Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) in partnership with Mohammed Bin Rashid Library (MBRL) is launching the second edition of the one-day Digital Publishing Forum for the second consecutive year on 25 October, 2023.
The forum aims to provide an innovative platform that brings together experts and specialists in the field of digital publishing, familiarize writers and publishers with electronic publishing tools, and encourage them to adopt digitization methods for the dissemination and production of knowledge and literature in new forms that meets reader aspirations. Additionally, it seeks to raise awareness about secure electronic publishing mechanisms.
The second edition, which falls under the umbrella of Ta’beer Platform, will feature a select group of specialists and experts, with programmes including a series of sessions addressing the challenges facing the digital publishing sector, and discussions on innovative solutions and implementable recommendations to support the development of this vital sector.
The forum begins with an introductory workshop organized by Dubai Electronic Security Center titled ‘Safe Publishing on Digital Platforms’, addressing aspects related to the security content on digital platforms that the publisher may be exposed to. Additionally, the ‘Brainstorming Laboratory’ will see Emirati publishing houses discuss their future vision and recommendations for digital publishing.
The forum’s main session ‘Future of Digital Publishing in the UAE’, moderated by Ayoub Youssef, will feature HE Dr. Abdelrahman Al Muaini, Assistant Undersecretary of Intellectual Property Sector, Ministry of Economy, HE Mohammad Al Zarooni, Deputy Director General – Information & Digital Government Sector, and Emirati writer and award-winning poet Dr. Afra Atiq.
There will also be several simultaneously-held interactive sessions on trending topics. These include ‘Publishing in the Era of Digitalization – Artificial Intelligence, Opportunities, Challenges’, moderated by Iman Al-Youssef, with Sherif Bakr, General Manager at Al Arabi Publishing and Distributing, and Shadi Al Hasan, Co-founder, Rufoof Online, as participants. Ghayth Al-Hawasani will be moderating the session ‘The Digital Publishing Market – Evolution and Future’, featuring Rashid Al Kous, Executive Director, Emirates Publishers Association (EPA), Ameera BinKadra, writer, Co-founder of Ghaf Publishing, and Vice President of EPA, and Alyazia Khalifa AlSuwaidi, author and Co-founder of AlFulk Translation and Publishing. The third parallel session on ‘Digital Publishing Technologies: Between Impact and Influence’ will have Mostafa Mahmoud Yousef from Higher Colleges of Technology, and Ahmed Al-Yassi from Emirates Intellectual Property Association (EIPA) as the expert participants, moderated by Amal Sheikhan.
Through ‘Explore the Educational Digital Spaces’, the forum aims to offer a creative and interactive space for its audience with expert sessions from Noon, Rufoof, and Zodiac Media, to introduce them to modes of publishing their work via audio and digital book applications, and ways of listing, promoting, and displaying them.
The forum will conclude with a virtual session on ‘The Role of Digital Publishing in Sustainability’, moderated by Rasha Ramdan featuring Emad Abu Eid, Advisor, Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport, and former Head of Public Libraries.
