Mohammed bin Rashid Library concludes the Dubai International Library and Publishing Summit 2025

3 days ago

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Dubai, 1st November / WAM / The Mohammed bin Rashid Library concluded the activities of the second session of the Dubai International Library and Publishing Summit 2025, under the slogan “The Future of the Publishing Industry.” Which lasted for 3 days.
This year, the summit witnessed a significant increase in the number of registrations by 27.3% compared to last year, and the percentage of attendance and actual participation in the sessions increased by about 31.5%, while the number of participating nationalities increased by 33%. The summit also recorded an increase of about 50% in the number of international speakers compared to the first session.

For his part, His Excellency Mohammed Ahmed Al Murr, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Library Foundation, said: The second session of the Dubai International Library and Publishing Summit represented a new station in the development of the publishing industry, as it discussed the future of this industry and how it is based on the integration between human creativity and advanced technologies, and that digital transformation is no longer an option, but has become a necessity imposed by the nature of the era based on open knowledge.
His Excellency added that the cultural world today is witnessing an accelerating intersection between content, knowledge and technology, which requires the building of new intellectual and institutional systems that balance human values and technical innovation, and enhance the role of culture as a bridge for dialogue and understanding between peoples, without borders separating them.
He stressed that there is an urgent need to unify efforts and build sustainable partnerships that bring together cultural, academic and technical institutions, in a way that opens broader horizons for the development of Arab and international publishing, as the desired future is a future that depends on the exchange of experiences, openness to experiences, and empowering knowledge to be the main driver of the sustainable development process.

The summit discussed several main topics, including: innovation, technology, transformation, book arts, the global publishing scene, translation, purposeful publishing, and the art of writing. It also highlighted the digital transformation in the publishing industry, and its balance between traditional and digital publishing, with special attention to applied workshops that develop the skills of writers and publishers in the fields of translation, editing, and printing, and enhance the concepts of sustainability and ethical practices in this vital sector.
The closing day’s program included sessions on the literary award industry and its role in directing the publishing market, advanced workshops on writing and illustrating children’s books, as well as sessions on copyright in the age of artificial intelligence, access to schools, and marketing children’s books. It also focused on promoting reading and building a reading generation for the future, exploring publishing market trends in the Emirates, and empowering unrepresented voices in literary translation.

The sessions also covered topics such as excellence in the Arab publishing industry, protecting rights and preserving creativity, innovation in audio, and developing sustainable publishing houses.