EBU Members gathered in Polish Radio’s headquarters in Warsaw for a regional workshop on Digital Transformation on 4 and 5 April. The region was represented by Members from Latvia (Latvian Radio), Lithuania (LRT), Macedonia (MRD), Moldova (TRM), Romania (Romanian Radio), and of course Poland with representatives from both Polish Radio and Polish Television.

Polish Radio’s CEO Andrzej Rogoyski opened the workshop on Thursday 4 April with a speech in which he identified Digital Transformation as the key challenge for PSM, not just in the region but across the world.

Each Member presented the current state of play for their organizations, with a look at the challenges they are facing. Topics that were discussed included digitizing archives, exploring digital innovation (such as DAB+, podcasts, and live streams), restructuring their organizations to be more adept to change, and much more.

Keynote speaker Robin Pembrooke, Director for Content Production Workflows at the BBC, posed the question ‘Can you change the way the BBC works?’. He presented five priorities for doing so: breaking through the technology and organizational silos, getting their data into shape, driving data informed decisions, data driven automation experiments, and machine learning R&D. Paola Sunna, from the EBU T&I Department, presented on upcoming trends and opportunities in the digital world.

Common issues that were identified by Members included changing the mindsets within organizations to be more open to digital change, maintaining and protecting license fees, and being competitive employers for young and digital talent within their operating environments.

The workshop ended with a discussion that highlighted how Members share many of the same issues, they are not alone in their journeys. All are looking forward to working more closely with the EBU and connecting with more Members from the region to help share best practice.