Tools to Maximise Information Management

According to Hal Varian and Peter Lyman, economists at the University of California, Berkeley, in the year 2000, 1.5 exabytes of new information was produced. In 2003, the number skyrocketed to 3.5 exabytes – that's 35,000,000,000 gigabytes! They estimate that we’re on a trajectory of creating a 66% increase of information every year. And counting.

This might sound like Information Overload, but this term has become quickly outdated, replaced by a world where people love constant access to information and the countless benefits it brings to their lives. Despite this love of information, people still need smart tools to manage and organise all the information that comes their way. New tools, applications, and programmes can help them avoid the feeling of overload altogether. This is especially a need in the workplace and in a time where companies are trying to use their resources in the smartest and most efficient ways. We've gathered a short list of some tools and applications that we think can offer a new way of working and thinking.

Product: BumpTop – Rethink Your Desktop

Company: BumpTop

Cost: Free – BumpTop Pro costs $29

What we like about it: This 3D visualisation is a much-needed design revolution for your personal desktop. When looking for applications to help organise content, the computer desktop is one of the most important tools and shouldn't be lost in the fray.

How it could be better: This is such a big step in desktop organisation that at this point, we can’t see how it could be much better. Watch the video here.

Product: Tungle

Cost: Free

What we like about it: Enables you to schedule meetings quickly and easily. It allows calendars to be synced across different calendar applications, so you can book meetings with people even if they don't use Tungle themselves.

How it could be better: If only it could attend the meetings for us!

http://www.tungle.com/Home/

Product: WeTransfer

Company: OY Communications

Cost: Free

What we like about it: Simplicity is at the heart of this online data transfer service. The tool was created by OY based on a need they had in their office. They couldn’t handle the restrictions and fees required by other online transfer services, so they decided to create a way for them to send large files themselves.

http://www.wetransfer.com/

Product: Evernote

Company: Evernote Corporation

Cost: Free - Premium user $45/year

What we like about it: Visual organisation of files. Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient. It then makes this information accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere. Evernote’s slogan is “Remember Everything”, which might just be the perfect pitch to those in need of some serious organisation.

How it could be better: Right now, it's focusing only on the iPhone and the Windows mobile platform. We hope to see a mobile client for Symbian OS phones in the near future.

http://www.evernote.com/

Product: Action Method

Company: Behance Network

Cost: $99/year

What we like about it: We believe the problem with managing information and content lies in organisation. This mentality is at the heart of Action Method, which brings the organisation of ideas and products back to the basics. This is a product about taking ideas into action mode. It’s developed via a network that is filled with highly skilled creatives who believe that the world wasn’t waiting for another idea, rather more actions on existing ideas. It’s a great project management tool, once again created by consumers who defined a need of their own, rather than a corporation defining what they think they need.

How it could be better: Merge and sync it with everything else your doing online.

http://www.actionmethod.com/