs and trends of buyers of digital media services. In Canada, there hasn’t been a unified effort to understand how much clients spend annually on these services, how much is outsourced vs. in-sourced, and other business trends.

A few moments ago, I took the stage at Mesh in Toronto and had the pleasure of announcing “Pixel to Product: A report on Canada’s digital media economy”. The purpose of this study is to create a classification system for Canada’s digital media industry and shed light on the industry’s size and scope.

The Plan

We’ll accomplish this by utilizing a variety of methods:

1. By surveying the employees of these digital media service providers,
2. by classifying and surveying the providers of digital media services, and
3. by surveying and interviewing the buyers of digital media services.

The methods of gathering data will include surveying through web-based collection mechanisms, face-to-face interviews as well as a series of asks through social media, email marketing and the project blog. These research phases will be run concurrently, and it is quite likely that during the course of this research project, the large data sets (1, 2, and 3 identified above) will spin off into subsequently smaller data sets with the intention of revealing and cataloguing the generated insights and findings. These smaller data sets will provide us with an increasingly valuable understanding of our industry, and will be collected using some of the methods described above, as well as through conversations on our blog.

The Deliverables

Over the course of this study, we will be delivering the following assets:

1. Project website, which will be the primary property for housing collection mechanisms, reports and raw data, as well as project details and communication pieces,
2. An industry survey web application, with final results provided in PDF and HTML (anonymized data will be made available in Open Data formats),
3. An interactive web application, which will allow users to display and filter listings of digital media companies through the selection of specific criteria (e.g. location, etc, with survey results provided in Open Data formats),
4. A data findings report, which will highlight insights found during the data analysis phase,
5. A buyer needs and trends report, which will highlight insights found during the surveying and interviewing of digital media service buyers, and
6. A self-published e-book, containing a handpicked selection of blog posts written during the course of the research study

The first step in this process is to define digital media, and we will soon be announcing the details our first working session. If you would like to join us and contribute your gifts, resources and knowledge to this study, we’d love to have you join us! Tell us a little bit about who you are and how you’d like to contribute.