The first FutureBook Hack will take place at University College London over the weekend of the 14 and 15 June 2014.
It will for the first time bring major British publishers together with developers and entrepreneurs to envision the new ideas that could change the face of an industry that contributes more than £4 billion to the UK economy every year.
Pan Macmillan, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House and Faber & Faber are publishing partners for the hack and will set a host of challenges based on problems facing the publishing industry. The team judged to have best answered it’s chosen challenge will win a £5,000 cash prize.
The hack is produced by Blackwell’s digital director, Matthew Cashmore, who has been running hacks since 2007 and also runs the annual Over The Air event dedicated mobile technology:
“When you get a lot of creative people together in a room and lock the doors, amazing things can happen. It’s really about old-school research and development, creating a hot-house atmosphere and allowing for a sustained period of concentration time.”
If you’re a dev with a thirst for thorny problems and enjoy thrashing it out in a creative environment you can sign up here.
More about the event and why it’s happening.