Where is the future? Publishers across the globe frenetically explore formulas for continued success, and particularly dive in digital waters searching a beacon, a base to build future business on. These are often company-specific ventures, but in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, the industry is now joining forces in the ‘Flemish E-publishing Trends’-project. This four-year R&D-effort will create the conditions for a varied and solid e-publishing practice, with new roles and portfolios for the incumbent newspaper companies. The changeover from hardcopy to soft publishing is not an easy one. The FLEET deliverables will facilitate this transition.
Friday 24th of November, a good 80 Dutch and Flemish editors and researchers gathered in the European Journalism Centre, Maastricht, Netherlands, to assess and discuss several prototypes of novel newspaper products or services. All are web-based one way or another, and ready for the Web 2.0 publishing environments. The in total six demonstrators feature remote reporting tools, video content based on strategic alliances with non-journalistic partners, e-paper trials and online reader communities. Most were developed in close cooperation with specialised R&D centres. Together, the prototypes reveal the contours of the future electronic newspaper.
Al least half of the demonstrators will make it to real applications, the other are subject to further testing in living lab conditions.
General conclusion of the event: we need further experimentation to capture the essence of digital presence. In the conference report, the applications as well as the editors’ appraisal are described more in detail.
