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The future of the book is digital, mobile and global according to the organisers of a new conference on the topic – and it might just hold to the key to saving the beleagured newspaper, too.

“What's happening in the US$100 billion global book industry is now spilling over to the other print media, newspapers and magazines,” says conference organiser and Digital Publishing Forum Director Martin Taylor.

“Technologies for the emerging electronic book (ebook) will lead to big changes in how we read. Importantly for all print media, it will also usher in a new era of readers  paying for digital content,” <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Taylor says.

A key to driver of the move to reading digitally is the rapid emergence of the mobile web. Increasingly consumers are shifting from the PC to a range of smart mobile devices, such as Apple's iPhone, operating over a high speed mobile internet. Telecom and Vodafone are battling for dominance in the space right now, as Telecom launches its new XT network and Vodafone responds in a high stakes battle.

According to Taylor, companies like Amazon, who pioneered their digital strategies in the book market, are now turning their attention to newspapers and magazines too. “Amazon is already selling newspaper and magazine subscriptions through its Kindle ebook reader, often for content freely available on the web. Now it's reported to be readying a larger format version of the Kindle ebook reader that will suit newspapers and magazines. Many similar developments are in the works,” he says.

The Future of the Book conference will bring together publishers, technology and communications companies, and other eyeing up this rapidly emerging market. It will examine the issues from a New Zealand perspective and follows a successful preparatory meeting last month that attracted 150 participants.

The conference is scheduled to run over two days from June 24-25 at the Hyatt Regency in Auckland. Its line-up includes several international speakers as well as local experts.

A novel feature will be the Digital Rights Marketplace where publishers will unlock a huge array of content and trade rights to their digital use with other media companies, mobile communications, web, e-learning and technology partners.

Another highlight will be the Future of the Book in Education stream which will open up the global potential of e-learning.

The conference features several international speakers. Speakers confirmed so far include:

• Neelan Choksi of Lexcycle, the developer of leading iPhone ebook reader Stanza recently acquired by industry heavyweight Amazon
• Michael Ross, senior vice president/education for Britannica, author and publishing Hall of Famer
• Sherman Young, academic and author of The Book is Dead. Long Live the Book, an expert on the cultural impact of new technologies
• Richard Pipe, CEO of Singapore- and India-based InfoGrid Pacific, an ebook production and distribution company with years of real-world experience and a global publishing client list.

More details: digitalpublishing.org.nz/future

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