Candidate Statement - Brian O'Leary

Please accept this application to serve on the Readium board.

I currently serve as executive director of the Book Industry Study Group, which works to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the book industry supply chain. Although we work on behalf of the U.S. book industry, BISG operates with an understanding of the global market for physical and digital books, as well as book metadata, rights, and the workflows that support them.

As an organization that both creates and works to promote the use of standards, BISG has a strong interest in seeing the Readium Foundation succeed in its efforts to develop technology to accelerate the adoption of EPUB 3 and the Open Web Platform by the Digital Publishing Industry. BISG has been a proponent of EPUB 3 since its release, with the BISG board adopting a policy encouraging participants across the digital supply chain to move to EPUB 3.

Over the past three years, we have also collaborated with other organizations, including the W3C and more recently EDR Laboratories, to promote understanding and awareness of initiatives in these organizations. In the three-plus years that I’ve
served as executive director, we’ve regularly tried to find topics for which BISG can convene participants, amplify the good work of others, and solve problems that affect two or more parts of the supply chain. As publishing has shifted to a digital-first set of workflows, the need for interoperability and standards has only increased.

Personally, I have served on several boards, including the BISG board before my appointment as director. I am the past chair of EDItEUR’s board, where I remain a member, and I serve as treasurer of the library board of trustees in the town where I live. I’ve also served three three-year terms as a member of a local school board, where I learned the value of both collaboration and transparency. I feel I can bring both an industry perspective and a mindset focused on effective governance, both important at this moment for the Readium board. I hope you will consider supporting my candidacy.

Brian F. O’Leary

Executive Director, Book Industry Study Group