HORIZONS 2023, taking place at EBU headquarters next month, is about helping EBU Members get their content to audiences in an efficient and sustainable manner, while providing engaging and innovative user experiences. The event will tackle a wide variety of topics relevant to the future evolution of media distribution technologies and platforms. Combining a one-day conference with a one-day unconference*, HORIZIONS 2023 will offer ample opportunities to learn and exchange.
Registration is now open; you will need to be present in Geneva to join this event.
The conference will open with a keynote from Sofie Hvitved of the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies. As Futurist, Senior Advisor and Head of Media at the Institute, she is strongly engaged in the intersection between media and technology. Drawing on the scenario planning approach, she will speak about the challenges and possibilites of the future media landscape. Her experience and insights will also enrich the second day's unconference sessions.
The conference programme, with further speakers still to be announced, will also include presentations from EBU Members including BBC, Rai Way and Swedish Radio. Topics include online players and platforms, OTT audience habits, CDN procurement, evolution of radio distribution, next steps for DVB-I and more.
Tackling big questions
The second day of HORIZONS 2023 offers a not-to-be-missed chance to go deep on some of the biggest challenges facing those responsible for public service media distribution. While the unconference agenda will not be built until the day itself – that spontaneity is part of the magic of this approach – a pre-event brainstorming wiki gives a flavour of the topics and questions that will feature.
Anyone with an EBU website login can view and edit the wiki, proposing session ideas or adding to those proposed by others. The idea of unconference sessions is to favour discussion and exchange over one-way presentations, so it's an ideal format to discuss challenging questions or collaborate on solving thorny problems. Here are just a few of the session ideas appearing on the wiki at the time of writing:
- Is the internet ready for primetime linear today?
- Is broadcast satellite coming to the end of the road?
- Can we leverage AI to power service discovery in an age of infinite channels?
- Do we need a DVB-I launching group?
- Will mobile networks be able to fully take over radio distribution?
- Why are we still building and maintaining websites?
And there are several more session ideas along with the above. Overall, EBU HORIZONS 2023 promises two days of rich and rewarding discussions that will inform, energize and inspire all participants. Join us in Geneva!
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* If you are unfamiliar with unconferences, this article provides a good overview.