Thomson Reuters has, for nearly two centuries, been a name synonymous with fast, accurate breaking news. Now, as part of the continuing evolution of the media, the company has stepped into online legal publishing reducing what was 10 leather-bound legal volumes onto an easily accessible, single digital platform.

With The Laws of Lagos www.proview.ng (2015 edition) Thomson Reuters has become a driver of digital legal publishing in Africa.

Romulen Pillay, Thomson Reuters, Country Head Legal (Sub Saharan Africa), said the digitisation project meant the legal fraternity and investors looking at Lagos state could now easily access its laws.

“We’ve done this on a very accessible technology platform, Proview, so you can easily see the laws and their updates on your laptop, tablet or your mobile phone.”

“Businesses and professionals thrive with legal certainty. We have created easy access to the laws of Lagos State in collaboration with the Lagos State Law Reform Commission. The platform has been designed in line with legal practitioners and law researchers needs. The functionality speaks to that. It is quite a savvy tool and it has made an impact.”

“This represents a fantastic example of ways Thomson Reuter’s partners with legal institutions showing our commitment to enhancing access to law in South, East and West Africa regions and Nigeria in particular.”

The executive secretary of Lagos State Law Reform Commission, Ade Adeyemo, said the Proview platform enabled easy access to the law and its updates.

Romulen said The Laws of Lagos impacted on a variety of industries, especially property and construction, a landscape investors need to know intimately.

The Proview Application is more than an eReader, he explained, it was designed with tools to allow easy access using a variety of hardware and to navigate the complex laws of the region.

Africa Legal’s tech and business writer, Greg Ardé, explains how digitization is enabling easier access to the law by bringing what were once leather-bound tomes in university libraries into the public domain.

Laws frame our world. They are at the heart of civilisation.

Lawyers the world over will tell you, chapter and verse, how our laws have evolved from Plato to a courtroom in Lagos or Los Angeles.

A critical element of that process has been the codification of law, the system by which laws are arranged and changed.

Now, thanks to digitisation, the law is so much more accessible.

To technophobes, the word ‘digitisation’ sounds terrifying, when it is simply the conversion of text, pictures, or sound into a form that can be processed by a computer.

What it means is that you don’t need a library filled with ancient legal tomes to access the law. In fact, almost everything is available is online, if you know where to look.

The explosion of the internet means digitisation is the new frontier. Globalisation and technology are driving electronic publishing.

Digitisation has facilitated the publication of educational and commercial information online, making for rapid fire transmission of material and a surge in learning and trade.

Businesses, universities and professionals are harnessing digitisation to leapfrog backlogs in technology, especially in Africa.

Author Peter Limb in his book The Digitization of Africa, says the demand for information has created a new “Scramble for Africa”.

But, Limb says, the challenge is to ensure access, sustainability and fairness in the sharing of these resources.

Research company, Gartner, predicts that 75% of global businesses will be digital by 2020. However it is authenticity and credibility that will be at the core of this process. Anything can be digitised - but the web is awash with nonsense and fake news. People are increasingly looking for pedigree, truth and reputable companies with a proven track record in delivering reliable information.

Thomson Reuters’ digitisation of The Laws of Lagos is a major move forward in enabling access to information that would previously have been almost impossible for an investor or lawyer to access.

To purchase the Laws of Lagos (2015 edition) please click here