IBC2022: Conference thought leaders and new changemaker sessions revealed

Representatives from Warner Bros. Discovery, ITV, Google TV, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Paramount and Avid are amongst the speakers and panellists appearing at IBC2022.

A full slate of industry leaders and pioneers speaking on media and entertainment’s most pressing technology issues, developments and innovations have been announced for IBC’s annual Conference and its new free Changemaker content programme, which reconvenes live at the RAI Amsterdam on 9th-12th September.

Bringing together some of M&E’s most influential thought leaders for presentations, panel discussions and technical papers, the Conference and Changemaker content programmes explore the core trends and technologies shaping the future of media.

These include: the metaverse, cloud migration, FAST channels, 5G and other areas of rapid innovation. The six leading international bodies that own IBC – IABM, IEEE BTS, IET, RTS, SCTE, and SMPTE – are involved in both programmes.

Changemakers: driving positive change
This year, IBC’s Partners’ Programme is hosting the ground-breaking IBC Changemaker sessions. These gather industry trailblazers such as ACE, Albert, EDCF, GalsNGear, MovieLabs, RISE, Soho Media Club, The Circle, Women in Immersive Tech and World DAB to explore topics such as raising equality, advancing sustainability and mental health awareness – as well as the latest thinking in creativity and technology.

“The Changemaker sessions largely focus on the people side of the business – matters such as culture, diversity, inclusion and approaches that help media companies find and keep the best talent, as well as ways to foster creativity,” notes Michael Crimp, IBC’s Chief Executive Officer. “We want to play our role in driving positive change in media technology, so these new sessions enable the IBC community to learn from those that are pioneering best practice in these areas.”

As the global IBC community gets back to live, in-person networking, learning and collaboration after two years of virtual formats, this year’s two-day IBC Conference (9th and 10th September) is centred on the theme ‘What’s next? Designing the future together’.

A stellar line-up of industry talent
“The 2022 IBC Conference boasts a stellar line-up of visionary speakers from some of the world’s biggest media brands,” Crimp adds. “The range of top-quality speakers, in-depth panel discussions and cutting-edge technical paper presentations in store this year really speaks to the advances and changes our industry is seeing today.”

Technical papers will be presented at the Conference and cover topics such as:

• XR and avatars – This research describes a system for encoding and synthesising facial movements on a superimposed figure
• How AI is advancing media production – A look at the technology’s ability to interpret video images and human speech
• The Immersive Olympics – Focusing on the complexity of adding immersive audio to a global sports event

“We aim to give as many attendees as possible the chance to attend some of these sessions – whether they opt to go to the paid Conference during the show’s first two days or tap into the free Changemaker sessions on the last two days.”

The latest headline Conference speakers to be announced include:

• Dave Duvall, Chief Information Officer, Warner Bros. Discovery, who will be interviewed by Caretta Research Co-founder Rob Ambrose on how two media giants come together from a technical point of view
• Deep Bagchee, Chief Product Officer, ITV, who will discuss how Britain’s largest commercial broadcaster plans to supercharge streaming
• Faz Aftab, Director International M&E Content Partnerships, Google TV, who is on a panel addressing the future of linear TV and how it will co-exist with other services
• Robert Gelick, Chief Product Officer, Paramount, who will weigh in on the growth and success of FAST channels
• Bill Baggelaar, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Sony Pictures Entertainment, who joins a panel giving the studio perspective on content creation
• Krystal Mejia, Senior Stream Engineer, Major League Baseball, who is part of a panel looking at the convergence of linear and streaming

Speakers featured in the Changemaker sessions include:

• Fathima Beckmann, Senior Vice President Global Inclusion – International Markets, Paramount, who kicks off the Soho Media Club panel session on making tech more accessible for everyone with a preliminary interview on how the global media giant is moving the inclusion and diversity needle
• Joyce Butler, Chief Human Resources Officer and Senior Vice President, Avid Technology and Pierre Matelart, Chief People Officer, EVS, are among the speakers on the panel looking at designing a company culture that attracts and retains the right people
• Paul Machliss, ACE, Editor, who Hollywood Reporter Tech Editor Carolyn Giardina will interview on pushing the boundaries of creativity
• Lisa Aussieker, Senior Vice President Marketing, Qwilt, who joins the #GALSNGEAR ‘Changing workflow, changing perspectives’ session on women working at the intersection of technology and creativity

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