An impressive line-up of international speakers is slated for the Caribbean’s first Digital Publishing Conference, #theOnlineMind, scheduled to be held November 2-5, 2015 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston.

The conference, organised by the Jamaican Copyright Licensing Agency (JAMCOPY), will incorporate a publishing conference, exhibitions, master classes and an education stakeholder’s forum in an effort to highlight and address global trends towards digital publishing.

Stakeholders will also explore fundamental issues pertinent to digital projects in education and how they can work collectively to succeed with digital migration in education and support learners to improve their educational success.

Among the many international speakers are George Walkley, head of digital for the Hachette UK Group with responsibility for digital initiatives and strategy including eBooks and apps.

A regular speaker at book and publishing industry events worldwide, Walkley will address the ‘Critical Skills for Successful Digital Publishing’.

Another hot-button topic, ‘Social Media for Print and Digital Books’, will be covered by Nicholas Laughlin, the programme director for Trinidad’s annual literary festival and editor of The Caribbean Review of Books and Caribbean Beat magazines.

Former special assistant to US secretary of education and director for the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and the Workforce, Jay Disky, will share his knowledge and experience gained over two decades in government relations and education policy. In his current role as executive director of the Association of American Publishers PreK-12 Learning Group, Disky directs the group’s advocacy, public policy development, and operations.

Participants will also receive information on the latest advances in digital protection from Paul Doda, global litigation counsel at the Science, Technical and Medical publisher Elsevier, with offices worldwide.

As the chairman for the International Publishers Association’s Copyright Committee and Anti-Piracy Working Group, and a member of various industry copyright committees, Doda is an expert in copyright enforcement.

Conference attendees will also hear from Michael Lewis, the regional intellectual property attaché for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, based at the US Embassy in Mexico. In this position, he is responsible for promoting high standards of intellectual property protection and enforcement and serves as a resource for both US government personnel and national governments within the region.

Previously, Lewis served as a director and intellectual property advisor in the office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Co-ordinator, Executive Office of the President.

Also appearing on the list of international experts in the field are Jon White, head of product at Emerald Group Publishing, where he has a wide remit overseeing the development of new digital technology, products and channels.

In addition, Jamaica’s own Carol Newman, general manager of JAMCOPY, will also speak. Newman is also the Caribbean Regional Development Representative for the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations, and principal and lead consultant of IPCaribbean.

In this capacity, she provides a suite of intellectual property services to both owners and users of intellectual property, including IP audits, licensing contracts, IP policy development, and permissions.

The conference has four stands, and so the target audience is varied and includes authors, publishers, booksellers, government policymakers, lawyers, digital technology providers and librarians/information specialists. It is expected that the General Legal Council will accredit the conference, and so lawyers would obtain qualifying CLE credits for attending.

#theonlinemind is sponsored by Macmillan Education/CXC Store, Carlong Publishers (Caribbean) Limited, Hodder Education, International Publishers Association, Phase 3 Productions, Jamaica Library Service, Mapco Printers, and media partners The Jamaica Observer, Power 106FM, The Gleaner Company, iPublish Jamaica, and Listen Mi News.