Tech Edition is our new periodic series covering AI, data protection, privacy, and more. We'll be hosting roundtables with special guests to explore the latest news, and taking deep dives into the world of technology to help you better understand and navigate the ever changing tech landscape.

This week Srikar is joined by Claudio Gennaro, Senior Advocacy Programmes Coordinator at ESOMAR, and Bianca Marcu, PhD researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussels, to unpack the EU's new AI regulation, and share their thoughts on the tech news that's been hitting the headlines.

Want more privacy updates from ESOMAR? Contact us to ask about ESOMAR Plus and our tailored consultancy services for the research and insights sector.

Find the EU AI Proposal here. 

Storytelling has been part of human progress since the dawn of our species - for eons stories have helped us to understand, navigate, and explore the world. But our world today revolves around data, and stories seem a million miles away from raw numbers.  Just how do the two complement and inform each other? And how can businesses leverage the power of storytelling to get more from their data? This week Alexander Skorka joins us from Confirmit to explore how data can be so much more than just numbers on a page. Click here to find out more about Confirmit. 

Videogames have come a long way from Pong and Tetris. Gaming today offers an enormous breadth of experiences, from AAA blockbusters with budgets that rival Hollywood, to innovative indie games, and mobile games that provide quick hits of fun. Along the way the gaming audience has grown to encompass over 2.5 billion players, and surprising new audiences are constantly emerging. This week we speak to Jan Bojko, Head of Market Research at Activision Blizzard Media, about a key new gaming audience, and how games provide huge scope for innovation for both marketers and researchers. 

Find the Gamer Moms research here: https://www.activisionblizzardmedia.com/gamermoms

China is embracing the future. Technologies such as Blockchain, Crypto, Fintech, AI, and more, are being integrated into daily life at a far quicker pace than anywhere else in the world. But how is China pushing this technological progress? How are the tech savvy Chinese public making use of new tools? And how is China's government making the most of its homegrown tech talent? This week we speak to Eliza Gkritsi, Community Listening Reporter for Technode based in Shanghai, to get the inside view on China's tech revolution.

Find Eliza's articles here: https://technode.com/author/eliza-gritsi/

The digital health revolution is coming. Accelerated by the COVID crisis, millions across the globe are turning to innovative tech based solutions to speak to physicians, monitor treatment, and navigate the pandemic world. This week we speak to the team at Borderless Access, to find out what their research shows us about the future of healthcare, how COVID is acting as a catalyst for telemedicine innovation, and why not every country is keen on the digital future. 

How do you decide where to spend your money? What makes you choose one brand over another? How do brands make or break trust with their consumers? Trust is a difficult idea to quantify, but this week we speak to Graham Staplehurst of Kantar BrandZ who does exactly that. Find out how Graham and his team work to define trust in brands, what it shows us about consumer behaviour, and how brands have either built or lost trust during the COVID crisis. Read Graham’s article for Research World here - https://www.researchworld.com/can-trust-carry-brands-through-good-times-and-bad/

In this week's special episode we're bringing you a fascinating discussion between two leading lights in the Research sector from ESOMAR's Insights Festival. Frédéric Petit, CEO and Founder of Toluna, and Richard Thorogood, VP of Consumer and Market Insights at Colgate-Palmolive, explore the state of consumer insights in the time of COVID, how agility and innovation are key to move forwards, and what the future of insights will look like. Find more content from ESOMAR's Insights Festival via the ESOMAR youtube channel, with lots more panels, interviews, and more! https://www.youtube.com/user/webesomar

As elections loom across the globe, how much can we rely on opinion polls to show us political and social realities? How are polls carried out? And what challenges do pollsters and the public face when looking to polls for information? This week Srikar speaks to Kathy Frankovic, former director of surveys for CBS News, to get her insights into how polling performs a vital function within our democracies. Together they explore the roots of opinion polling, how polls can be interpreted, and how polls inform us about our politicians, public sympathies, and each other. Make sure to join ESOMAR’s Insights Festival from September 14th – 17th to hear more from Kathy as well as from other leading figures in the research sector. Find out more about this week's sponsor at www.questmindshare.com

This week Srikar speaks to Tom van Arman, architect and urban planner, and a key figure at the Marineterrein living lab in Amsterdam. Living labs are providing crucial insights into how to create smarter, safer, and more sustainable cities for the future, and Srikar and Tom dive into how this research is more important than ever during the COVID pandemic. As the world becomes increasingly urbanised and sustainability ever more important, how do we make sure the cities of tomorrow are the best that they can be?

This week Srikar speaks to Dr Daniel Allington, senior lecturer in Social and Cultural Artificial Intelligence, and author of a fascinating study conducted by King’s College London looking at how belief in COVID-19 conspiracies is shaped by social media usage. Together they explore what actually makes a conspiracy, how COVID became such fertile ground for mistruths, what role social media is playing in exposing people to these fringe ideas, and where we go from here. Find more details of the study here: https://bit.ly/39E2NYZ

This week Srikar speaks to Whitney Dunlap-Fowler, brand strategist and founder of Touch of Whit creative, about the importance of race in research. Srikar and Whitney explore how the market research sector needs to contend with its attitudes towards race, diversity, and inclusivity, and how having truly diverse research means better results for brands, and more trust from consumers. With a brief trip through the world of hip hop, they also look at how the next generation of young researchers are embracing their diversity as their strength, and what changes are needed to make sure that research truly reflects social reality. Find more of Whitney’s work here - https://www.touchofwhit.com

In the second part of their AI discussion, Srikar and Zeno dive into the thorny issues of AI regulation, discuss how AI morality should be just as important as AI ethics, look at some of science fiction’s greatest AIs, and ponder the role of AI in turning humanity into an interplanetary species. Make sure to check out Part 1 first and find out more about Zeno's work here - https://zenokoenigs.com

In the first part of their discussion on AI, Srikar and Creative Technologist Zeno Koenigs discuss how AI is contributing to the creative arts and cultural spaces, and consider how the rapid evolution of technology has brought us to the brink of a world where fact and fiction are increasingly intertwined.

In this episode, Srikar talks to Dr Meena Kaushik, Founder of Quantum CS, about the sociological impact of the global COVID lockdown. Dr Kaushik sheds new light on how the past few months have shaped our relationship with wider society, with each other, and with our ourselves. From nomos to anomie, via divorce, death, and disconnection - how have the past few months shaped the cultural psyche, and how will society look in the future as we emerge from this turbulent time? Read Dr.Kaushik's series of articles for Research World here: https://www.researchworld.com/coping-with-social-isolation-and-its-emotional-ramifications-part-1-of-3/

In the first instalment of Talking Insights, Srikar talks to Rex Briggs, Founder and Executive Chairman of Marketing Evolution, about the road to economic recovery after COVID-19. Rex and Srikar draw upon lessons from the past to shine a light on the future, discuss the underlying issues of our current economic model, and how we as a society can rebuild an economy that is stronger, smarter, and fairer. This episode builds on Rex’s article for Research World "Guns, Germs, and Beer: COVID economy, what comes next?" Read Rex's article here - https://www.researchworld.com/guns-germs-and-beer-covid-economy-what-comes-next/

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In this special pilot episode, the host of Talking Insights, Srikar Govindaraju, chats with Kim-Smouter Umans, Head of Government Affairs and Professional Standards at ESOMAR, about his vision for this podcast series. Find out more about the idea behind the podcast, who your host is, and the topics that will be discussed with thought leaders over the coming months. Be sure to follow us on Soundcloud and Research World so you don’t miss an episode!