• Möbius will employ novel and immersive technologies, such as 5G, will develop, to pilot and validate methods and tools for publishing companies.
  
• The project will integrate meaningful cooperation with prosumers into their workflows, following a disaggregated user-driven. 

2021, Barcelona (Spain) Möbius, with a global budget of €5,5 Mil of which 90% is financed by the European Commission, aims to leverage the power of prosumers in the publishing sector. The project will be launched on the 1st of March and will be operative until 2024. 

The European publishing sector is one of the largest in the world. Despite its leading position, the industry is facing turbulences – “we may be drowning, and not even know it”, as eloquently put in the Business of Book report last 2019. 

The industry needs to revisit its traditional value chains and business models and establish effective cooperation with prosumers to reaffirm its place as a fundamental economic and cultural agent in the digital era.  

Renewing and invigorating European publishing sector

Möbius will contribute to a renewed and invigorated European publishing sector by providing tools and methodologies that leverage the potential of prosumers in innovation processes to guarantee user-centric and user-driven perspectives in the design and delivery of new enriched media experiences. 

The project will develop a prosumer intelligence toolkit for supporting publishing decisions and establishing cooperation with prosumers. New business models will be implemented through the collaboration with prosumers to add value to book publishing processes. Finally, Möbius will create a cross-media, interactive, and immersive book experience that goes beyond all known publishing formats. 

Coordination project will be held by Eurecat, the technology centre of Catalonia which provides innovative and exceptional technology to respond to the needs for innovation and to drive and enhance the competitive edge.  

A multi-disciplinary and international consortium to achieve a pan-European dimension

The consortium is composed of 11 partners located in 4 different EU countries: Italy (1), Spain (2), Germany (3), and Belgium (5). In addition, two international organization European Network of Living Labs ivzw (ENOLL) and the Federation of European Publishers (FEP) will help to achieve a pan-European dimension. Partners are coming from different sectors such as the publishing industry, technologists, social scientists, social innovators and artists. 

Among the consortium members, there are four industrial partners and SMEs: 

• Bookabook srl and MBV GmbH (publishing sector),
• IN2 digital Innovations GmbH (digital media), 
• Kunstkraftwerk-Leipzig GmbH (media art);

Four non-profit organisations:

• FEP (publishing sector),
• Design Entrepreneurship Institute (Business and policy),
• ENOLL (Living labs), 
• Mobile World Capital Barcelona (Media Technology) 

And three research centres: 

• Fundació Eurecat (ICT technology), 
• Interuniversitair Micro-Electronica Centrum vzm  (User research and business model innovations), 
• KU Leuven Centre for IT and IP Law (IP and law). 

Möbius has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Grant Agreement No. 957185