#intersections: The City at the Heart of Digital Transformations

#intersections: a new series from Printemps numérique.

How is digital technology transforming Montréal? By bringing together digital-creativity actors and enthusiasts at the CanadianCentre for Architecture, Printemps numérique wanted to address this exciting question of urban issues.On November 29, #intersections, the first meeting in a new PN series, attracted entrepreneurs, artists and community stakeholders to explore how innovations, policies and new approaches are changing our relationship to

the public. Digital technology: how does

it transform our city? After an exploration ofthe creative universe of DigiLabs participants, more than 200 people gathered for a conference withfive panelists: Stéphane Goyette, director of Montréal’s smart and digital cityoffice; Patrick Gagné,partner and chief product officer at Taxelco / TeoTaxi; Risa Dickens,marketing and community director at Yelp; Jean Bérubé,cofounder and directorof development for Montréal en histoires; and Albert Dang-Vu,CEO of Mirego. Theseries of presentations, moderatedby Marika Laforet of Culture pour tous, highlighted the growing presence ofdigital technologies in urban life, whether ordering a taxi, publishing reviews of a business or transforming city walls into a digital artwork. DigiLabs. Cité mémoire: telling stories. Jean Bérubé’s presentation was especially interesting.

collaboration with playwright Michel-Marc Bouchard

and multidisciplinary artists Victor Pilon and Michel Lemieux, he created the Cité mémoire project. By projecting images inspired by Montréal’s historyonto the city’s buildings, he makes Montréal’s walls speak. Bérubé explained that the purpose of this poetic creation was for the artists to make people feel emotions. Digital technologies must allow artists to express themselves and tell stories. During the evening, Printemps numérique also unveiled the study Understanding and Valuing Montréal’s Digital Creativity Ecosystem: a Lever for Local Development and the International Reach of the Metropolis. By offering a portrait of an ecosystem in motion, Printemps numérique provides all stakeholders with a strategic diagnosis that will facilitate meetings,consultation and collaboration among industry, research and the arts. The study is now available on the Printemps numérique website. The next #intersections meeting will take place on March 7, 2016 at the CCA, where Belgian artificial-intelligence guru Hugues Bersini is among those expected. 

Web page for the #intersections event. For full details, consult the related page, event page, exhibition page and

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partner links provided here.