FALMOUTH — A local technology start-up has launched a new Internet-based platform for creating content for newspapers, their readers and almost any organization that uses the Web to publish information.

Privately owned Celsius Technology Group has developed Celsius Publisher, which allows news organizations to create and manage information and data of any sort – text, photographs, audio, video – in a single software application and distribute it to the Web or print. The company says ease of use of the system makes Celsius Publisher a solution for content management, whose beneficiaries include the newsrooms that use the system and the readers, who can become more engaged with the content.

“Having spent my professional life working in the news industry, in its many aspects, I understand not only what the industry needs in general, but also what it must have immediately to grow in the digital age,” said David Costello, president of Celsius Technology Group and The Forecaster. “Our product empowers newsrooms and communities to create content without the need to invest in costly development or hosting. We like to say that there is ‘zero barrier’ for entry to this simple system, because technically it is easy to implement and it allows organizations to compete more effectively with Internet-based competitors.”

The Celsius Technology platform includes:

• Celsius Publisher – This component redefines the concept of a story. In Celsius Publisher, a story is a container for one or more elements such as text, audio, video and polls. Publisher also provides greater access for readers, by allowing them to participate in the story creation process and to add elements to an existing story, such as uploading photos and videos associated with a particular piece.

• Celsius Story – Publisher offers an easy-to-learn and adaptable system for story creation and management that requires only a Web browser.

• Celsius Pipeline – Accompanying Publisher is a companion system known as Pipeline, which provides a platform for sharing news stories, photos, audio, video and other relevant content from participating news organizations, content creators, blogs and other content-sharing networks. Additionally, members can search and download content from Pipeline to use in their own web and print publications.

The Forecaster, which serves southern Maine with four weekly editions covering specific geographic areas, uses Celsius to power its new Web site, www.theforecaster.net. 

“The Celsius platform removes the technical challenges of the traditional information-gathering systems,” said Karen Rajotte, publisher of The Forecaster. “So our staff can focus on our mission and not on technology – gathering and disseminating news in print and on the Web.”

Adam Kempler, chief Web officer of Celsius Technology Group, said the system redefines publishing. “This really is an industry-altering solution to help it grow and become stronger as a resource for the news industry as well as the community,” Kempler said.

Costello added that schools, local governments and non-profit organizations can also take advantage of Celsius Publisher: “It is an extremely useful tool for these types of organizations to become more efficient.”

Another beneficial aspect of Celsius, he said, is that organizations can better track both their content and their users’ profiles of reading histories across multiple Web sites. This feature becomes more attractive to advertisers who want to target specific segments of the readers.

Costello said the product’s pricing structure is subscription-based with applications that are customized to meet client needs. More information is available at celsiustechnologygroup.com.