“Technologies are not drivers, it’s all about what we do with them” – strategy key to making the most of tech advances

Grace Boswood - Channel Four

Boswood, the Technology Director at Channel 4 emphasised that as a commissioning-only broadcaster, “We have partnering in our DNA, and that really translates through to our technology strategy as well,” she said. “I’m not here to have thousands of in-house technologists, but some really, really bright people who can pick the right solutions for us to meet our outcomes.” She feels that this small and agile approach allows them to do things differently.

A key focus is efficiency – Channel 4 is looking for practical solutions that fit as seamlessly as possible into their existing workflows and help them to either “make money or save money.”

Expressing a theme that has been running through several presentations this year, Bosworth says that the use of AI for data analysis takes precedence over generative AI – helping to deliver recommendations to viewers. Another application of the technology is for news. She used the term, ‘algotorial’ to describe the process of algorithms and editorial teams working in concert to produce programming.

Christina Gomila – Sky

Gomila, MD for Content, Technology, and Innovation at Sky spoke of the ways that technology is designed to improve all aspects of the broadcaster’s supply chain. For Gomila, technology is not an end in itself. “Technologies are not drivers, it’s all about what we do with them,” she said.

She identified four major transformational trends that are guiding technology decisions at Sky:

- Cloud and IP Migration – internal guidelines are cloud first – bringing flexibility and scale

- Software first – dynamics and speed

- AR and graphics – flexibility and experience

- AI and data – automation and observability

Sinead Greenaway - BBC

Sinead Greenaway, Director of Broadcast and End User Technology at the BBC, presented the BBC’s technology roadmap, stating: “Everything for us starts with the strategy – Value for All,” and that BBC Technology’s role is to enable that strategy.

Because the BBC is a PSB funded by a license fee, it has a mandate to provide universal access, and according to Greenway, that requirement drives the choices made by the organisation. She emphasised four key elements of those choices:

- SaaS first, cloud second, on-prem only where necessary

- A smaller set of interoperable systems

- A core of systems the BBC needs to protect

- Enable colleagues to work from anywhere

In terms of reducing the corporation’s reliance on on-prem services, Greenaway said: “We’ve already bought our last on-prem postproduction deployment,” referencing an initiative called ‘Project Real.”

Panel discussion

After the individual presentations, the three sat down for a panel discussion to share their collective experiences.

All the panel members were in agreement about the importance of creating technology strategies by starting with the audience and working backwards and emphasized the role of internal technology teams in connecting new technologies with existing workflows.

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