The Congress, which is being held in India for the second time, and which promises to open up powerful discourses among leading players in the Indian publishing industry, was inaugurated by Dr Harsh Vardhan, honourable minister of science & technology, environment forest and climate change on 10 February.

Talking about the advent of a paperless society, Dr Harsh Vardhan said he feels that the reading pleasure is incomplete without a paper book but being the minister of environment and climate change, he really wants to see how this issue can be resolved.

On the opening day, participating in the session, ‘Global leaders’ forum’, Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Ayog, said, “Total 25% of the Indian students cannot read and write properly in their mother tongue. So the limitations lie in the teaching process and in books. I think the teaching procedure should be appealing so that the students can learn with fun. However, in near future, we are going to witness a lot of data flow, a lot of usage of artificial intelligence. Publishers should upgrade themselves. They should give a chance to technology to give aid and assistance for better learning outcome and at the same time, it must enhance learning outcome by using data analytics and artificial intelligence.”

Meanwhile, in the next three days, important topics like ‘Shaping the future of IP in publishing’ and ‘Do awards and recognitions help?’ will be discussed.

The International Publishers Association (IPA) is the world’s largest federation of national, regional and specialist publishers’ associations. Its membership comprises of 70 organisations from 60 countries in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe and the Americas and has successfully taken the publishing meet to various parts of the world.

FIP president NK Mehra led the FIP's bid to host the 2018 IPA Congress. He said, “We’re thrilled that India has been selected to host the 2018 IPA Congress again. The Indian literary Diaspora has proved time and again the power it holds, amongst the literary circle. This event is yet another feather in India’s crown of glory and we are positive that more such events would grace the spectrum.”

Dr Hugo Setzer, vice-president of the International Publishers Association, said: “As the IPA is the foremost global representative of a full range of publishers’ interests, from copyright to freedom to publish, it is right that all members be given a chance to use the IPA Congress to plant their flag on the world publishing map. India is rich in culture and literature, a world publishing powerhouse steeped in literary tradition. This proves to be the perfect platform for IPA Congress to disperse its pearls of wisdom.”

Since the first IPA Congress was held in 1896, in Paris, the event has attracted the world’s leading publishers. Today it continues to offer a vital platform for publishers to discuss the industry’s most important challenges, network and learn.

Event Highlights

12 February 2018

Social Responsibility of Publishers

Chair: Hugo Setzer, CEO, El Manual Moderno; IPA vice-president, Mexico; Panellists: Dipendra Manocha, director of the regional resource centre, New Delhi; Henrique Mota, president, federation of European publishers, Portugal; Baldeo Bhai Sharma, Chairman, National Book Trust, India; Inder Neel Roy, CEO, Outlook  

Responding to Copyright Challenges

Chair: Paul Doda, Elsevier; chair, IPA Copyright Committee, USA; Panellists: Pravin Anand, managing partner, Anand & Anand, India; Louise Adler, Melbourne University Press, IPA executive committee member, Australia; Lui Simpson, executive director of international enforcement and trade policy, Association of American Publishers; Rajiv Aggarwal, joint secretary, department of industrial policy & promotion, ministry of commerce.

Creating the Readers of the Future

Chair: Bodour Al Qasimi, founder & CEO, Kalimat Group, IPA board member, United Arab Emirates; Panellists: Gita Wolf, Tara Books, India; Monica Malhotra Kandhari, managing director, MBD Group; Karine Pansa, Girassol Edicoes, Brazil; Mingzhou Zhang, general manager, China Children’s Press & Publication Group, China.

13 February 2018

Book markets in India

Chair: Asoke K Ghosh, Chairman, PHI Learning Private Limited, India; Panellists: Emma House, deputy CEO, The Publishers Association, United Kingdom; Andre Breedt, Nielsen, United Kingdom; Himanshu Gupta, S Chand, India; Vikas Gupta, Willey, India.

Strengthening Education Publishing Capacity

Chair: Wilmar Diepgrond, Westermann Group, IPA Educational Publishers Forum, Germany; Panellists: Jaume Vicens, managing director, Vicens Vives, Spain; Brian Wafawarowa, President, Publishers Association of South Africa; Professor Dinesh Singh, Director Mathematical Sciences Foundation and Former Vice-Chancellor, Delhi University; JS Rajput, former director of the National Council of Educational Research and Training, India; Ratnesh Jha, Cambridge University Press, India.