Digital device

The global trade and standards association for electronic publishing: 1999-2016

Effective January 30, 2017 IDPF has combined with W3C. This website is now an archive. Visit https://www.w3.org/publishing/ for information on EPUB development and other Publishing@W3C activities

IDPFs mission was to foster global adoption of an open, accessible, interoperable digital publishing ecosystem that enables innovationIDPF's strategy to effectively advance its mission was to develop (collaboratively) and promote EPUB as the universal accessible interchange and delivery ecosystem for eBooks and other digital publications advancing the Open Web platformRead more ›

  • On January 30, 2017 the combination of IDPF and W3C was completed (W3C press release: www.w3.org/2017/01/pressrelease-idpf-w3c-combination.html.en), and IDPF has ceased operations as a membership organization. This website is now an archive. For current information about EPUB and more visit https://www.w3.org/publishing/ .
  • IDPF Executive Director Bill McCoy has published an opinion piece on digitalbookworld.com, sharing his perspective about the significant benefits of the combination of IDPF with W3C for the future of EPUB and book publishing.

  • IDPF recently requested that all organizations that have contributed to EPUB, whether or not current IDPF members, authorize their inclusion as a co-submitter with IDPF on the submission of the latest version of EPUB to W3C as part of implementation of the combination of IDPF with W3C, which was overwhelmingly approved last November by the IDPF membership. Some questions and misinformation has arisen regarding this request so we are publishing this follow-up covering several frequently-asked questions about the request.
  • The Pantone Color of the Year for 2017 was announced last month as "Greenery, symbolic of new beginnings". This struck a chord with me as the coming year promises to be a new beginning for our community which came together in 1999 as the Open EBook Forum (OEBF) to develop open standards for digital books, reinvented itself in 2005 with a broader remit when it became the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), and then found mainstream success with the development of the key EPUB standard. While I know a number of IDPF members and others in the publishing community have expressed concern at the prospect of IDPF no longer being a standalone organization, I also know that many of you share my excitement and optimism. By joining forces with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), we will continue to expand and accelerate the convergence of EPUB and the Open Web Platform in service of our mission to foster the global adoption of an open, accessible, and interoperable digital publishing ecosystem that enables innovation.
  • The IDPF Membership has unanimously approved EPUB 3.1 as a Recommended Specification, by a vote of 72 YES to zero NO votes. 73 members voted (including one abstention) representing 54% of the members in good standing. significantly above the 25% quorum requirement.
     
  • As part of work towards implementing the plan to combine IDPF with W3C, proposed initial charters have been drafted for the anticipated new W3C Publishing Business Group and W3C EPUB 3 Community Group.
  • As one element of finalizing the planned combination of IDPF with W3C, IDPF anticipates submitting EPUB 3.1 to W3C as a W3C Member Submission. IDPF and W3C would like all organizations that contributed to the development of EPUB specifications to co-sign IDPF's member submission. This will facilitate the transfer of this important intellectual property and memorialize your organization's contributions to a critical open standard. An authorization, which includes a draft of the cover for the prospective submission, is located at /sites/default/files/EPUB_3_1_authorization_with_cover.pdf.
  • The member organizations of the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) have overwhelmingly approved, by a margin of 71 (88%) in favor to 10 (12%) opposed, a plan proposed by the IDPF Board of Directors to combine IDPF with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The plan will now proceed, with anticipated completion of the combination by January, 2017 still subject to finalization of the necessary definitive agreements. 85 votes were cast (including 4 abstentions), equating to 65% of the 130 IDPF members in good standing. This represented the highest percentage of IDPF members participating in any vote or election in the last 8 years, significantly exceeding the 25% quorum requirement.
  • In its annual Board elections, 81 IDPF member organizations cast votes, selecting eight Board members from among twelve candidates. Newly elected to the IDPF Board are Mike Baker (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) and Tzviya Siegman (Wiley). All six incumbents who ran for re-election were selected, including Paul Belfanti (Jone & Bartlett Learning), Leslie Hulse (HarperCollins), Rick Johnson (Ingram Content Group), Bill Kasdorf (Apex CoVangtage), Liisa McCloy-Kelley (Penguin Random House), and Junichi Yoshii (Kodansha).
  • Web Inventor and W3C Director Tim Berners-Lee shares vision of Publishing on the Web in his keynote address at IDPF DigiCon at BEA 2016 

  • A preliminary FAQ targeted for IDPF Members is now available at /faq-for-idpf-members-about-proposal-to-merge-with-w3c. For the full press release on plans to explore a W3C and IDPF combination see here. For public FAQ please see http://www.w3.org/2016/05/digpub-faq.html.

  • Now Available: A Library of Opportunity

    Open eBooks is now available to millions of students offering unprecedented access to thousands of digital books.

    What if we could ensure that every student, no matter where they live or the income of their parents, could get access to a great book?  What if they had access to not just one book, but a library of thousands of titles – and could read them from anywhere?

  • A 2nd Editors Draft of the EPUB for Education Profile has been announced today. This new profile specification includes:

  • The European Digital Reading Laboratory (EDRLab), recently established to host IDPF Europe and Readium Europe operations, has appointed Laurent Le Meur (@lmrlaurent) as its founding CTO. Laurent will take overall responsibility for day-to-day operations of the Lab as well as in setting strategic direction and coordinations with IDPF, Readium Foundation, and other stakeholders in the global EPUB platform.
     
  • The International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) and the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) today announced that SSP is co-sponsoring a new Academic and Professional Publishing track at the IDPF Digital Conference at BookExpo America 2016 (May 11-12, McCormick Place, Chicago). IDPF Digital @ BEA is the longest-running professional conference for the digital publishing industry.

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