Content Crossroads & Distribution Junction
One of the challenges in the educational sector seems to be seeing the value in technology. “It’s not that they fear technology, but for some it’s seen as a sinkhole they throw money into. They don’t yet know how to make money from their investments in technology,” Gaynor says.
According to Michael Healy, executive director of the Book Industry Study Group (BISG), these are early days in a period of transformation for digital distribution. “As we move through 2007, I think we will see several large publishers and service providers investing significant sums of money in the development of digital asset distribution systems,” Healy says. “We have seen already mass digitization of the backlist titles, and these ‘electronic warehouses’ are increasingly being integrated into digital workflow systems for frontlist books. I suspect this will transform the distribution of content in the value chain and prompt many businesses to re-examine traditional distribution and business models.”