At their best, databases aren’t just static repositories of information. They are tools that can help tell stories. One of the newest databases, the National Registry of Exonerations, shows just how eye-opening a story data can tell when it is collected and normalized. A joint project of the University of Michigan Law School and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University Law School, the database profiles approximately 900 of 2000 cases in which defendants were convicted and then exonerated in the US since 1989, the year that DNA was first used as evidence. (Another 1100 “group exonerations” that occurred in response to 13 separate police corruption scandals are not included in the registry.)

A report produced from the database by University of Michigan law professor Samuel Gross reveals some of the shocking mistakes that occur in our criminal justice system: Wrongfully-convicted prisoners captured in the database spent an average of 11 years in prison before being exonerated. Perjury and false accusations were the most common causes of a wrongful conviction, accounting for 51 percent of the cases included in the database. Over 14% of the profiled exonerations were of defendants who were convicted of crimes that never happened, and around the same number of exonerations occurred among defendants who confessed to crimes they did not commit; 7% of the exonerations were of innocent defendants who pled guilty. The data also shows that false convictions vary by crime: For murder, the biggest cause of wrongful convictions was perjury, usually by a witness who claimed to have seen the crime or even participated in it. In rape cases, false convictions are almost always based on eyewitness mistakes – more often than not, mistakes by white victims who misidentified black defendants. False convictions for robbery were also almost always caused by eyewitness misidentifications. Child sex abuse exonerations were almost always from fabricated crimes that never occurred.

The registry is probably just scratching the surface, as there are no official reporting mechanisms for exonerations. To remedy that problem, the database producers have asked for help in identifying more exonerations. Each reported case must then be researched and carefully analyzed and categorized. Peter Neufeld, director of the Innocence Project, calls the registry the “Wikipedia of Innocence” and in some ways he right. In just one month since it went public with 873 entries, the database has grown to 912 entries, thanks in part to help from contributors.

Another noteworthy part of the story is the tale of the database itself. Our friend Rob Warden, Executive Director of Northwestern’s Center on Wrongful Convictions, first told us about his vision for this database nearly 10 years ago and has been working on it since then. Bravo, Rob and colleagues!

The US Justice Department’s recent antitrust actions against the six largest book publishers for allegedly colluding in setting e-book prices comes as a nice boost for Amazon, whose pricing policies have long worried the publishers. Amazon, of course, doesn’t need any help, given its dominant, 60% share of the e-book market, not to mention a very strong position in print bookselling, and a growing presence in book publishing. These and other aspects of Amazon’s past, present, and potential future impact on the book industry are well-explained in Steve Wasserman’s “Amazon and the Conquest of Publishing” in the June 18 edition of The Nation. Though not necessarily presenting any new information, the article deftly weaves together a range of information and perspectives about Amazon’s multi-pronged moves to dominate book publishing. Wasserman lays out the history of Amazon’s moves, from its earliest days trying to become the world’s biggest bookstore, to its revolutionizing e-book publishing with the introduction of the Kindle in 2007 (21% of Americans have read an e-book in the last year and Amazon now sells more e-books than print books), to its more recent entry into the role of publisher by hiring industry veterans and starting several imprints. Among Amazon’s potentially problematic moves for traditional publishers is Kindle Single, a program that could change time-worn author-publisher economics. Authors can publish short essays at a highly-advantageous 70% royalty, but agree to a retail price of no more than $2.99 and receive no advance. A number of prominent writers have participated in this program, some reportedly earning more money than magazines would have paid. The potential for disruptive impact by extending this model to book publishing seems pretty clear from Wasserman’s narrative. While books are no longer the central focus of Amazon’s business, it can use its vast resources to enter and dominate any aspect of publishing over time (Amazon has $48 billion in revenues, more than the size largest publishing companies combined and a $5 billion cash reserve).

As a contrast to the Wild West of the US book publishing market, the same issue of The Nation also carries a fascinating article, “How Germany Keeps Amazon at Bay and Literary Culture Alive,” explaining how German laws prohibiting discounting have protected publishers and independent booksellers. Statistics here tell an interesting story: Germany publishes four times as many new books per-capita than the US each year, and with a population just one-quarter that of the US, Germany has 80% more independent bookstores. According to the author, former publishing executive and culture minister Michael Naumann, the difference is due to more than Germany being a “kulturnation” of largely well-educated people. The protection of book publishing margins enables publishers to invest in titles that are not likely to make money, such as those of a scholarly or narrow focus. German publishers also benefit by being allowed to write off unsold book inventories, a privilege not allowed by US tax laws. Whereas US antitrust law aims to let competition and innovation proceed as long as it benefits consumers (i.e. in lower book prices), Germany’s laws seek to protect book publishers and sellers under the argument that a stable, healthy publishing industry ultimately guarantees that the public will have access to a wide range of books, regardless of price.

It’s a rare information business these days that doesn’t have a mantra about embedding its services into its customer workflows. Providers of information content, applications, and services rightly recognize that facilitating more of their customers’ critical tasks increases their value and often makes them difficult for customers to replace.  For all its importance, however, information businesses’ actual progress in developing and deploying workflow solutions has been uneven, and few have yet achieved the strategic benefits of workflow solutions.

One of our favorite examples of a successful workflow application comes not from an information company but from a law firm, Littler Mendelson, the largest labor and employment firm in the U.S. with over 850 attorneys.  One of its bread-and-butter services is handling “administrative charges,” employment complaints filed against companies. (There are over 100,000 such claims filed by employees with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission each year and probably an equal number with state agencies.)  Late last year, the firm launched Littler CaseSmart, a workflow solution which has dramatically changed how the firm interacts with its clients, how it delivers its services, and how it charges.  On the surface, the Littler CaseSmart is a technology platform through which it can manage the full lifecycle of a matter, including processes for interacting externally with clients and internally to maintain the firm’s quality assurance controls.  Clients can monitor the progress of individual matters and access statistical reports through a client dashboard.  What underlies the system, however, is just as important as the technology. One of CaseSmart’s key selling points is its ability to deliver work at a predictable fixed-fee per matter.  To make this possible, Littler established a team of flex-time attorneys, employees who wish to work on a part-time basis (typically for work-life balance) and who are paid a fixed fee per matter.

Littler CaseSmart is a compelling case study of how workflow solutions can transform – not just automate – a client relationship.  It offers several lessons for other anyone thinking about deploying workflow solutions:

• Re-engineer the organization, not just the workflow.  Littler Mendelson could have satisfied itself by simply applying technology to the process of managing cases. Instead it realized that it couldn’t transform its underlying economics and enable the fixed-fee pricing model that drives the whole CaseSmart value proposition unless the firm developed an alternative organizational structure.

• Change the rules of engagement with clients.  Just at CaseSmart has transformed Littler’s internal operations, it has changed how the firm engages with its clients.  Much of the interaction is now mediated by technology and requires changes in how clients manage their own internal staff and processes.  These types of changes aren’t easy to effect without a compelling value proposition and strong client relationships.

• Disrupt your own business.  Professional services firms fear nothing more than the demise of the traditional hourly-billing model.  To its credit, Littler recognized that model could ultimately be challenged by competition and client pricing pressure.  In opting to proactively disrupt this model, Littler has been able to implement an alternative model in a manner and on a timetable of its own choosing – while simultaneously putting pressure on competitors who are less prepared to change.

• Derive extra value from information.  Littler Mendelson falls into the category we call “inadvertent information companies.”  Its business is law, but the capture of statistical information about its cases creates opportunities to deliver new value to its clients in the form of business intelligence.  Previously unavailable, such information is typically highly appreciated by clients and is likely to improve as Littler aggregates more data over time.

There are many different kinds of workflow solutions and all of these lessons won’t necessarily apply to all of them, but they do illustrate the complexities and value of devising workflow strategies that go beyond merely trying to automate a set of tasks.