George Wright, head of research and development at the BBC, UK, opened up this fascinating topic. He discussed how in house R&D has a key relationship with staff so they understand the corporation and the politics that might exists within. Floris Daelmans, an innovation researcher working for VRT discussed technology and society and how they are constantly evolving. He and his team try to develop new prototypes that users will use. They created ‘ninja news’, a tool developed for Instagram to reach young people with 15 seconds, allowing them to consume news in an interesting way.
Natasha Mercure and Robert Nadeu from Radio Canada discussed a project that they worked on Premiere Plus. This is a web based online audio platform built around key themes, offering various types of content for the end user. The product takes direct output from the station and organizes it into various searchable themes. The product allows you to listen to what you want, when you want, wherever you are. ‘Cooking in the radio labs’ was extremely enlightening, identifying the need for constant research and development within the industry.