ArtDayME: In partnership with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Library Foundation (MBRL), Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), is launching the second edition of the Digital Publishing Forum for the second consecutive year, on Wednesday, 25 October. The forum aims to enhance Dubai Culture’s role in addressing the challenges facing the digital publishing sector, and discuss innovative solutions and implementable recommendations to support the development of this vital sector.

Hosted by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Library (MBRL), the forum is set to attract experts, academics, publishers, specialists, intellectuals, and writers, who would enrich the forum with their experiences, ideas, and visions. The main session entitled ‘Future of Digital Publishing in the UAE’, will feature His Excellency Eng. Mohammed Al-Zarooni, Deputy Director-General of the Information and Digital Government Sector, and His Excellency Dr. Abdulrahman Al Muaini, Assistant Undersecretary for the Intellectual Property Sector at the Ministry of Economy, and Dr. Afra Atiq, an Emirati poet; the session will be moderated by Ayoub Youssef.

The forum will begin with an introductory workshop organised by Dubai Electronic Security Center entitled ‘Safe Publishing on Digital Platforms’. The workshop will address aspects related to the security of content on digital platforms that the publisher may be exposed to.

Additionally, the ‘Brainstorming Laboratory’ will feature Emirati publishing houses, to discuss their future vision and recommendations for digital publishing.

The forum will include parallel interactive sessions. These include ‘Publishing in the Age of Digitalization (Artificial Intelligence, Opportunities, Challenges), moderated by Iman Al-Youssef, and attended by Sherif Bakr, Director of Al Arabi Publishing House, and Shadi Al-Hassan, Executive Director of Rofouf Company; ‘The Digital Publishing Market (Evolution and Future), will see the participation of His Excellency Rashid Al Kous, Executive Director of the Emirates Publishers Association, Author Amira Abu Kadra, Co-founder Partner at GHAF Library and Publications, and Author Alyazia Khalifa Alsuwaidi, Director and Founder of Al Falak for Translation and Publishing, the session will be moderated by Ghayth Al-Hawasani. Another session happening in parallel with the other two session is the ‘Digital Publishing Technologies: Between Impact and Influence’, moderated by Amal Sheikhan, and attended by Mr. Ahmed Al-Yassi, from Emirates Intellectual Property Association, and Mr. Mustafa Youssef, from Higher Colleges of Technology.

The forum will also host a virtual session, entitled ‘The Role of Digital Publishing in Sustainability’, with the participation of Dr. Emad Abu Eid, and moderated by Rasha Ramadan.

The Digital Publishing Forum will offer a creative and interactive space for its audience through Rofouf, Noon, and Zodiac Media, which will introduce them, in cooperation with a group of experts and specialists, to ways to publish their work via audio and digital book applications, in addition to ways of listing, promoting, and displaying them.