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Naviga partners with Sophi to automate print production workflow

Naviga yesterday announced the launch of Naviga Publisher, a new product that automates the print production workflow for publishers. It’s powered by Sophi.io, an artificial intelligence system developed by Canadian publisher, The Globe and Mail.

Naviga partners with Sophi to automate print production workflow
Karin Söderlund: “With the addition of Sophi.io powering Naviga Publisher, we offer a smart, channel-agnostic content management system.”

This next-generation smart AI/ML technology empowers newsrooms to devote their time, energy and resources to reporting on news rather than the delivery of content to multiple channels.

Naviga Publisher, powered by Sophi.io, and part of Naviga’s Content Engagement Platform (CEP), enables news organisations to become truly ‘Content First’ by re-allocating resources traditionally meant for print to producing quality journalism instead, says Naviga.

The automation technology is currently being used by Agderposten, a Norwegian daily newspaper.

“Naviga Publisher and Sophi.io have enabled our news organisation to develop the same level of quality newspaper with fewer resources. This enables us to re-allocate those resources to driving better content and increased subscriptions,” said Agderposten Editor-in-Chief Øyvind Klausen.

Part of Naviga’s new Smart Layouts solution set, Naviga Publisher, powered by Sophi.io, enables publishers to deliver a consistent, brand-driven look and feel of their paper, regardless of article length, other assets and other influencing factors such as ads, placement, or layout. The automation technology is configured to model the decisions that print editors make today, enabling publishers to deliver great content without compromising on layout quality or having to use templates, says Naviga.

“According to a July 2020 survey of Naviga customers, 22% of the total effort to deliver a newspaper comprises page layout and copy fitting,” said Pat Stewart, VP of Development at Naviga. “By leveraging AI/ML technology to power print and e-reader manufacturing workflows, publishers can drive higher efficiencies, save on manufacturing costs and allocate more resources to content creation.”

Greg Doufas, Chief Technology Officer at The Globe and Mail, said: “As a publisher ourselves, we know how much time and resources go into laying down a paper, especially given how quickly news evolves. When we saw how flawlessly Sophi.io automated our digital content curation, we knew we had to bring that same AI-based automation to the print laydown process and get this technology to others. Looking at Agderposten's success, it's clear that our partnership with Naviga is enabling us to help other forward thinking publishers.”

Naviga’s Smart Layouts solution set also includes Naviga Templates. Naviga Templates automates copy fitting of articles, while Naviga Publisher, powered by Sophi.io, fully automates the time-intensive process of page creation and assembly for the entire publication.

“While many publishers deploy a ‘digital first’ mindset, there are often disparate processes for creating and delivering content across channels,” said Karin Söderlund, President and General Manager of Content Products at Naviga. “With the addition of Sophi.io powering Naviga Publisher, we offer a smart, channel-agnostic content management system that integrates across a newsroom, enabling publishers to focus on quality journalism and new revenue opportunities.”

You can find out more about Naviga in our Publishing Services Directory.