WE DID IT!

Objective: Align stakeholders on purpose and approach and enable disciplined execution from day one.

This phase establishes the project foundation, including governance, team structure, and key stakeholder alignment. Deliverables include:

• Project Charter to define scope, success metrics, and stakeholder roles; and

• Project Management Plan to outline timelines, responsibilities, and key milestones.

Objective: De-risk execution by validating feasibility and user experience through a

working foundation.

Sets the foundation for the project, producing actionable plans and validating key assumptions. It includes:

• Formation of the Publisher Product Steering Committee (PPSC) of approximately 12

publishers.

• Requirements & Feature Definition: Documented and validated via PPSC engagement.

• Architecture & User Interface Design: Includes system architecture, platform

components, use cases/workflows with User Interface (UI) / User Experience (UX) mock-

ups.

• Product Roadmap: Outlines phased delivery of functionality.

• Core Infrastructure & Prototyping: Sets up:

o CI/CD pipelines;

o Foundational platform layers (infrastructure, persistence, application, interfaces); and

o Initial working prototype demonstrating core functionality (e.g., PDF upload, e-edition rendering on web/mobile).

Objective: Deliver a usable product that meets baseline publisher needs and sets the

stage for broader adoption.

Delivers a Minimum Viable Product that supports essential

publisher operations.

• Iterative development cycles to deliver and refine features such as:

o Subscription and access management

o Payment gateway integration

o Publisher dashboard with analytics

o Marketing and engagement tools

o API integration for external systems

Objective: Ensure readiness for broad deployment and iron out usability and stability issues before full release.

Expands the newspaper user base and validates the platform at scale.

• Early access to 150 publishers;

• Continued iteration based on feedback (focused more on refinement than net-new features); and

• Final testing and validation before full-scale launch.

Objective: Move from MVP  to a continuously evolving, scalable solution embedded in most of Canada's local publisher workflows.

Post launch, the focus shifts to value creation, optimization, and scalability.

• feedback-driven enhancements (based on analytics and user feedback).

• Deeper feature sets, especially around reporting and integrations.

• Finalization of association and channel partnerships.

• Preparation for geographic and market scaling (Roll out to all Publishers).