Developing Audience Insights: What Does It Mean for a Public Broadcaster?
Stephane Caron (Radio-Canada)
June 2, 2017
3:30–5:00p.m.
Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology
Concordia University
1515 Saint Catherine Street W.
EV Building, Room 11.705
Driven by a desire to better serve their audiences, the adoption of user data management tools is now a firmly established practice for virtually all publishers of online content.The first in the AMO’s series of discussions about the mutual influence of algorithms and culture, Stephane Caron (Senior Director of Business Intelligence at Radio-Canada) will present an inside view of Radio-Canada’s ongoing efforts to develop new ways of collecting and analyzing online user behaviour data. Caron’s presentation will provide a unique opportunity to gain insight into the technical and ethical challenges of incorporating emerging data science practices while developing protocols to protect user privacy—all while adhering to Radio-Canada’s public service mandate.
Caron will discuss his team’s work implementing a data management platform, designing predictive models for user behaviour, using machine-learning algorithms, and creating a content recommendation system that encompasses Radio-Canada’s wide range of cultural productions, including their extensive historical archives.Followed by a question-and-answer session, Caron’s talk will explore the connections between ethics and engineering, privacy rights and personalization, and data and design. The presentation will also give students in Computer Science and Communication Studies the chance to meet a potential employer and learn how Radio-Canada is extending its mandate in an era of big data, machine learning, and algorithmic recommendation.
