With more and more students going online for study material, publishing industry is on the verge of a digital revolution. In this interview, Nizam Ahmed, founder & CEO, StudyeBuddy Online Services, tells FE?s Abhishek Chakraborty that setting up StudyeBuddy, an educational eBookstore, was a logical step for them. Excerpts:
What was the reason to come up with StudyeBuddy?
I have witnessed vast changes in the publishing industry, owing to digital revolution. Visiting global book fairs and interacting with the world outside, I realised digital technology has taken education by storm. The US is the pioneer and now other developed and developing countries are following suit. I did not see any reason why India should be lagging behind, especially when it constitutes world?s second-largest internet population. There are not many eBooks available on a single platform in India. It was high time we bridged the gap between technology and education in India. Thus, StudyeBuddy was the next logical step we could take after DiTech, my first company.
To what extent will such an initiative solve issues pertaining to academic needs of students?
In this fast-paced world, everybody wants instant gratification. Students are no different. Their basic homework starts with Google. But they lose a lot of time while googling different sites/links for different subjects and publishers. StudyeBuddy attempts to solve that problem by providing all sorts of education-related books for all subjects from K-12 to college and professional level, sourced from both international and national publishers on a single platform. They can also share and discuss notes with other students in the Buddy Book Club (a section in our portal) and watch education-related webinars for more exposure. Apart from highlighting important points, adding notes, searching keywords, audio-visual learning, students can also read their books whenever and wherever they want without worrying about the internet connection. This will help students keep their focus intact while studying. In cultural studies, they call it ?McDonaldization? of education that focuses on more and more efficiency in transferring of knowledge to students.
Which are the top publishers that have signed up with you?
Currently, we have 51 publishers on board, both national and international. Springer, Thieme, Casemate, Ashgate, Usborne, Jaypee Medical are some big names. Publishers like Elsevier, Pearson, McGraw Hill, Cambridge University Press, Sage are in the pipeline.
Which are the most sought after books in your store?
Titles for medical, international business schools and management are very much in demand currently.
