Sören Kierkegaard: The Repetition

“Long live the post horn! That is my instrument – for many reasons and and above all for the fact, that you never can elicit the same tone from the instrument with certainty; for there is an infinite possibility in a post horn, and who puts it to his mouth and puts his wisdom therein can never be guilty of repetition: and who hands his friend a post horn for friendly use instead of an answer, says nothing, but explains everything. That’s my symbol.”

About Sebastian Posth

Sebastian Posth is an entrepreneur and consultant with a focus on digital innovation projects in the cultural and creative industries.

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As an experienced manager, Sebastian has a track record of transforming innovative technology into useful products and services that support the future of content monetisation for stakeholders from various media industries. Combining his technical expertise with his knowledge about the digital media markets, Posth has been the communication expert and keynote speaker on digital distribution and online media, decentralised content identification, self-sovereign identity concepts (SSI) such as decentralised identifiers (DIDs) and verifiable credentials (VCs).

Sebastian is the founder of Liccium B.V. (liccium.com). The company offers a groundbreaking application that helps creators and rightsholders to make verifiable declarations of original content, creating trust in claims, attribution, and the authenticity of the original content.

Liccium ha also been the initiator of the Creator Credentials project (creatorcredentials.com), which will develop a user-centric digital identity management framework specifically designed for the cultural and creative communities. This includes a software application that can be used by media organisations, membership organisations or other trust services to issue verifiable credentials to creators and other rightsholders.

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For over a decade, Posth Werk B.V., originally founded in Berlin (Germany) and relocated to Leiden (Netherlands) in 2017, has been a trusted partner in the media industries, offering consulting services, project management, and innovative product development to a wide range of stakeholders across Europe and beyond. Our key role in the invention and introduction of the International Standard Content Code (ISCC) in 2016, led by Sebastian Posth as co-initiator and project leader of ISO 24138, underscores our dedication to driving technological advancement in digital content identification.

In a voluntary function from 2019-2024, Sebastian has been co-founder and member of the director’s board of the ISCC Foundation, an independent international nonprofit organisation that promotes supports open, interoperable and decentralized content identifier technology.

Sebastian is co-initiator of the International Standard Content Code (ISCC), an open and decentralised identifier for digital media content and published ISO standard: ISO 24138:2024, https://www.iso.org/standard/77899.html. Sebastian has been the convenor and project leader of ISO/TC 46/SC 9/WG 18.

Sebastian is academic researcher and PhD Student at the University of Siegen, Germany. In his academic work, his focus lies on the topics of decentralised content identification, content certification, and the influence of public-key cryptography on the cultural and creative industries.

Sebastian is member of the advisory board of Hagen University Press. 

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From 2017 until 2020, as co-initiator of the Content Blockchain Initiative, Sebastian contributed to research on the foundation of an open content ecosystem on a decentralised ledger.

From 2013 until 2019, Sebastian was founder and managing director of data analytics company Publishing Data Networks, which a subsidiary of DER SPIEGEL GmbH & Co. KG. The company offered ‚Monitor‘, a tool for sales and marketing data analysis to publishers and authors, designed to support digital marketing and sales.

From 2011 to 2013, Sebastian was co-founder of A2 Electronic Publishing GmbH, offering ebook distribution in collaboration with Zebralution GmbH.

From 2009, Sebastian worked for VVA (arvato media, Bertelsmann AG), the largest distributor for books and e-books of major publishing groups like Random House, Bastei Lübbe, Kosmos or Hanser, DuMont and about 200 other publishers. As Director Digital Content Distribution, I was responsible for the development of digital media distribution and accounting software (BIC-Media).

As early as 2005, Sebastian founded Zentrale Medien, Germany’s first digital distributor and one of the first ebook retail sites and ebook conversion houses. The company was re-branded as KN-digital in 2009 after its acquisition by Koch, Neff & Volckmar, now Zeitfracht, Germany’s largest book wholesaler.

In 2003, during his studies of German language and literature and philosophy, Sebastian began to produce books for publishers with LaTex and InDesign. In 2005, Sebastian started my own publishing activities. Posth Verlag is the smallest possible publishing house with a focus in the fields of philosophy, German literature and social sciences.

Professional Experience

Since 2024 Founder and CEO of Liccium B.V. (Liccium.com)

2019—2024 Member of the Director’s Board of the ISCC Foundation (voluntary position), Leiden (ISCC.foundation, ISCC.codes)

2011—2024 CEO of Posth Werk BV, Leiden (posth.me)

2017—2020 Co-Initiator and Contributor to the Content Blockchain Initiative

2013—2019 Founder and CEO of Publishing Data Networks GmbH, Frankfurt a.M. (SPIEGEL-group until 2015)

2005—2017 Founder and Publisher of Posth-Verlag (posth-verlag.de)

2011—2013 Co-Founder of A2 Electronic Publishing (e-book distribution in collaboration with Zebralution GmbH)

2009—2011 Director Digital Content Distribution at VVA/arvato,
Gütersloh (Bertelsmann AG) (scm.arvato.com)

2007—2009 Founder and Managing Director of Zentrale Medien GmbH,
Bochum (acquired by KNV knv.de)

2005—2009 Founder of zevep.com (e-book distribution and retail)

2004—2006 Founder of Posthscript (type-setting and publishing services)

2001—2002 Employee at Bookshop Scheuermann, Duisburg

1997—2001 Employee public relations at the State Parliament of North
Rhine-Westphalia, Düsseldorf 

1996—2000 Employee at record shop Garageland, Duisburg

Academic Experience

Since 2020 PhD Graduate Student at Universtity of Siegen

Since 2020 Academic Researcher at the Institute for Internet-Security of the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences

2003-2004 Lecturer at the Ruhr-University Bochum

2002-2004 Research assistant at the Ruhr-University Bochum

2002  M.A. in German Literature, Philosophy, Linguistic at Ruhr-University Bochum 

2002  Student research assistant at the University Duisburg-Essen (Institute for Information Technology) 

1998  Student research assistant at the University Duisburg-Essen (Institute for Mathematics)

Fellowships

2005-2007  Ph.D fellowship of the Evangelischen Studienwerk e.V., Villigst ‘Der Gesandte in der Literatur der Frühen Neuzeit’ 

2005 Ph.D fellowship of the Dr. Günther Findel-Stiftung/Rolf und Ursula Schneider Stiftung, Herzog-August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel

1999-2002  M.A. fellowship of the Dori-Posth-Stiftung, Berlin

Awards and Prizes

2020 Nominated as one of the 24 finalists of the ‘EIC Prize Blockchain for Social Good‘ (awarded by the European Commission)

2019  Digital Publishing Award (hosted under the patronage of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy)

Selected Videos

Interviews & Presentations

Table Session, Werkstatt Buchkarrieren [On Marketing And Bestseller Lists]. Buchreport360°, Dortmund 3 July 2013

Libraries in a Digital Age. Media Evolution Conference, Malmö, 21 August 2013

Daten im Dialog. Monitoring, Marketing und der ‘Trade Impact Factor’. [Data Dialogue. Monitoring, Marketing And The ‘Trade Impact Factor’]. Verlag 3.0: New Marketing, Big Data, Innovative Media – Wie das digitale Marketing das Publishing Business verändert. Buchakademie München,  4. July 2013

On Podium at TOC Buchreport, Getting Ebooks Mainstream, Berlin, 23. April 2013

Monitor, Or What Is A Trade Impact Factor? IfBookThen 2013, Milan, 19. March 2013. Video on Youtube: 4 Data Business Models presented at IfbookThen 2013. Charts on Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/sposth/ibt13-slideshare

Mit Daten statt Intuition entscheiden. Sebastian Posth über Vorteile von Big Data für Verlage. [Data vs. Intuition. On The Advantages Of Data Driven Ebook Distribution] Interview, 21 February 2013, Buchreport.online

2012

Ebooks In The Global Marketplace. DBW Webcast, 6. November 2012

2011

Europas Märkte. E-Books bei unseren Nachbarn oder Auf der Suche nach den verborgenen Zahlen [Ebook Markets In Europe]. Kindermedienseminar, Buchakademie München, 24 November 2011

Jetzt – erst Recht. Herausforderungen bei der Verwaltung von Lizenzen und digitalen Nutzungsrechten. [On The Challenges Of Administrating Digital Rights & Licenses] E:PUBLISH – Kongress für Neues Publizieren, 17 November 2011

Current developments in setting standards for rights & licensing and sales metadata. Presentation, 11 October 2011, O’Reilly Tools of Change Conference, Frankfurt – Video on Youtube: Sebastian Posth at the TOC Frankfurt 2011

Standards für das digitale Spielfeld. Sebastian Posth über neue Herausforderungen auf dem E-Book-Markt. Interview, 10 October 2011, Buchreport.blog

The digital rights quagmire. On the complexity of digital publishing rights. Interview, 4 October 2011, O’Reilly radar

Über die Leistungen eines Digitalvertriebs im sich “normalisierenden” Ebook-Geschäft [On The Benefits Of Digital Distribution In A “Normalizing” Ebook Business], Interview, 14 August 2011, Buchmarkt.de

E-Reader noch nicht abschreiben. [Do Not Write Off Ereaders], Interview, 2 February 2011, Buchreport online

2009

Ebook Publishing. Über Gadgets, Medienhypes und (andere) seriöse Perspektiven der Verlagsbrache [Ebook publishing. On gadgets, media hypes, and other (reliable) developments of the publishing industry], Ringvorlesung Berufsfelder, Presentation, 24 April 2009 at the Ruhr University, Bochum

Mobiles digitales Lesen. Entwicklungen und Perspektiven im Bereich der Reader [Mobile Digital Reading. On Current And Future Developments Of Reading Devices], Die Bibliothek in der Jackentasche? Perspektiven digitaler Medien in öffentlichen Bibliotheken, Vortrags- und Diskussionsveranstaltung, Presentation, 23 April 2009 at the Media University, Stuttgart
2009

E-Books. Was bietet der Markt? [E-Books. The Market], Medienzukunft, Zukunftsmedien: Von Gutenberg zum Web 2.0, Kooperationsseminar der ekz mit der Sektion 1 des Deutschen Bibliotheksverbandes e.V. (bdv), Presentation, 3 March 2009 at the ekz, Reutlingen

2008

Die digitale Verlagsauslieferung — Format- und plattformübergreifende Vertriebslösungen für E-Books [Digital Distribution. Format- And Platform-Independent Solutions For Ebook Publishing], Presentation, 15 October 2008, at the Frankfurt Bookfair, Frankfurt am Main

Verlage brauchen eine digitale Auslieferung. Sebastian Posth zu neuen Anforderungen der Verlage [Why Would Publishers Need A Digital Distributor? On New Challenges For Publishers], Interview, 3 September 2008, Buchreport online

Die digitale Verlagsauslieferung — Format- und plattformübergreifende Vertriebslösungen für E-Books [Digital Distribution. Format- And Platform-Independent Solutions For Ebook Publishing], Presentation at the 10. Crossmedia Forum, 18 September 2008, München

Publishers and Readers. Aspects of Digital Distribution in an Expanding E-Book Market, Now it Gets Real: Making, Selling, Distributing, Discovering And Using E-Books, Presentation At The STM Book 2.02 Seminar, 17 April 2008, London

2007

Digitale Verlagsauslieferung – neue Lösungen für E-Publishing und Online-Vertrieb [Digital Distribution. New Solutions For Epublishing And Online Distribution], Presentation at Frankfurt Bookfair, 12 October 2007, Frankfurt am Main

(Printed) Publications

Comment on study on “Intellectual Property Rights and Distributed Ledger Technology with a focus on art NFTs and tokenized art”, 2022,  https://posth.me/comment-on-study-on-intellectual-property-rights-and-distributed-ledger-technology-with-a-focus-on-art-nfts-and-tokenized-art/

The eco Blockchain Governance Framework – eBGF
https://www.dotmagazine.online/issues/building-bridges/eco-blockchain-governance-framework

The eco Blockchain Governance Framework – eBGF, 2021, https://internet-sicherheit.github.io/eBGF/

Unchaining Collective Intelligence for Science, Research, and Technology Development by Blockchain-Boosted Community Participation, Jens Ducrée, Martin Etzrodt, Sönke Bartling, Ray Walshe, Tomás Harrington, Neslihan Wittek, Sebastian Posth, Kevin Wittek, Andrei Ionita, Wolfgang Prinz, Dimitrios Kogias, Tiago Paixão, Iosif Peterfi, James Lawton, in: Frontiers in Blockchain, 07 May 2021, https://doi.org/10.3389/fbloc.2021.631648

Descentralización y escasez. Blockchain e industria culturales [Decentralization and Scarcity — Blockchain and the Cultural Industries], in: Anuario AC/E 2019 De Cultura Digital, hrsg. Acción Cultural Española, Madrid 2019

Der Weg zur digitalen Professionalisierung. Über (fehlende) Trenddaten zu E-Book-Verkäufen [The Way To Professionalize Ebook Publishing. On Missing Salestrends], in: buchreport.magazin, 10/2012, S. 102f.

Digital dabei sein. Die Buchhandlung als augmentierter Raum [The Bookstore As An Augmented Space], in: Buchmarkt, Nr. 5, 2011

Publishing ist Rechtehandel [Publishing Is A Rights Business], Übersetzung von Mike Shatzkin mit Einleitung, in: buchreport.magazin 12/2010 (Translation)

Recherche und Vertrieb elektronischer Publikationen [Search & Distribution Of Epublications], in: wissenschaftsmanagement 5, 2009

E-Books, Reader und ihre Formate – Einige Anmerkungen zur Zukunft elektronischer Publikationen (in Bibliotheken) [Ebooks, Devices & Their Formats. Annotations On The Future of Epublishing (in libraries)], in: BuB Forum Bibliothek und Information, 2009

Neue Vertriebswege für den digitalen Konsumenten [New Ways Of Reaching The Digital Reader], in: buchreport.spezial Herstellung & Management, 2008

Paul de Man: Versprechen (Gesellschaftsvertrag) [Promises (Social Contract)], in: Manfred Schneider (ed.): Die Ordnung des Versprechens, Munich 2005 (Translation)

Languages

German (native), English, Dutch

Additional Skills and Interests

Swimming and Martial Arts (Wing Tsun, Modern Arnis, Dim Mak)