Frankfurt Book Fair brings together more than 7,450 exhibitors and 300,000 visitors!
Data Conversion Laboratory joined leading technology providers MarkLogic, Fonto XML, and EBCONT this year to present services and solutions that are leading the digital transformation for publishers around the world.
Emerging technologies, new business models, and changing market needs require unique digital solutions and publishing ideas. Of the many conversations DCL had during Frankfurt and the STM Frankfurt Conference, the crux of digital transformation for publishers involve
content structure - well-structured, enriched content and data powers modern technologies and platforms.
data management - integrating and managing data silos allow organizations to innovate faster than ever before.
semantic enrichment - improves the utility, discovery, and interoperability of content and data.
True Digital Transformation
Publishers are revisiting projects that were previously considered too expensive as little as 4 years ago. Some are revisiting semantic enrich projects in light of new understanding of content discoverability and searchability.
Indeed MarkLogic's chief strategy officer Matt Turner agrees this is a smart strategy. "Data needs to be seen as a core asset and a critical area of investment---and this is one area that publishers can learn from other industries such as pharma, health care, finance, and manufacturing, where being data-centric is now accepted as a critical success factor."
AI, ML, NLP---Beyond the Hype
Conversations on the trade show floor and presentations from the podium all reinforce that AI, machine learning, and natural language processing moved beyond the marketing hype and are embedded in services, solutions, and workflows.
Springer's machine-generated book, Lithium-Ion Batteries was a topic of much discussion at both the STM Frankfurt Conference as well as the speaker lounge in Hall 4.2. Our own discussions with folks centered around ways DCL is using machine learning and natural language processing such as computer vision analysis to transform image-based equations to MathML as well as developing and providing massive training sets that support machine learning algorithms.
Alive and Kicking
One thing is for sure after Frankfurt...publishing is alive and kicking. Upon the close of the Fair on Sunday, October 20th, organizers reported a significant increase in attendance. There were 302,267 total visitors, a 5.5% jump from the 285,024 who attended in 2018, including a 1.8% increase in professional attendance, and a 9.2% jump in weekend attendance.
DCL looks forward to continuing the great conversations we started in Germany. And of course, if you were not at the Fair but want to explore how you can accelerate your digital transformation, it starts with just one click...here!