International Digital Publishing Forum

What International Digital Publishing Forum does

The International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) was a non-profit trade and standards association that operated from 1999 to 2017 as the global governance body for electronic publishing. Originally founded as the Open EBook Forum (OEBF) and rebranded to IDPF in 2005, the organization was headquartered in Seattle, WA and operated with a minimal staff (~2 named leaders: Executive Director Bill McCoy and Operations Manager Kara Gerlek) supported by a volunteer board representing member organizations.

IDPF's core product was EPUB, the universal XML-based interchange and delivery format for eBooks and other digital publications. The EPUB ecosystem comprised component specifications covering publication-level semantics, content documents (HTML5/SVG/CSS profiles), open container packaging (ZIP), media overlays for text-audio synchronization, fixed-layout document metadata, navigation documents, and the Canonical Fragment Identifier (CFI) for cross-platform linking and annotation. EPUB 3.0 (October 2011) and EPUB 3.0.1 (June 2014) were the current versions prior to dissolution; EPUB 3.1 was unanimously approved just before the W3C combination. The format was republished as ISO/IEC TS 30135 in 2014, extending formal international recognition.

IDPF operated as a membership-based community-led GTM, funded through annual membership dues from 130 member organizations across publishing (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Wiley, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Kodansha, Ingram Content Group), technology (Google, Apple, Adobe, Sony), and standards bodies (DAISY Consortium, W3C). Standards development occurred through open working groups, and the organization co-hosted the IDPF Digital Conference at BookExpo America — the longest-running professional conference for the digital publishing industry. Effective January 30, 2017, IDPF combined with the W3C (approved by 88% of voting members), ceasing independent operations and transferring EPUB stewardship to W3C's Publishing@W3C initiative.

Name

International Digital Publishing Forum

Legal name

International Digital Publishing Forum

Website

http://idpf.org/

Company type

Private

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) was the global non-profit trade and standards association (1999-2017) that developed and promoted EPUB, the XML-based universal format for eBooks and digital publications, serving 130 publisher and technology-vendor member organizations before combining with W3C in January 2017.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Publishing Standards

NAICS

Business Associations (813910), Publishing Industries (513)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Standards, Registries & Interoperability Services (EIDR/ISAN, CPE, DDEX) (MPAHALAO)

Keywords

• Digital publishing standards
• EPUB specifications
• EBook interoperability
• XML publishing formats
• Open publishing ecosystem

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: IDPF was funded through membership dues from publisher, vendor, and software developer organizations. The organization operated as a non-profit trade association.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

IDPF was a global trade and standards association that developed and promoted the EPUB standard as the universal accessible interchange and delivery ecosystem for eBooks and digital publications. The organization coordinated collaborative working groups across publishers, vendors, and software developers to create open XML-based specifications for digital content packaging, navigation, media overlays, fixed-layout rendering, and content fragment identification.

Product overview

International Digital Publishing Forum was the global trade and standards association for electronic publishing (1999-2016), which developed and promoted EPUB as the universal accessible interchange and delivery ecosystem for eBooks and digital publications. The organization's product portfolio centered on the EPUB standard and its component specifications: EPUB 3.0.1 (the current version as of the archived site), EPUB 3.0, and EPUB 2.0.1. These core standards were complemented by detailed specifications including EPUB Publications 3.0 (package document semantics), EPUB Content Documents 3.0 (HTML5/SVG/CSS profiles), EPUB Open Container Format 3.0 (ZIP packaging), EPUB Media Overlays 3.0 (text-audio sync), EPUB Navigation Documents (replaced NCX), EPUB 3 Fixed-Layout Documents (pre-paginated layout metadata), and EPUB Canonical Fragment Identifier (interoperable linking scheme). Effective January 30, 2017, IDPF combined with W3C, transferring EPUB development to the W3C Publishing@W3C initiative.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EPUB: The XML-based distribution format standard for digital publications, developed and promoted by IDPF as the universal accessible interchange and delivery ecosystem for eBooks and other digital publications.

Products and services

• EPUB (Electronic Publication) The primary XML-based distribution format standard for digital publications developed by IDPF, serving as the universal accessible interchange and delivery ecosystem for eBooks and other digital publications, advancing the Open Web Platform.
• EPUB 3.0.1 Minor maintenance update to EPUB 3.0, approved as the current version of the EPUB standard. Defines publication-level semantics and conformance requirements for EPUB Publications.
• EPUB 3.0 The third major revision of EPUB, introduced HTML5, native SVG and MathML support, improved metadata, scripting capabilities, and media overlays. Superseded EPUB 2.0.1.
• EPUB 2.0.1 A maintenance release of EPUB 2 defined by Open Publication Structure (OPS), Open Packaging Format (OPF), and Open Container Format (OCF). Now considered obsolete.
• EPUB 3.1 The latest version of EPUB, approved unanimously by IDPF membership and submitted to W3C as part of the IDPF-W3C combination.

Quantifiable outcome

• EPUB 3.1 approved unanimously (72 YES, 0 NO) by IDPF membership
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 January 2017Effective January 30, 2017, IDPF combined with W3C. The combination was approved by IDPF membership (88% in favor). IDPF's mission to foster EPUB and the Open Web Platform continues under W3C's Publishing@W3C activities. EPUB specifications are now maintained at https://www.w3.org/publishing/.
• European Digital Reading Laboratory (EDRLab)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEDRLab was established to host IDPF Europe and Readium Europe operations. The organization appointed Laurent Le Meur as founding CTO to oversee day-to-day operations and coordinate with IDPF, Readium Foundation, and other EPUB stakeholders.
• International Standards Organization (ISO)coreTechnology or IntegrationIn 2014, EPUB 3.0 specifications (with exception of the changes document) were republished by ISO as ISO/IEC TS 30135 parts 1-7. Each ISO specification is identical to its IDPF equivalent.
• Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerSSP co-sponsored a new Academic and Professional Publishing track at the IDPF Digital Conference at BookExpo America 2016, expanding the conference's reach into academic and professional publishing markets.
• DAISY ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDAISY Consortium participated actively in EPUB Working Groups. Markus Gylling from DAISY served as Working Group Chair. DAISY contributed expertise in accessible publishing standards.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): W3C is the global standards body for the World Wide Web and the entity that absorbed IDPF in January 2017. As a fellow open standards consortium with a member-driven governance model, W3C is the most direct comparable—the two organizations shared membership structures, working group processes, and a mission to develop interoperable open standards.
• DAISY Consortium: DAISY Consortium develops standards for accessible digital publishing, particularly the DAISY format for print-disabled readers. DAISY participated actively in IDPF's EPUB Working Groups (with Markus Gylling serving as Working Group Chair), making it a direct peer in digital publishing standards development with overlapping membership and mission.
• EDItEUR: EDItEUR is the international group coordinating standards for electronic commerce in the book and serial sectors, including ONIX for book metadata. Like IDPF, EDItEUR operates as a membership-based standards organization serving the global publishing industry with comparable governance structure.
• Readium Foundation: Readium Foundation develops open-source EPUB 3 rendering engines and reading system implementations. It operated in close coordination with IDPF (sharing EDRLab infrastructure for European operations) and is a direct peer in advancing the EPUB ecosystem through reference implementations.
• National Information Standards Organization (NISO): NISO develops and maintains technical standards for information management and dissemination across libraries, publishing, and related sectors. As a U.S.-based membership standards organization with a similar member-driven working group model, NISO is directly comparable in structure and stakeholder type.

Regional players

• Book Industry Communication (BIC): BIC is a UK-based not-for-profit that develops standards and best practices for the book industry, primarily serving UK and European publishers and retailers. It is a regional peer with comparable mission (publishing industry standards development) and similar membership-based governance.

Broad incumbents

• Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF): IETF develops and promotes internet standards through open, volunteer-driven working groups. It shares IDPF's foundational model of member-driven, consensus-based standards development but operates at internet infrastructure scale rather than publishing-specific scope.
• OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards): OASIS is a global consortium that drives open standards development across multiple industries including IoT, security, and content technologies. It serves as a comparable standards organization model to IDPF but operates across many verticals rather than focusing on digital publishing.
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO): ISO is the international standards body that republished EPUB 3.0 as ISO/IEC TS 30135 in 2014. As a global, government-recognized standards organization, ISO is a broad incumbent peer that interacts with IDPF-class organizations to elevate their specifications to international standard status.

Others

• Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC): OGC is a membership-based international standards organization developing geospatial interoperability standards. While not in publishing, OGC shares IDPF's exact governance and revenue model (membership dues, working group-driven standards development, non-profit structure) and serves as a structural peer for analyzing standards body economics.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/billmccoy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about International Digital Publishing Forum