Digital Transformation: Publication Style

According to our most recent reader survey, if you’re holding a tablet or phone, or using your desktop computer to read this article, you’re a member of a digital majority. Sixty-seven percent of you report reading InTech magazine’s digital edition, which has been coming to your inboxes for more than six years. Thirty-eight percent of you visit www.ISA.org/InTech to read there. In fact, 46% of readers never pick up a paper issue to skim through the ads and articles.

When we asked the question a different way, survey respondents told us the most important media formats for finding and reading professional material were websites (71%), ebooks (58%), and newsletters (52%), followed by print magazines (43%). We’ve seen the writing on the wall for a couple years now: Fewer of you every year hold paper copies of InTech to read them. At the same time, costs for paper, printing, and postage keep climbing, and calls for a more sustainable approach keep coming in.

So, it is with a bit of sadness but much gratitude for the benefits of digital publications that I say this is the last issue of InTech in print. After years of pilot projects and deliberations, the digital transformation of InTech magazine is a reality.

As an industry consultant states in this issue’s Executive Corner column, “Digital transformation is the process of intentionally bringing about comprehensive changes, after due deliberation, by leveraging emerging digital technologies to achieve overarching objectives.”

Starting in 2023, this flagship publication of ISA—International Society of Automation will be published only in PDF format, six times per year. The InTech FOCUS ebook, which for the past couple of years has supplemented InTech magazine with a focus on fundamentals, will be folded into the InTech magazine ebook. 

ISA members and other subject matter experts will continue to contribute articles that inform and educate. Article topics will continue to cover the range of ISA content categories, as well as provide news about ISA standards, certifications, trainings and events. Starting with the February issue, a new all-digital format will be delivered instantly to thousands around the world—no postal delays or damaged copies. More links to additional resources will be included, and each issue will remain easily sharable.

Also coming in 2023, making the most of having no printed-page space constraints, is a new digital publication stream: InTech Whitepapers. Longer than magazine articles and shorter than books, InTech Whitepapers are single-topic, in-depth reports with citations. These will be distributed via  existing ISA.org and Automation.com digital channels and will be online alongside InTech magazine ebooks. 

I’d love for you to join us in our digital transformation. Sign up to receive your issues via email. Share the link with coworkers so they can sign up too. Submit your articles and whitepaper reports to InTechContent@ISA.org. And share your thoughts on what’s in store for you in 2023. Is there digital transformation in your future?