Charlottesville, VA - INTERQUEST, a leading market and technology research and consulting firm serving the digital printing and publishing industry, today reported a vibrant and successful London Digital Book Printing Forum. The full-day educational forum, which focused on trends and opportunities in digital book manufacturing, was held at the Royal Society in London on June 9.

According to Gilles Biscos, President of INTERQUEST, "We were extremely pleased with the event. We had about 90 book professionals and found the attendees very focused and engaged with digital book manufacturing. It clearly demonstrated that this is an exciting growth opportunity in the U.K. as it is in North America and elsewhere in Europe. The quality of the presentations and interaction with the attendees was outstanding. This was our first event in London and based on the feedback and results of the event we're already planning for next year."

Paul Major, Stock Planning Director for the U.K. Academic Division and Oxford University Press USA, kicked off the forum with a keynote presentation highlighting OUP's use of digital book printing to foster its goal to become the leading publisher in academic research. OUP currently has 15,000 POD titles in the U.K. and the U.S. and has used a sophisticated stock planning program to reduce stock holding by 24% since 2008. Mr. Major also presented OUP's overall management strategy which enables content to be linked and sold across products and content types. Following the keynote, INTERQUEST presented recent research it has conducted in the market in Europe and North America.

After the INTERQUEST presentation executives from leading printing systems vendors presented their companies' strategies and solutions for the book market. Speakers included: Erwin Busselot, Marketing Director Digital Printing, Eastman Kodak Graphic Communications Group EMEA; Robert Stabler, Direct Marketing, Transactional & Publishing Segment Manager, Hewlett-Packard EMEA; Dragan Volic, Vice President Marketing & Sales, Müller Martini; and Paul Krisson, Graphic Arts Programme Manager, Océ Printing Systems.

Following lunch, a panel of leading book printers presented their experiences, applications, and challenges in digital book manufacturing and explained how recent technological developments are helping them enhance their solutions. Speakers included: David Stewart, Sales Director, Bell & Bain Ltd.; Bernard Kieffer, Technology & Supply Chain Director, CPI; Andy Cork, Managing Director, Printondemand-worldwide; and Guillaume de Courcy, Managing Director, SAGIM.

After an additional INTERQUEST presentation, key players in the supply chain shared their experiences with digital printing and their perspectives on the future of paper books and eBooks, as well as developments with distributed print-on-demand. Speakers included Larry Bennett, Vice President Digital Print Media, Baker & Taylor Digital Media Services; Gareth Hardy, Head of Buying, Blackwell; Nicola Haden, Commercial Manager Emerald Books, Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.; and Symmie Tyson, Assistant Manager Manufacturing, John Wiley & Sons.

The 2010 London Digital Book Printing Forum was held Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at the Royal Society in London. It was sponsored by leading players in the market, including Baker & Taylor, CPI, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, Magnum Digital Solutions, Müller Martini, Océ and Xeikon. It was also supported by the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) and the Independent Publisher Guild (IPG).