Introducing 360info – a new resource for publishers, broadcasters, schools and civic society outlets

After extensive development at Monash University, the project known as The Global Academy will start a month-long closed trial on 22 November 2021 with international publishing partners representing more than 750 outlets. To be branded as 360info, the service will officially launch in January 2022.

360info is an independent information resource operating as a wire agency available to publishing and broadcasting content partners across the Asia-Pacific region. It is not designed to be a consumer-facing website, nor will it provide breaking news and/or opinion and commentary. Instead, it is a media resource providing contextual, explanatory and, at times, corrective information.

Professional curators will bring in the thinking, knowledge and research from universities across the region. With all content driven by evidence-based research, it will be freely available and able to be reworked similar to newswire content, but under Creative Commons 4.0 International.

Monash University President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Margaret Gardner AC said 360info is an innovative initiative developed by Monash to provide a rich set of multi-faceted and research-based source material to news and media outlets.

“It is the aspiration of Monash that the increased availability of reliable and credible information informs public debate on the issues of importance to people around the world.

“Additionally, the project closely aligns with Monash’s commitment to address the key global challenges of the age, including climate change, geopolitical security and fostering thriving communities.”

Through Monash’s extensive global partnerships with other universities and research institutes, the University will also introduce 360info to a wide range of research-intensive partners.

The 360info project is led by Andrew Jaspan, Founder of The Conversation and former Editor-in-Chief at The Age and The Sunday Age. The Asia-Pacific Hub is led by Charis Palmer, former Chief of Staff at The Conversation, who leads a small team of professional editors and producers based at Monash University’s Caulfield campus.

360info will be widely available from January. A registration-only platform, it uses SourceFabric’s open-source CMS developed for wire agencies including AAP.