Dear IDPF Members,

I wish to submit my name to act on your behalf as an IDPF Board Member

My name is James Macfarlane I am CEO of Easypress Technologies, which is the global leading supplier of XML technology for Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress. Our company has over the past 10 years been making practical XML products work in the everyday diverse world of global online publishing.

I am a British European based in London, originally an engineer holding both graduate and post graduate degrees in Aeronautical Engineering and Computer Science – which has given me a unique perspective for working in the publishing market. I have more than 20 years experience of working in the publishing industry, originally architecting the first end-to-end news editorial publishing system for radio and TV at the BBC in the late 1980’s. I then moved on in the 1990’s to contributing to the construction of the early major news web portals such as WashingtonPost.com, FT.com and G&J.com in Germany. I was a founder and a main board director of Sopheon Plc, which is a London based publicly quoted company building Innovation Management software for the Global 1000; I spent nearly three years living and working in the US whilst founding our North American business in Minneapolis and Denver.

My reasons for running for this position are based on the belief that International Standards bodies have been a force for change through regulation and agreement and historically the more significant standards bodies like IDPF have to meet the needs of the community first over the demands of the market.

I believe I can help give IDPF the international focus for that change in an emerging market where IDPF needs to lead in shaping and moulding the future for eBooks, which is why I’m seeking your vote.

The growing adoption of standards based electronic devices puts IDPF in a unique position of becoming centre stage in a revolution in the way everyday people around the world consume the knowledge they derive through books, and then assimilate the enjoyment and freedom that comes from the simple act of reading a book.

The content that people read electronically is not IDPF’s concern; nor how and in what form it is delivered – these are down to the market. What IDPF must continue to do is ensure that we all have the freedom of choice.

The eBook revolution has yet to come, but for those of us who have been in electronic publishing for most of our working life we see it as a transforming revolution which will in time fundamentally change the way we chose, select, buy and consume our books and other publications.

The mainstream publishing market for just North America and Europe is worth more than $100bn and it contains more than 64,000 publishers. In 2006, UNESCO calculated that globally there were more than 650,000 new book titles published annually. Using industry printing averages this equates to nearly 5bn printed books with North America and Europe accounting for nearly 60% of all new books published.

For some time IDPF has been trying to estimate the growth in eBook revenues but I think it is fair to say that even though the recently published numbers for eBooks are impressive there is a considerable way to go before the eBook revolution can stand alongside the printed word.

How that growth is shaped will depend on the open access we place on the EPUB standard and how we promote those standards internationally. Yes, it is important to get the standards correct but from my experience of working in this sector for many years it is more important to ensure those standards which are set are practical to adopt and do not act as a barrier to use.

Time and again I look at ePublishing standards in other sectors such as XBRL for the financial publishing market, PRISM for Magazine Publishing and see standards which although theoretically complete are technically impractical to use and adopt. This forces the publishing suppliers to circumvent the standards or fragment them for practical every day use which in turn devalues their usefulness as standards. IDPF needs to continue to learn these lessons if its work is to remain current and relevant.

I’m also concerned with how will the eBook market evolve.  Although the eBook revolution will initially be a first world phenomenon, with improving global standards of literacy and the increasing demand for books as a community we do need to ask - do we have the global resources to print say 10bn, or 20bn books annually? Clearly the emerging eBook market will have a potential influence on that scenario and so I therefore pose a question to you: Should the IDPF have an ecological view on that future? Or, should we remain a standards body striving for internationally recognised technical excellence?

Although many of us agree that we are at an early stage in the eBook revolution, I believe that the IDPF needs to continue its excellent work in setting a clear vision in this emerging market which in time will be of deep significance to us all; by ensuring practical steps are taken within the community of both suppliers and consumers in such a way that everyone can directly benefit from an internationally recognised set of leading EPUB standards.

If I’m elected I will work for the IDPF to support its aims and strengthen its influence, particularly here in Europe. I believe that you are currently under-represented in Europe and I will strive to rectify this by serving the needs of both the IDPF community and its broader concerns.

Thank you for taking the time to read my nomination paper.

Sincerely,
James Macfarlane
CEO
Easypress Technologies