Transmission — Episode 03

Creative Technology:
innovating with ethics

3 Montreal companies refusing the status quo.
Sovereign cloud, immersive experiences in public spaces, and open source solutions.
How technology can serve convictions AND financial results!

1h50minLa Piscine, Montreal3 guests
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Extraits
Moments forts en format court
Chargement des clips...
Key Points

01

Data sovereignty vs. cloud dependency

Why local hosting changes the game for costs, security, and the environment.

02

Invisible technology, seamless experience

Hiding tech so people stay at the center. From musical swings to contactless sensors.

03

Open source AI: the self-hosted alternative

When giants impose their terms, open source becomes an act of creative resistance.

04

Standing out through ethics, not just technique

How a clear philosophy becomes a real competitive advantage in the creative industry.

Guests

Isabelle
Isabelle Orio
Orio Cloud

Isabelle Langlois

Sovereign & green cloud
Decentralized data centers in repurposed buildings, server heat recycled for heating, tailored rates for the creative industry. The cloud that refuses to waste.
orio.cloud LinkedIn
Mouna linkedin
daily
Daily tous les jours

Mouna Andraos

Interactive art & design in public spaces
From musical swings to sound installations in forests, creating collective moments between strangers. Technology hidden in service of the human.
dailytouslesjours.com LinkedIn
Nicolas Linkedin
Nicolas Logo
Lab148

Nicolas Bouillot

Creative technology & open source AI
Self-hosted AI solutions, invisible sensors for immersive experiences, collective interactivity without wearables. Technological sovereignty for the sake of creation.
lab148.xyz LinkedIn

What it’s about

3 Quebec creators ask a question that affects everyone who makes things: who really owns your creativity when your data, your scripts, and your projects live on servers you don’t control?

Isabelle Langlois managed the production of hundreds of VFX shots for Game of Thrones and Dune at Rodeo FX (up to 1,000 employees), before joining Orio Cloud to offer sovereign, eco-friendly, and personalized rendering infrastructure to creative studios.
Mouna Andraos is co-founder of Daily tous les jours, a studio creating interactive installations in public spaces, including the famous 21 Swings, to re-weave human connections through technology.

Nicolas Bouillot is co-founder of Lab 148, a cooperative building custom open source tools for creators who want to make things that don’t exist—yet.

Together, they explore digital sovereignty as a creative prerequisite, open source as a playground free from outside-imposed limits, and technology as a tool to bring people together instead of isolating them. The conversation ranges from practical worksite frustrations (exploding render times, tools that say no) to deeper questions:

* why do Quebec scripts sleep on American servers? 

* Why do studios have to reinvent the wheel for every project?

Three complementary perspectives, one conviction: creating without dependence on foreign giants is possible—and produces work that’s more solid, grounded, and free.

Chapters

Navigate the episode

The last project where the tool said no: Isabelle, Mouna, and Nicolas each describe a concrete moment when the tech tool couldn't follow their creative vision.
Guest introductions: The game "the internet knows you": each guest rates from 1 to 10 how accurate the AI's description of them is.
Cloud dependency and evaporating margins: Isabelle explains how VFX studios end up paying huge amounts to cloud render farms at the last minute, with no warning about costs.
400 million at Microsoft and at home? 400 million dollars from the Quebec government go to Microsoft each year. What impact on the local creative ecosystem? The example of Sodec and our scripts hosted on American servers.
Why Nicolas had to build his own tools at SAT: The Scénic project: connecting live performance venues via full-scale telepresence. Why Skype wasn’t enough—and how open source became the only way forward.
Self-hosted AI: taking back control: What is self-hosted AI and why does it change everything? The software runs on a server you own, not in an American cloud you don’t control.
Daily tous les jours: technology for connection: How Mouna transforms technical and budget constraints into creative opportunities. The work Coeur Spaghetti and the constant dance between artistic vision and technological feasibility.
Open source as a life and business choice: Nicolas explains why the Lab 148 cooperative was chosen over a classic startup. How this model gives work meaning and shares decision-making power.
Orio Cloud: sovereign and eco-friendly rendering: Why Moment Factory and other creative studios were drawn to Orio. The church of Saint-Adrien transformed into a creative hub whose server heat warms the building.
The downsides of each approach: When is AWS still the right choice? When does open source become too complex? The real limits of each model, honestly explained by those who live them.
The virtuous circle of the local ecosystem: La Piscine, the XN summit, networked collaborations. How Montreal’s ecosystem stands tall—and what each person dreams of seeing emerge as new products or services.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly is the "digital sovereignty" you talk about?

It means your data, your creations, and your tools stay under your control—not on servers owned by Amazon, Microsoft, or Google. In practice: if Sodec stores Quebec scripts on Amazon servers, and Amazon is also a content producer, we’re handing them the keys to our creativity. Isabelle compares it to hiding chocolate in the fridge and asking her kids not to touch it. Trust isn’t enough when technical access is possible.

Is open source free? Is it for hackers?

No. Open source means the source code is visible and modifiable, not that it’s necessarily free or amateur. Nicolas explains it well: without open source, the internet as we know it wouldn’t exist. Most web servers run on Linux (open source), WordPress (open source), etc. What Lab 148 does is turn this complexity into usable, stable, and fixable tools—no dependence on a vendor who might raise prices or shut down their service overnight.

Orio Cloud vs AWS: why not just stick with Amazon?

If digital sovereignty isn’t a priority and your pipeline already runs smoothly on AWS, stick with Amazon—Isabelle says it plainly. But if you want a tailored solution, guidance on costs throughout the project (not surprises at delivery), and infrastructure that reuses server heat to warm the building, Orio Cloud is for you. The biggest difference: with Amazon, there’s no warning when costs explode. With Orio, you can anticipate expenses from the start.

Technology in public spaces—does it connect or isolate?

Both... and that’s exactly the distinction Mouna defends. Mainstream technology (algorithms, filtered feeds, filter bubbles) is isolating us and reinforcing our narrow points of view. What Daily tous les jours offers is the opposite: installations where strangers create something together without knowing, where the place becomes smart without equipping individuals, and where shared joy becomes social glue. The KPI? Number of smiles. And Mouna explains why it’s more meaningful than it looks.

Is a cooperative viable for a creative studio?

Nicolas is honest: a cooperative may not be the best business move, but it’s the best human move. Decisions are made collectively, employees participate in strategy, and no one works two years on a project only to see it shelved without ever showing a client. There’s more complexity in governance, but more meaning in the work. And Lab 148 is starting to welcome new members as the co-op grows.

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