IBC2026: What to look out for on Day 3

Charting the myriad of innovations, IBC365 has broken down some highlights for the day amongst the panel talks, demos, and masterclasses at Amsterdam’s RAI. 

IBC Conference    

There is no doubt that technology is transforming the news industry through artificial intelligence, social media, and digital platforms.  

In the “Keynote: Innovating to Deliver the News of Tomorrow” session at 10:00, Vikki Cook, Director, Broadcast, Media, Ofcom, and Alex Charalambides, SVP, CTO, CNN, will examine how artificial intelligence, social media, and digital platforms are being used in newsrooms for automated reporting, personalised content, and real-time information delivery, while also examining challenges such as misinformation, deepfakes, and algorithmic bias. The pair will discuss how emerging technologies are shaping the future of journalism and how innovation is changing the way audiences consume news.  

Bringing together Champions from the IBC Accelerator programme, the “What’s next? The technologies reshaping media in 2027” session at 15:15 will look ahead to the technologies, capabilities, and unsolved challenges likely to define media innovation in 2027 and explore where the industry should be experimenting next. In this session, Janet Gardner, President, Perspective Media Group, and Chris Hampartsoumian, Customer Engineer, Media, Entertainment at Google Cloud, will speak to François Legrand, Senior Director, Innovation, CBC/Radio-Canada, and Jon Roberts, CTO, ITN.  

Next, the “Panel: A European Cloud Media Ecosystem - Implications for Key Players” session will then address the real challenges of how to turn the shared ambition of a European Cloud Media Ecosystem into a concrete, operational cloud environment that serves all European public service media. For this session, Brian Wynne, Head, Technology Infrastructure, Chair, RTE & EBU Technical Committee, will talk to Professor Thomas Streinz, Joint Chair, EUI, and Skander Ben Attia, CTO, France Télévisions, as well as Tobias Brosi, Senior Sales Manager, StackIT Schwartz Digits.  

IBC Technical Papers   

Amid all of these top sessions, the “Trust, Provenance and Authenticity” Technical Paper presentation at 11:15 will feature: Stephan Heimbecher, Head, ARD Competence Centre, Production, Infrastructure at SWR/ARD; David C. Eisenbacher, CEO, Co-Founder, EZDRM; Ivo Jansch, CTO, Dawn Technology; and Joe Copland, Senior Research, Development Engineer, BBC. The experts will present three papers tackling identity protection and content authenticity. The first, from BBC R&D, presents AI-driven visual anonymisation that preserves human performance and emotional nuance while protecting contributor identity in documentary production. The second, from EZDRM and Fraunhofer FOKUS, introduces a viewer-specific encryption overlay that adds a second cryptographic layer above existing DRM streams, closing a shared-key vulnerability. The third, from Dawn Technology, the Netherlands, offers a standardised, vendor-neutral framework for embedding C2PA provenance metadata across newsrooms of any size, addressing deepfake and misinformation risks. 

Additionally, the “RF Network and Distribution Developments” session at 15:45 will present papers on a wide range of topics including energy-saving techniques for terrestrial radio services, the development of non-terrestrial 3GPP solutions, the interdependence of AI with 6G, and the convergence of broadcast platforms with mobile technologies. The first paper from BBC R&D and Arqiva will discuss the use of AI to combine weather and measurement data to dynamically reduce FM radio transmitter powers when reception conditions are favourable, hence saving energy. The second paper by Qualcomm and partners presents work undertaken by 3GPP SA4 exploring the interrelationship of 6G and AI, which focuses on media systems, codecs, and traffic characteristics. The third paper, also by Qualcomm, will present recent developments for non-terrestrial 3GPP networks for media delivery. The fourth paper, presented by EdgeBeam Wireless and partners, will discuss a collaborative initiative for future broadcast, B2X, with the aim to align ATSC with mobile technologies 

Hall 14 Stage    

This year, Hall 14 will be home to the Future Tech Stage and Ignite Stage. Both free-to-attend platforms will feature leading real-world solutions for content production, streaming, monetisation, and broadcasting.    

To get things started, the “Orchestrating Media Intelligence: From AI Experiments to Intelligent Workflows” keynote will explore how enterprise-grade AI and agents break down operational silos across the media value chain: accelerating content creation and production, sharpening cross-platform audience and content intelligence, and delivering content reliably across platforms, with the monetization, platform operations, and governance work around them. Microsoft will reveal how it is helping media customers become Frontier organisations, where people and agents work as one connected system, and hear from leaders already doing it. 

Further, Neal Michie, VP, Product Management, PACE Anti-Piracy, will offer a practical defence and the security foundation for long-term success. His talk “After DRM: Protecting the Software That Protects Your Content” at 15:30 will examine the threat landscape facing software IP in the broadcast and media sector, and makes the case for a layered approach to protection. Drawing on PACE's decades of real-world experience, we explore how anti-tamper technology makes reverse engineering economically impractical; how white-box cryptography keeps keys secure even when an attacker has direct access to the execution environment; and how a joined-up protection strategy is required to protect the next generation of AI-embedded applications. 

Content Everywhere   

Turning to the Content Everywhere stage, visitors can access a wealth of revelations on the future of content.   

One key session will be “Hybrid Delivery for Content Everywhere: One Managed Service Across Every Path” at 10:15. This session examines how broadcasters and sports organisations can use hybrid connectivity and software-defined workflows to support remote production, extend coverage of lower-tier, regional and emerging events, and scale across markets. Panellists will consider route selection, capacity reservation, traffic steering and multi-CDN architectures for peak demand, including diverse APAC networks and cross-border routes. The discussion will address resilience, service testing and the trade-offs between ultra-low latency, quality and cost, alongside DRM, anti-piracy, ad decisioning and regional rights. 

Next, Carlos Cosme, Innovation Specialist, Telecom Group, Infrastructure, Security Hub, Globo will present “What Happens After the World Cup? Lessons from the World's Most Ambitious TV Transformation”. He will explore what broadcasters, streaming platforms, technology providers and regulators around the world can learn from one of the most ambitious television transitions ever attempted.  

Showcase Theatre  

In the free-to-attend Showcase Theatre in Hall 8, four days of sessions will unravel the industry’s biggest challenges, successful business models and real-world solutions. Industry trailblazers set to land at the IBC2025 Showcase Theatre include Google, AWS, MediaKind, RTS, Gracenote, Lightricks, Evergent, GSMA, Tata Communications, and Sony.  

For example, “Experimental to Essential: AI solutions built for your streaming” session will look at how Gemini is being applied to accelerate operations and address core monetisation challenges from scaling live events, improving distribution, yield, efficiencies to improving personalisation, all while keeping control firmly in the hands of broadcasters. 

Exhibition floor   

Out on the exhibition floor, industry pioneers and innovators will roam the halls, exploring how the showfloor’s array of cutting-edge technology can transform their operations and the future of media and entertainment. From thought leadership to real-world case studies, tech showcases, and the latest industry developments, M&E’s most influential names will unveil top innovations that span the full spectrum of the industry.   

IBC’s 1,400 exhibitors this year include industry leaders such as Adobe, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Avid, Canon, EVS, Google, Haivision, Interra Systems, LucidLink, Microsoft, NEP Group, Octopus Newsroom, RED Digital Cinema, Sony, Dell Technologies and many, many more.   

To learn more and register for the IBC2026 Conference, click here.