1070-986X/04/$25.00 © 2004 IEEE
Published by the IEEE Computer Society
EIC's Message: Multimedia Information Lifecycle Management
Forouzan Golshani , Wright State University
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I decided to write about this issue not because multimedia information management is close to my area of research, but because I believe it's no longer just a luxury—it's a boardroom issue. As the role of information continues to increase in corporate decision making, more and more multimedia information augments the traditional alphanumeric data in the process.
The value of information varies significantly from one enterprise to another, and as such the issue of lifecycle management may have different implications. Consider, for example, the healthcare domain and medical records. To parents, the records represent a vital component of a child's growth. Ultrasounds were once considered a purely medical procedure, but now companies specializing in keepsakes provide expectant parents with pictures produced and stored on a CD or a VHS tape.
To medical researchers, the records are the backbone of any future research and development activity. Healthcare networks, however, view the records as a way to gain insight on trends in several areas related to medical and pharmaceutical fields. To state and federal government agencies, this same information represents regulatory obligations for years to come.
So what's common among these groups? Fixed content must be retained for active reference over a long period of time. Examples abound of objects that must be maintained for a very long time—including seismic data, CT scans, check images, audio legal depositions, biometric data, digital evidence, and CAD data.
Information lifecycle management clearly begins with acquisition (creation) of multimedia information, and includes several important steps. MPEG-7 and MPEG-21 have been catalysts for making significant inroads here. Areas still exist, though, that require further consideration of the long-term use of and accessibility to information. The complicating factor is regulatory compliance. For example, whereas the tiered storage system has been in use for some time, the choice for storage—usually determined by a price/performance ratio—will have to match the regulatory use of the information.
Another attribute necessary for optimizing a multimedia repository is flexibility, which we must consider from the production/acquisition stage, through compression, analysis and indexing, and all the way to eventually discarding. (Knowing when and how to discard information is just as important as retaining and securing it).
Many aspects of a multimedia information lifecycle are affected by regulatory compliance. Not only are the authenticity and integrity of information significant, other pragmatic issues—such as selecting the right storage for the right content—are important to the equation. CIOs must bear in mind that in the new world of "all digital" information, lifecycle management strategies for multimedia information are critical in handling inevitable growth. This is true for governmental, public, private, and nonprofit organizations.
As always, I invite your views on this issue. Please write to me at golshani@cs.wright.edu with your ideas.
On to our editorial board, which now has a new member: Marc Davis. Davis directs the work at Berkeley's Garage Cinema Research. He's a respected innovator who is committed to making multimedia available and more useful to everyday people. Marc: welcome aboard.
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