Since the early 2000s, scholarly communication stakeholders have been exploring the potential of XML-first production workflows to streamline digital publishing and improve metadata management across the research ecosystem. If we were to travel "back to the future," what would we find in terms of how far we've come in implementing XML-based or similar digital-first production approaches? What past predictions could we still learn from today? And where are we headed? This panel-style session will bring together scholarly publishing stakeholders to address these questions and more. The discussion will focus on: • What the state of digital-first production is, including how it compares to early projections and opportunities and challenges moving forward. • Why digital-first or single-source production is critical to realizing more rapid research dissemination and consistent, rich metadata — both key to solving global challenges. • How to create a culture of innovation to support the development of digitally-driven production workflows. || Learning Level: Applied || Speakers: Bill Kasdorf; Brian Cody; Randy Townsend; Charles O'Connor