---
title: Publishers, librarians and data - 67 Bricks’ Sam Herbert chairs industry roundtable at Access Lab 2021
description: Data is shaping our world in a way we never imagined. Pioneering leaders in the retail, transport and entertainment sectors regularly impress us with personalised products and services, shaped by their understanding of the customer and powered by data. Are scholarly publishers and libraries even close to catching up? Who will be the next Amazon,...
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---

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# Publishers, librarians and data - 67 Bricks’ Sam Herbert chairs industry roundtable at Access Lab 2021

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Data is shaping our world in a way we never imagined. Pioneering leaders in the retail, transport and entertainment sectors regularly impress us with personalised products and services, shaped by their understanding of the customer and powered by data. Are scholarly publishers and libraries even close to catching up? Who will be the next Amazon, Uber or Netflix of the scholarly world?

On Wednesday 17 March, 67 Bricks’ co-founder Sam Herbert was joined by Scott Williams, ex-Google and now VP Platform and Technology at De Gruyter, Samantha Heeson, Electronic and Data Services at Leeds Beckett University, Chris Thomson at Jisc, and Lettie Conrad, publishing consultant and user engagement specialist, for a special panel at [Access Lab 2021](https://openathens.org/access-lab-2021/). They discussed: what is stopping scholarly publishing from leveraging data to its full advantage?  What are the industry’s challenges around the collection, use and ethics of data? How do we overcome them? Why do we have to?.

Sam Herbert said: *“Scholarly publishers and libraries have a vast amount of data – but when it comes to leveraging its potential, they have been behind the curve of other sectors.  The events of the past year have only accelerated the speed and importance of digital transformation. Now more than ever, the industry needs to understand its data and how to leverage it.”*

 Watch the full discussion below, and if you want to discuss digital transformation in your organisation you can [contact us](https://www.67bricks.com/contact-us/) to arrange a chat with one of our publishing consultants.

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