In partnership with the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization, the Arab Publishers Association organized, on December 15-16, 2020, the 5th Virtual Arab Publishers’ Conference, under the theme of “Creating Content and Challenges”.
During the conference, Arab publishers highlighted the obstacles and issues currently facing the printing, publishing and distribution industry, including, in particular, the adverse repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis which has made it extremely difficult to reach out directly to readers due to the cancellation of book fairs in most Arab countries. They stressed, in this regard, their determination to face up to the COVID-19 crisis and its negative impacts, and recommended promoting the use of electronic books, beside paper books, without prejudice to intellectual property rights. They also recommended forming a crisis unit to monitor the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the publishing industry, and developing a common vision and a strategic plan, jointly with governments, so that the promotion of the publishing industry and of the culture sector as a whole would be taken up as a priority.
ALECSO was represented in this Conference by Dr. Mohamed Jemni, Director of the ICT Department, who gave a lecture entitled : “Arabic Digital Content and Open Educational Resources”, through which he presented the e-learning initiatives launched by ALECSO, and stressed the crucial importance of distance learning which, through the use of new technology, offers much more than traditional learning methods. He also highlighted the major role of Arab publishers in promoting cultural and educational action.
