The 33rd MIBF is the first international book fair to be held both online and offline in the post-COVID world.

Most international book fairs were forced to be held online, because of the temporary COVID restrictions. However, the 2020 Moscow International Book Fair is the first to offer both online and offline activities to its visitors.

The business program of the 33rd MIBF is mainly aimed at figuring out the new ideas and opportunities for publishers and other book industry professionals which have appeared amidst the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The book sector is severely damaged, almost all its elements have been weakened. But global crises are the mother of invention. The ongoing major upheaval has sped up the processes we've seen for years, but haven't paid enough attention to them.

The digital transformation of the industry is happening right in front of our eyes. Digital and traditional ways of creating, producing and doing business are mixing. New niches, market players, products, services and ideas on the brink of these two worlds are emerging every day. Online book sales are going up. Machine learning and AI are making the translation of bestsellers easier than ever. DIY technologies are enabling creative folk to attract their own audiences without the hassle of bureaucracy, cutting down on commissions.

These processes are all important talking points that will be studied and discussed during the events of the MIBF. The fair itself has become an experiment between the two worlds — bringing online and offline experience and participants from different places and ranks closer together.

To overcome the crisis, and even reap its benefits, we need to be on the cutting edge of modern technology and know the latest developments. The global book industry desperately needs a platform to talk about the new business and technology cases and list the opportunities available to us.

We believe that the MIBF is this platform. By bringing together book industry professionals from all over the world, we will be able to find solutions for keeping our business relevant, sustainable and — ultimately — thriving.

International collaboration is on the top of our minds when we think of possible solutions. We see potential in creating collaborative spaces to work on books, bringing together professionals from different countries. The MIBF will be experimenting with these spaces. We want it not only to be a book fair, but also the fair of ideas, where you can find just the right specialist to complete your project. This will pave the way to new book hackathons where authors, illustrators, technical specialists and publishers from various countries will be able to quickly create a successful and cost-effective publication and instantly make it for audiences in a number of markets. A think co-edition (a book published simultaneously by more than one publisher, usually in different countries and in different languages) created in an agile way.

The MIBF business program is open to industry professionals from all over the world thanks to the new digital formats. It will be attended by professionals from different regions of Russia and other countries, including the US, UK, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Argentina, China, the Netherlands, as well as many others. Meanwhile, the Republic of Korea is the honorary guest country of the Fair.

The key event of the fair — the international conference titled 'How the book industry is emerging from the pandemic: Survival strategies and support trends' — will be held under the aegis of the International Publishers Association (IPA) and will consist of two sessions. The first session will be devoted to the issues of the traditional book publishing industry, the second one will focus on the digitalization and innovations in the reviving of the book industry.

The industry conference titled 'The new ecosystem of book publishing and distribution' will be focused on the challenges of the digital age and the evolution of business models.

However, we don't limit our program to just the topic of the post-COVID crisis. Themes of our conferences, exhibitions and panel discussions are relevant for a wide range of book industry specialists - from publishers and translators to librarians and managers of cultural programs.

The online exhibition titled 'Tricky conversations' will tackle the difficult issues of the new ethics in modern children's literature.

Audiobook enthusiasts will be able to learn about the latest market trends, growth points and marketing technologies during the 'Audio segment' panel discussion.

We'll also take a look at literary translation as a method of cultural diplomacy during the respective panel discussion.

Participants of the discussion titled 'Children's popular science books: Who is the author?' from Russia, Italy, Portugal and the USA will tackle the issues of authorship in children's popular science books and ultimately try to find an answer to the question of who can tell a child about science clearly and in a fun way.

The Moscow International Book Fair is organized by the General Directorate of International Book Exhibitions and Fairs with the support of Rospechat (Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications), the Russian Book Union and the Moscow City Government.