Information Technology and Services

ITS leverages Newhouse experience to bring Adobe Digital Publishing Suite to SU
 
ITS is in the final stages of bringing the enterprise edition of Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (DPS) to SU.  DPS was pioneered on campus by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications with their September, 2011 release of the "Best of Newhouse" app and Barcode Magazine for iPad. ITS has negotiated and funded an upgrade to the DPS professional license held by Newhouse.
 
The DPS enterprise edition will enable all schools, colleges and departments at SU to create their own apps and e-publications, using their existing Adobe Creative Suite and InDesign workflows to author layouts and add interactivity and multimedia. ITS will take these InDesign files and use the Folio Producer tools in DPS to publish .folio files as apps for tablet devices. Apps can be distributed directly, or through the device markets such as Google Play and the Apple App Store.
 
This new capability puts SU at the forefront of university app publishers, and positions the University to capitalize on the changes tablet devices are bringing about. There's clearly a surge in tablet ownership. Among college students, ownership has more than tripled in the last year according to a recent Pearson Foundation survey.  The survey estimates that as many as 25% of college students now own a tablet, compared to just 7% last year.  Among all adults, reports the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, 19% now own a tablet computer and 19% own an eBook reader, with 9% owning both.  This is almost double the ownership seen just two months earlier. The highest rates of ownership are among consumers who are college graduates, are age 30-49 and have incomes of $75,000 or more. 36% of adults with incomes of $75,000 or more now own a tablet.  All indications are that tablet ownership will continue to grow.
 
It's no wonder the demand for tools to create and distribute apps for tablets and eBook readers is coming to a boil. 
 
Adobe touts DPS as the premier solution for creating, distributing, and optimizing engaging content and publications for tablet devices, including iPad, Kindle Fire, Android, Nook, Xoom, Playbook and others.  DPS is emerging as the platform of choice for major app publishers including New Yorker Magazine, Men's Health, National Geographic, GQ, Consumer Reports, Wired, Fast Company, Martha Stewart and Golf Digest to name a few.
 
ITS is working out the details of deploying, supporting and utilizing DPS, and soon will have it ready for campus publishers. Stay tuned for information about demos and training opportunities that will help you and your staff get ready to take advantage of ADPS. 
 
If you're interested in knowing more about Adobe Digital Publishing Suite and putting it to work for your organization, contact Jono Chowdhury (x1970, jschowdh@syr.edu) or Jenny Gluck (x5772, jsgluck@syr.edu).