While the Three Rs of reduce, reuse and recycle are familiar to most people owing to greater environmental consciousness, their link with the Three Rs of reading, writing and arithmetic may not be immediately apparent. Yet sure enough, the annual cacophony of moans from parents when they realize that still more of their children's textbooks have become irrelevant, provides ample fodder for finding concrete solutions not only to curb monopolistic practices, but also to relieve the immense burden that printed materials in general place on the environment.

One possible solution for tackling both problems is electronic books (e-books). Though e-books have been around seemingly since time immemorial, their take-up has been marginal and are only now enjoying greater public acceptance. Australia and the UK hold a slight lead over the US in terms of percentage of e-book purchases, topping 19 percent and 17 percent respectively, compared with 16 percent among Americans (Oct 2011 - March 2012). In contrast, Chinese e-reader sales actually contracted in the second half of 2011, with a lack of content and internal systemic problems being the key challenges. Still, with only 295,200 devices sold in the third quarter of 2011, while Kindle claims to sell roughly one million devices on a weekly basis, worldwide, there is clearly significant room for growth.

If results of a survey conducted during the Hong Kong Book Fair 2011 represent a fair gauge, e-books are making inroads in the territory. Among those interviewed, 43 percent claimed to have read an e-book in the previous month. Also indicative of e-books' rise in profile, was a 50 percent jump in e-book publishers present at the fair compared with the preceding year. To maintain the momentum of growth will require concerted effort from publishers, device manufacturers and online stores along with other industry players. Exhibitions specifically tailored for the e-book publishing industry could possibly be organized so that all relevant parties are afforded more opportunities to cooperate and better reach the general public. Greater promotion through media would also help advance the cause of e-book acceptance.

The Hong Kong government has begun to lend its support to the e-book industry. Specifically, the Finance Committee in June approved the allocation of HK$50 million to the Education Bureau to launch an e-Textbook Marketing Development Scheme, aimed at encouraging participation of potential and aspiring e-textbook developers, and thus, development of the e-textbook market. However, this modest amount must certainly be adjusted if a truly lasting impact is to be achieved.

At Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTPC), one means of lending support to e-book development has been the Incu-App Technology Business Incubation Programme. Launched earlier this year and covering mobile, Internet and portal applications (apps), the intensive 18-month program can dovetail with the ambitions of an entrepreneur or start-up, aiming to penetrate the e-book market via apps development. The park is accommodating several partner companies involved in the e-book industry, ranging from development of e-book publishing platforms and digital content deployment, to transferring published content onto mobile platforms. For those with the innovative spirit, vision and determination, they may well be on the way to writing their own chapter on success.

The author is chairman of the HKSTPC.

(HK Edition 09/28/2012 page3)