AOL Inc. launched a professional division today that is aimed at government, energy and defense executives.

AOL Industry borrows social media, video and design from consumer-oriented sites and applies those features to media for business professionals, Reuters reported.

“(Trade media) hasn’t done as good a job at innovating as consumer media,” said Jay Kirsch, vice president and general manager of AOL Industry. “If you look at most of the innovations that have really changed media, most of them have been consumer-facing and not business-to-business.”

AOL Energy rolled out first and will be followed in June by AOL Government and AOL Defense. AOL Industry is not charging a subscription fee for access and will not have a print component.

AOL is moving into a space dominated by several types of trade magazines as well as Bloomberg LP, Thomson Reuters Corp. and News Corp.’s Dow Jones.

“We are going to offer a social online environment that is not available elsewhere — stealing a page a little bit from the Huffington Post and inviting industry executives to be part of the conversation as well,” Kirsch said.