Programma Eventi 2024

A crucial component of accessibility is providing reliable alternative descriptions for images. However, crafting alternative descriptions for images stands out as a particularly challenging task for publishers, due to the need for specialised knowledge and the amount of time to ensure accuracy. This is especially pronounced when attempting to make backlist titles accessible, as they were not originally designed with accessibility in mind. Fondazione LIA will explore the world in which AI meets the alternative description of images with insights from professionals in the field, exposing both the possibilities through a showcase of the options available and the concrete applications already adopted by the industry.

The advent of AI and rise of Generation Z are catalyzing sweeping changes in the publishing industry and society more broadly. As AI enables automation that doubles economic efficiencies, it raises profound questions about how to allocate newly freed-up human time and attention. Simultaneously, Gen Z's penchant for questioning established norms is accelerated by AI's instant access to collective knowledge. Literature stands to be reinvigorated as young influencers use AI to enable bold new writing that reexamines fundamental assumptions about how the world operates. The result could be a publishing renaissance built on innovative ideas and original expression. This session will explore how the interplay between AI and Gen Z thinking is shaping everything from publishing houses to educational institutions to democratic governance. Beyond transforming the printed page, these forces promise to redefine learning, literature, and the very purpose of human endeavor. Nadim will look at both the opportunities and ethical challenges presented by AI's broad influence spanning publishing, education, and democracy.

Tales of EUkraine (TEUk) is a European project co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. TEUk is an opportunity for European publishers to support their Ukrainian counterparts and to display their solidarity to the most vulnerable victims of the conflict by doing what they do best: publishing books. TEUk has built a catalogue of Ukrainian children’s books available for publishers to acquire the rights to and publish them in bilingual editions. The project partners will purchase the part of the print run to be distributed to displaced children and organise its distribution to the Ukrainian refugee communities, whilst publishers will be invited to promote the book to their national communities. As the project approaches its halfway point, the consortium will present the results achieved so far – with tens of thousands of bilingual children’s books already published and distributed in several European countries and many more to come.

The possibilities and perils of Generative AI have dramatically shaken every industry this year including the publishing world. The need of the hour is to bring a human centered approach to design the use of technology ethically and responsibly for our readers, especially for our young readers at the Bologna children’s book fair. From AI, AR/VR, AirPods and Amazon Kindle to Nintendo Wii, Whatsapp, Microsoft Zoom all A to Z technologies is rapidly changing the way our young readers create, curate, share and read. These new technologies have both enhancing and degrading influences on our readers. As readers, we love being more immersive in our reading but we are easily distracted and less focused on actual content. We have become more exploratory and experimental in what we read and at the same time we acquire less depth in subject matter. We feel better informed about any topic and at same time feel less compelled to act and change, impacting the fundamental reason why we read. We are surrounded by over information and yet see gaps in knowledge and understanding. We constantly seek for social validation from our peer group to read something and at the same time want hyper personalized unique content that is just for us and not to be shared. The content we publish has become more affordable and at the same time it has become less accessible to all. There is more to read for everyone and yet not fully inclusive. As a result, as a publishing industry, we are excited and at the same time confused about how to use technology to enhance our reader’s experience for the better. Not to worry, when we understand how evolution has wired our brains to read and how technology is further rewiring our brains today, we can make better decisions on how to design for our evolving readers. Based on disciplines such as human centered design and behavior economics, we can design AI technology that can make reading useful, usable, beautiful, joyful, sustainable and responsible for every single reader around the world. In this session let us draw our attention to the human holding the AI, than on just AI itself. This could open us to a lot of opportunities and possibilities for the publishing world to change the world for the better.

The dynamic intersection of AI, VR, and AR in publishing is a fact. Innovative authoring tools and cutting-edge solutions are changing the digital content creation and distribution. How can these technologies and tools really empower authors in crafting immersive experience able to engage audiences like never before? How can the publisher unlock the potential of AI-driven creativity and redefine the future of publishing and storytelling? Enjoy our presentation to talk about this incoming publishing revolution.

In various book markets worldwide, a significant portion of the literature available is comprised of translations from foreign languages into the native language. Publishers and booksellers face the task of effectively marketing and selling these translated books to the general public. One key question arises: do marketing and promotion techniques differ for translated literature? Additionally, what challenges and opportunities do publishers and booksellers encounter in the sale of translated books? Moreover, how does the author and translator contribute to the marketing process when their book is available in multiple languages? Lastly, the panel will provide practical steps and advice for creating a successful campaign for translated literature.