Zendy Showcases Online Library at Step Conference Dubai 2023
Mar 14, 2023 |
4 Mins Read
UAE-based startup Zendy (a product of Knowledge E) recently showcased at STEP Conference Dubai, the region's leading technology festival for emerging markets. Renowned for empowering diversity and innovation, STEP boasts a cutting-edge atmosphere, fueled by trailblazing MENA-based startups.
The STEP conference is an annual event that brings entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts together to showcase their technology-driven startups
At STEP 2023, startups across digital, sustainability, education, and fintech industries showcased their technology. With a key focus on making academic content more accessible and affordable, especially in emerging regions, Zendy showcased the limitless potential of its digital academic research library to hundreds of founders, funders, and technology enthusiasts.
Artificial intelligence was a key trend at STEP Conference 2023. With more companies adopting AI to create user-friendly and highly persoanlised experiences, it is evident that the market is pivoting.
Zendy’s vision of being like ‘Netflix for researchers’ will come to life with a host of new feature updates to be launched in the coming quarters. Powered by AI and machine learning algorithms, Zendy will soon deliver a truly personalised experience to users.
Collaborative filtering and content-based filtering will ensure researchers receive recommendations and highly targeted search results based on their profile, helping them save time in the research process.
“One of the many benefits of building a technology company in MENA is the immense energy, support, and talent that exists in the region. There really is an ecosystem of breakthrough innovation that is inspiring. STEP Conference never disappoints in bringing together the best of the region and it was great for Zendy to have its first showcase - especially in a year largely dedicated to advancements in AI,” said CEO of Knowledge E and Zendy Co-Founder, Kamran Kardan.
Zendy’s digital research library will continue to enhance its experience with features and content that not only is inclusive of all demographics but also streamlines the process of research.
Discover millions of e-books, journal articles, proceedings and more on Zendy now.
We Are Exhibiting UKSG 2025 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Brighton!
We're thrilled to announce that we will be exhibiting at the 48th UKSG Conference from March 31 to April 2, 2025, in Brighton, UK. Visit us at booth #79 to experience: Live Demonstrations: See how Zendy’s AI-powered tools, like ZAIA and AI Summarisation, can streamline your research with reference-backed answers to all your research questions and concise summaries of complex academic papers Personalised Consultations: Meet our team to discuss how Zendy can support your library’s digital transformation. Interactive Sessions: Learn about our affordable subscription models and global accessibility initiatives. Meet Kamran Kardan, Sara Crowley Vigneau and Lisette van Kessel to learn how Zendy is making knowledge more accessible and affordable for researchers, students, and professionals worldwide. Don't miss this opportunity to explore the future of scholarly communication. To schedule a meeting with our team, please email us at info@zendy.io About UKSG Annual Conference: The UKSG Conference is a premier event in scholarly communications, attracting global delegates including librarians, publishers, researchers, and students. It offers an excellent platform for networking and exploring the latest trends in the research and publishing community. To learn more visit: https://www.uksg.org/events/conference25/ .wp-block-image img { max-width: 50% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }
We are Attending the 20th Annual Electronic Resources & Libraries (ER&L) Conference
We’re excited to announce that we will be attending the 20th Annual Electronic Resources & Libraries (ER&L) Conference from March 23–26, 2025, in Austin, Texas! This milestone event brings together professionals in e-resources, digital services, and the library industry to share insights, foster innovation, and build connections. Let’s Connect! If you’re attending ER&L 2025 or will be in Austin during the event, set up and schedule a meeting with our Co-founder Kamran Kardan. Please email us at info@zendy.io to schedule a time to discuss ZAIA’s vision for the future of AI in research and digital innovation. About ER&L 2025 The ER&L Conference is a community-driven event celebrating its 20th year of bringing together professionals passionate about electronic resources and digital services. With a peer-reviewed program shaped by industry experts, it’s the perfect space to explore trends, technologies, and solutions shaping the future of libraries. Location: Austin, USADates: March 23–26, 2025 Join us as we celebrate two decades of innovation in e-resources management! We look forward to seeing you there! To learn more visit – https://electroniclibrarian.org .wp-block-image img { max-width: 85% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }
Announcing our RAG-Based Revenue-Sharing Model for Academic Publishers
We are excited to announce a first-of-its-kind revenue-sharing model for AI-generated content, ensuring that publishers are fairly compensated when their paywalled research is cited by AI. Zendy Co-founder Kamran Kardan Our domain-specific large language model (LLM), ZAIA, uses Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to retrieve data from a diverse collection of open access (OA) and paywalled metadata through licensing agreements with publishers. Based on reference generation by the LLM, our new revenue-sharing model enables a fair and sustainable approach to compensating academic publishers for the use of their content by AI. Empowering Publishers with AI Innovation For years, major academic publishers have been cautious about AI companies using their research, citing copyright concerns, revenue impact, and the need for proper attribution. Our new model introduces a transparent, ethical approach for publishers to monetise their content in the AI era. Many large language models are restricted to training on publicly available research, as major publishers have not yet actively licensed their work to AI companies. Our revenue-sharing model is one of the first of its kind, ensuring clear consent, proper attribution, and fair compensation based on content retrieval. The transparent revenue-sharing mechanism ensures fair compensation for publishers based on the number of references provided in ZAIA’s responses. Our co-founder, Kamran Kardan, said: "This is a positive shift for the academic publishing industry. For the first time, AI is being used to drive revenue back to publishers instead of bypassing them. Ethical AI also means giving credit—and compensation—where it’s due. In the long term, we believe even authors should share in this revenue." We are partnering with a range of international publishers on this model, including IT Governance, Lexxion, British Online Archives, and Lived Places Publishing. Additionally, the RAG model is available for open access publishers, and we are currently exploring alternative compensation models for open access. A Leap Forward for Researchers and Institutions ZAIA provides users with precise, contextually relevant content tailored to their research needs. It offers answers to researchers' questions with reference-backed responses, ensuring that researchers and institutions can access high-quality, peer-reviewed materials while supporting the publishers who produce them. Promoting Sustainable and Ethical AI Content Partnerships To deliver accurate, unbiased, and comprehensive insights, large language models (LLMs) require diverse academic content. Our RAG-based model encourages broader collaboration between publishers and AI companies, fostering ethical agreements rooted in mutual licensing. Direct licensing with publishers allows us to guarantee high-quality, accurate, and up-to-date content, including retractions and data updates, thereby placing research integrity at the heart of our platform and our development of sustainable AI. We invite publishers, researchers, and institutions to collaborate in shaping the future of AI-driven research. To learn more about partnership opportunities, visit www.zendy.io or contact us at partnerships@zendy.io. About Zendy We are an AI-powered research library with over 780,000 users across 190+ countries. Designed to streamline the research process, we provide access to millions of journals, articles, and e-books, while offering a range of AI-driven tools, including ZAIA, an AI assistant that helps researchers expedite their research journey. We collaborate with leading academic publishers to make scholarly content more accessible and affordable, ensuring that users can explore high-quality research with ease. Zendy was created to facilitate access to academic literature. By addressing the key challenges that researchers face with traditional ways of finding relevant, high-quality academic content, we strive to provide peace of mind to students, researchers, professionals, and knowledge enthusiasts. We are developed by Knowledge E in a growing collaboration with researchers, students, institutions, and publishers. Our mission is to democratise access to content by making it more affordable and accessible. There are no limitations on reading, just simple access to scholarly resources. For more information visit zendy.io. .wp-block-image img { max-width: 85% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }