Candidate Statement - Pierre Danet

The breadth and depth of work done by volunteers under the IDPF banner is nothing short of amazing. The team’s dedication to shared solutions among industry partners is a testament to the power of what can happen when people of good intentions, even when they’re competitors, come together to develop technology.

Under my leadership, Hachette Livre has been a strong supporter of the IDPF and Readium. Hachette is an early adopter and evangelist for publishing technology. We were one of the first trade publishers to announce our support for EPUB, the first to join the Readium project, and one of the few to be represented on the IDPF, Readium and the W3C. Our digital books across all publishing segments are available in EPUB. We’re also supporting EDUPUB and all the progresses it can bring to the Education area.

Hachette and its engineers have been thoroughly involved in EPUB3 specifications, FXL and AHL standardization, Samples Project Production and other Working Groups. With W3C membership, we are now contributing to the development of the Open Web Platform to cope with publishing needs. Hachette technology teams have participated in the DIGIPUB Interest Group with, for example, Dave Cramer, leading the key typesetting/pagination task force (LatinReq Specification).

For two years, I personally evangelized EPUB3 in Europe. Representing EPUB3 and Readium Initiatives in France, Spain and Belgium (for example: http://www.congresolibroelectronico.es/pierre-danet-impartira- una-conferencia-en- el-congreso-ebook/).

It is essential that international publisher views are strongly represented on the IDPF Board, in particular from Europe and Asia, and this is an area where my experience and relationships will add to the organization. As a member of the IDPF Board and the W3C Advisory Committee, I will help align EPUB and W3C developments.

Pierre Danet is the Digital Technology Officer at Hachette Livre, the publishing arm of Lagardère, reporting to global CEO, Arnaud Nourry. Pierre oversees innovation, standards support and web initiatives globally. Previously, Pierre was former COO and CIO at Hachette divisions and other Lagardère Group Business Units, with responsibility across Europe.

Pierre is also Vice President of Cap Digital, the French Business cluster for digital content and services in Ile de France region.

Hachette Livre, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère SCA, is the world’s third largest trade book publisher with sales of € 2,038 million. It is # 1 in France, # 1 in the UK, #2 in Spain and # 5 in the USA. It publishes 15,000 new titles a year under more than one hundred different imprints in a dozen languages, but mainly in French, English and Spanish. It covers all segments of trade publishing : General fiction and non-fiction, mass market pocket books, books for young readers, illustrated books, travel guides, school books, as well as partworks. Its headquarters are in Paris, France. 

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