Future Book Forum 2021: Transforming the printed book through sustainable innovation

Sustainability has become increasingly important for all players within the book industry. With this focus set to continue, the theme of this year’s Canon Future Book Forum on 2ⁿᵈ December 2021 (14:00 – 17:00 CET) is about driving sustainable innovation in every aspect of the book publishing industry – from how books are made, distributed and accessed, to their impact on our everyday lives.

  • Canon’s virtual Future Book Forum will take place on 2 December 2021 at 14:00 – 17:00 CET
  • Theme: Transforming the printed book through sustainable innovation
  • Industry experts share views on innovative ideas about how the industry can make the printed book more sustainable

Future Book Forum 2020 saw almost 1,000 online participants from over 65 countries tune in and engage with a programme packed full of practical advice on how organisations can survive and innovate in a pandemic. Now in its ninth year, Future Book Forum 2021 will build on the success of last year’s event and will again be hosted in a virtual format, connecting professionals from within the publishing ecosystem, including book publishers, book distributors and book printers.


Global author and speaker, Peter Fisk, will once again chair the event and will be joined by experts in the areas of sustainability, innovation and publishing to explore the opportunities sustainability offers for businesses to drive smarter innovation and profitable growth.


Jessica Lobo, Global Goals Programme Manager at UN Global Compact Network UK, will deliver the keynote presentation on ‘Why sustainable innovation matters?’ and how the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) form the foundation to develop practices dedicated to driving sustainable growth.


Andy Hunter, CEO and founder of Bookshop.org, will share his vision of how books will remain a vital part of our culture in the digital age. He will also provide insights into the business model of bookshop.org, a socially conscious platform that supports independent bookshops to increase their share of the e-commerce sales channel for books. Listeners are set to be inspired by the company’s initiative that has been described as a “revolutionary moment in the history of bookselling”.


Marko Silventoinen, Managing Director and Pekka Kuurne, Development Manager at Otava Group, a diversified Finnish media company operating in book and magazine publishing, retail trade, book printing and online services, will talk about how the business is implementing an efficient data-driven supply chain for printed books within the group, based on the interaction between data and innovative digital printing workflows. Together, they will share their vision for a more sustainable and commercially viable book supply chain.


Canon Idea Challenge 2021


In line with the theme of this year’s Future Book Forum, in September Canon launched a challenge on the HYVE Crowd platform to collect innovative ideas to make printed books more sustainable. The challenge was open to everyone inside and outside the book industry. A shortlist of entrants is now being drawn up based on criteria including practical implementation, innovativeness, the link to printed books and the publishing business and to what extent the idea addresses one or more of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.


Canon Innovators Cauldron


The selected finalists of the idea challenge will pitch their ideas at the Canon Innovators Cauldron, live at the Future Book Forum in December, to the audience and to a panel of experts including Andy Hunter, Jessica Lobo and Dalia Ibrahim, CEO of Nahdet Mis Publishing House and Founder of EdVentures, the first Educational Technology focused corporate venture capital in the Middle East. Everyone in the audience will have the opportunity to engage in the innovation process by voting for their favourite idea.


Speaking about this year’s Future Book Forum, Peter Wolff, Senior Vice President of Production Printing Products, Canon EMEA says: “As Canon´s corporate philosophy is Kyosei – living and working together for the common good – this year´s Future Book Forum theme of sustainable innovation is particularly close to my heart. As a company, we contribute toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through several business activities, but we also see our technology, products and services providing unique opportunities for the book industry to put their sustainability goals into action. I´m looking forward to seeing how this year’s Future Book Forum and our Canon Idea Challenge 2021 will set an example to support the industry to unearth new ideas towards a more sustainable business.”


Canon’s Future Book Forum is targeted towards:


  • Book Publishers
  • Book Printers
  • Distributors
  • Journalists
  • Publishing and Printer Associations
  • Technology Provider / Start-ups
  • Influencers and opinion leaders from organisations, forums, media, etc.

For more information on the event and how to register visit: https://b2binfo.canon-europe.com/future-book-forum-2021. Participation is free of charge.