Unleashing Australian Standards through content atomisation

Standards Australia is the nation’s peak non-government, not-for-profit standards organisation. For over a century, it has set the benchmarks for building a nation, developing over 9,000 standards that cover almost every aspect of our lives.

At Standards Australia, we are constantly exploring innovative ways to provide access to our standards and want to partner with organisations that can see the potential for reaching wider audiences with more condensed and focused assets. 

Increasingly we are seeing that the power of content lies in its adaptability. One of its most potent forms of adaptation is atomisation — the breakdown of long- and medium-format content into bite size chunks of ultra-relevant insights delivered in myriad formats across platforms. It could be taking one question from a podcast and addressing it in a punchy blog post for example or deconstructing a comprehensive how-to guidebook into a series of short videos. 

Or at an industry level, take music for instance. Purchasing physical albums on CD was long ago replaced by purchasing and downloading individual songs, which then transformed into the streaming of individual songs and the creation of our own curated playlists. Now we can get artist recommendations via sophisticated algorithms on platforms like Spotify, or access short snippets of songs via Tik Tok. 

It’s the same for film. Long gone are the days of renting a VHS from Blockbuster. Now you can stream what you want, when you want, watch it at 1.5x the speed, or just look up your favourite scene on YouTube. 

Content across platforms

This strategic slicing and dicing of content, that can then be woven across diverse platforms, can be a powerful driver of business innovation and success. By having the ability to provide compelling data, businesses can better engage their audience — customers, employees, suppliers and other stakeholders — and maximise their impact. 

Innovating in this space has never been more important to respond to consumer trends. The Decision Dilemma Global Study conducted by Oracle shows 91% of business leaders reported that the growing number of data sources had limited the success of their organisations and 89% of Australian business leaders have given up making a decision due to the complexity of too much data. 

So finding ways to stand out and provide the kind of clarity and engagement that drives smart decision making is critical.

Transforming Australian Standards for industry

Standards Australia has a deep well of expertise that we are ready to share with our partners. 

We want to invite you to imagine what might be possible when it comes to leveraging Australian Standards with content atomisation in mind.  

Perhaps it could involve providing a collection of content created from standards combined with governance questionnaires for risk management. Or maybe extracts could be integrated with learning and training platforms in the building industry. Think about how engineering companies could use product lifecycle management platforms to share relevant sections of the standard at different stages of the product life cycle. Consider how design calculators, checklists, and scheduling tools across industries could all draw on Australian Standards at the relevant time in the right format for a specific audience, rather than via a single, large and sometimes unwieldy document. 

Let’s look toward more flexible licensing and partnership opportunities that lead to fit-for-purpose, highly relevant content delivered through digital workflows in compelling ways. Let’s stop thinking about standards simply as a means of ticking a box and start using them in dynamic ways that enable interactive journeys. 

This isn’t about diluting the value of Australian Standards. On the contrary, it’s about concentrating that value so organisations can both consume and deliver critical information more efficiently and effectively, protecting their businesses and their stakeholders. 

We want to hear from forward-thinking organisations who want to work together to embrace digital innovation and transform the use of standards across trades and industry. Find out more about how to partner with Standards Australia here.