I can't help admire the Boersenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels , Germany’s association for the book trade, which yesterday launched its ‘full-text search online’ project. This collaborative initiative to develop a digital content storage and delivery platform, in which all German booksellers and publishers will be invited to participate, is a forward-thinking approach for sure.  Germany certainly looks like it's wisely gearing up for an increasingly digital future.   

Of course I am particularly pleased that  MPS Technologies and Hamburg-based sister company HGV, both Holtzbrinck companies, have been chosen as development partners for the project. MPS Technologies and HGV launched their ‘digital warehouse’ concept, BookStore, at the Frankfurt Book Fair last year. Since then a prototype has been developed and demonstrated to many publishers in the UK, Germany and the USA. A beta site will be available in late June. A bespoke version of the BookStore platform will be developed for the Bórsenverein which will be offered to publishers across Germany and launched at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2006. 

Yet one more step in publishers and booksellers opening their eyes to the imperative of adapting to a digital future.