S1 E12 | RADAR by publiq: How AI is Reshaping Cultural Discovery, Without Compromising Privacy

In this episode of the Data Playbook podcast, we dive into how publiq, the organization behind Belgium’s largest cultural event database, is building RADAR, an AI-powered framework that enriches and structures event data at scale.

Host Kris Peeters is joined by Sven Houtmeyers (CTO) and Elia Van Wolputte (Data Scientist) from Publiq, who share how their team uses LLMs, semantic parsing, and linked data to improve search, recommendations, and user experience, all while respecting publiq values like privacy, transparency, and digital inclusion.

Topics covered:

• Why unstructured data is a challenge for cultural event discovery

• How RADAR leverages LLMs for smarter enrichment and entity resolution

• From batch jobs to live services: Scaling across GCP and AWS

• Designing ethical AI in the public sector: avoiding filter bubbles and over-personalization

This is a behind-the-scenes look at how public organizations can use modern AI tools, not to manipulate users, but to empower them.

🎙 Hosted by Kris Peeters | With Sven Houtmeyers & Elia Van Wolputte from publiq