On November 2, 2019, the 6th International Conference on Publishing Industry and Publishing Education in the Digital Era’s opening ceremony was grandly held at Wuhan University.

Participants of the 6th International Conference on Publishing Industry and Publishing Education in the Digital Era take group photo in front of the School of Information Management at Wuhan University.

The theme of this conference was “Digital Publishing in the 5G Era: Ubiquitousness, Connection and Convergence”, which covered hot issues of publishing industry and publishing education in the digital era, included topics as theories of digital publishing, industrial development and innovation, technology and application, management innovation and talent training. It aimed at discussing the strategies and measures for publishing industry and publishing higher education to cope with the global digital transformation in the 5G era.

This international symposium was co-sponsored by Wuhan University (PRC), Pace University (USA), and Higher Education Press (PRC), co-hosted by School of Information Management, Wuhan University (PRC), M.S. in Publishing Program, Pace University (USA), GAPP-WHU Advanced Publishing Training Center (PRC) and Land Publishing & Media Group, with gratitude to Changjiang Publishing & Media Group (stock) Co., Ltd. (PRC), Redactological Society of Hubei Province (PRC), Wuhan University Press (PRC), Publishing Journal, Digital Publishing Research Institute, Wuhan University (PRC), Publishing and Distribution Research Institute, Wuhan University (PRC), Wuhan Research Center for New Media, Chinese Academy of Press and Publication. It received extensive attention from universities, research institutes and publishing enterprises at home and abroad. 149 delegates registered to attend the conference and more than 120 conference papers were received.

The opening ceremony of the conference was held on the morning of November 2. It was presided over by Prof. Lifang Xu, director of the department of publishing science, School of Information Management at Wuhan University. Researcher Xuemei Zhao, deputy secretary of the Party committee of Wuhan University, firstly gave a welcome address expressing welcome and gratitude to the attendees. She hoped that this conference would continue the brilliant achievements of the previous five sessions and make new breakthroughs in the exploration of the development and talent training of publishing industry in the digital era, and make contributions to the development of the publishing industry in China and the world. Dr. Hilary Nipal, vice provost of Pace University, then pointed out that digitization presented unprecedented challenges for various industries including publishing, but also exciting opportunities at the meanwhile. Copy Editor Baiyi Zhou, President of Redactological Society of Hubei Province, looked forward to the development and talent training of publishing industry in the digital era and wished the conference a complete success. Prof. Manuela Suarez, director of M.S. in Publishing Program, Pace University (USA), reviewed the history of the conference held by Pace University, Wuhan University, and Higher Education Press since 2006. Prof. Manuela Suarez pointed out that the exploration of digital publishing and its talent training by experts, scholars and practitioners from different countries and regions was very effective, which could provide good references for the practice and research of digital publishing.

Xuemei Zhao, deputy secretary of the Party committee of Wuhan University, gives a welcome address.

Dr. Hilary Nipal, vice provost of Pace University, speaks at the conference’s opening ceremony.

This conference lasted for two days, and it included the symposium of plenary session and sub-forums. More than 30 experts and scholars from universities, research institutes and publishing enterprises in China, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Taiwan Region made presentations. The sub-forums were composed by four parts: "Digital Publishing Industry and Management", "Digital Publishing Technology and Knowledge Service", "New Digital Publishing Research: Ubiquitousness Digital Publishing Industry", "New Digital Publishing Research: Scientific Communication and Knowledge Service". The conference would also evaluate the most excellent papers and outstanding student papers.