PSM INNOVATIONS

SRG Hackdays: “24 hours of pure creativity”

16th May 2023

SRG Hackdays is an innovative way of encouraging innovations that help improve Public Service Media (PSM) and public engagement.

SRG Hack Days invited people with a diverse set of skills Credit: SRG Hackdays, SRG-SSR

By Dorcas Mirembe-Korsah

SRG Hackdays is a 24-hour period where different people come together to generate ideas, and develop innovative solutions for technological future with a focus on Public Service Media (PSM).

“With its collaborative, multi-perspective and gamified approach it’s a very engaging and activating way to deep dive into the needs of the users and develop innovative new ideas – in a short time frame,” said SRG.

Invited to the event were developers, media producers, designers, media users, data scientists, UX-experts, educationalists and other bright minds to help shape product development in the media digital space.

How do SRG Hackdays projects improve PSM?

“The biggest visible impact is the change of mindset and the new, open and collaborative way of working,” said SRG. “This is also translated into other areas of product development and overall a very important step to make all our products more user-centered.”

SRG Hackdays was started as a way for the Swiss public broadcasting corporation, SRG SSR, to serve their communities better. SRG SSR wanted to learn more about their audience and how best to meet the needs of their audience as a Public Service Media (PSM).

This year the first two projects to win the race were both focused on improving the experience for PSM users:

RTS info project, using Chat GPT-3, helps the user access more information on current news.
Mx3 playlist project creates a playlist for the users that fits their mood.

The winning projects were chosen by both other participants and the general public. Credit: SRG Hackdays, SRG-SSR

Each SRG Hackday has a theme and set of challenges. The people who contribute can come with their own ideas around the theme or pick from the challenges given. The winning projects were chosen by through two different voting methods.

The participants vote for their favourite prototype but their own idea is excluded. There is also a “public award”, where any person from the public can vote for their favorite idea. SRG told PMA, “This is done through sparkboard, the SRG SSR’s digital platform.” SRG SSR has communication measures to help activate the voting and the participants are also encouraged to spread the word to get people voting.

Currently some of the most successful and winning ideas are those with a focus on personalisation, interaction and AI. One such SRG Hackday personalisation idea was the “Tour de Suisse” project “which involves receiving a personalized music playlist based on one’s movements in Switzerland. The bands are chosen from SRG SSR’s Swiss music platform mx3.ch and are not always famous.” It provided a great way for users to discover new music which is a part of PSM’s responsibility to its audience, and helps support the local music industry as well.

The aim of SRG Hackdays was not only to develop new innovative ideas but encourage collaborative working. Projects generated from SRG Hackdays can improve PSM. It provides a space for PSM innovation to take place. It brings together people with a diverse set of skills, to provide diverse solutions, to serve a diverse public. At the centre of these innovations is a motivation to advance PSM making it fit for the technological future and making PSM more sustainable for the future.

“With its collaborative, multi-perspective and gamified approach it’s a very engaging and activating way to deep dive into the needs of the users and develop innovative new ideas – in a short time frame,” – SRG.