KUALA LUMPUR: Sin Chew Daily is one of the eight regional media organizations taking part in the second edition of Google News Initiative (GNI) Data and Insights Launchpad (DIL) program.

The three-month program — a partnership between Google and FT Strategies, the digital growth consultancy from the Financial Times — is aimed at addressing and accelerating publishers’ data and insights capabilities from reader discovery to subscription strategy.

FT Strategies uses the publishers’ data and audience insights to produce actionable business and strategy recommendations on topics such as data collection, data metrics and building a data-led subscription strategy.

Google’s Head of News Partnerships, South East Asia and South Asia Emerging Markets Fazal Ashfaq said Google was pleased to partner with FT Strategies to bring the DIL program to publishers across Southeast Asia, and he hoped the program would empower publishers in their digital sustainability efforts and thrive in the digital world.

Media Chinese International Limited Chief Operating Officer (Content and Strategy) Tan Lee Chin said data handling and utilization forms the bedrock of any company’s transformation process while apt data utilization is key to the company’s further breakthroughs.

“As news media, we have put in a lot of effort in this area over the last few years.

“DIL, a program custom designed for publishers, will substantially help us achieve our goals through optimal data utilization. For example, the survey on Sin Chew’s digital users in this program will help shape our future product planning and deployment strategies.”

Following the resounding success of the last edition of DIL for Europe, Middle East and Africa, the 2022 program received a total of 30 applications from around Southeast Asia.

The second edition sees the participation of eight publishers from five regional countries. Sin Chew Daily aside, the other participants are The Straits Times (Singapore), Thairath (Thailand), ABS-CBN (the Philippines) and Sinar Harian, Astro Awani, Malaysiakini and New Straits Times (Malaysia).

The selection panel focused on ensuring that the final cohort of eight publishers was diverse in nature, across publisher size, addressable audiences, medium of publication, and participants at different stages of their subscriptions journey. This has enabled the cohort to spread DIL’s impact and benefits across the Southeast Asia publishing landscape.

Through its partnerships, programs and products, the Google News Initiative works with thousands of organizations worldwide to support quality independent journalism, financial sustainability, and development of new technologies that drive innovation.

Google allocated US$300 million over three years to energize these collaborations and to lay the foundation for new products and programs for a diverse set of news publishers to benefit the entire ecosystem. This includes supporting thought leadership on topics like consumer revenue, advertising and data that are critical to the future of the news industry.