Alibaba proud of its 3 cloud-based solutions for Paris Olympics

FRIDAY, AUGUST 02, 2024
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Three of many cloud-based solutions are playing an important role in the Paris Olympic Games and Paralympic Games this year, Chinese cloud computing company Alibaba Cloud said.

The company has collaborated with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in a bid to drive digital transformation of the world’s largest sports events.

The Paris Olympic Games is being held from July 26 to August 11, while the Paralympic Games is scheduled to be held from August 28 to September 8.

Cloud broadcasting

The Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) Cloud has become the main method of remote distribution to media rights-holders. As many as 54 broadcasters are able to access Olympic Games content in a short time, such as live sessions and athlete interviews.

Alibaba proud of its 3 cloud-based solutions for Paris Olympics

Meanwhile, its latest artificial intelligence (AI) enhanced multi-camera replay system has been deployed into 14 venues in Paris, covering 21 sports like badminton, athletics, beach volleyball and table tennis.

“With approximately half of the world’s population watching the games, technologies like Alibaba Cloud help us tell the stories of the best athletes in the world, but also bring the world together in ways which are more exciting and inspirational,” OBS chief executive officer Yiannis Exarchos said.

“The partnership between Alibaba Cloud and OBS amplifies our commitment to help transform the viewer experience at the Olympic Games, turning technology innovations into practical applications for tangible results,” said Selina Yuan, president of Alibaba Cloud’s International Business.

Alibaba proud of its 3 cloud-based solutions for Paris Olympics

Sustainability solution

A data-driven sustainability solution, Energy Expert, was applied to all 35 competition venues in Paris, enabling organisers to analyse and optimise power consumption based on data on the cloud-based platform, such as power demand, venue capacity, competition information and weather conditions.

“Sustainability is one of the three pillars of the Olympic agenda alongside credibility and youth,” IOC chief information and technology officer Ilario Corna said, adding that electricity consumption is a large contributor to the games’s carbon emissions. 

Alibaba Cloud vice president William Xiong expects the sustainability solution to further prove its value in the most high-profile and challenging area of all the fast-paced and highly competitive world of international sports.

“The insights Energy Expert delivers will form part of the solution to assist the IOC and future games to be more sustainable,” he said. 

Alibaba proud of its 3 cloud-based solutions for Paris Olympics

Promoting inclusiveness

Alibaba Cloud has launched a short film entitled “To the Greatness of HER” in a bid to promote gender equality in Paris 2024.

The eight-minute video features three prominent female athletes – Zhang Shan from China, Kahtrine Switzer from the US and Suzanne Lenglen from France. 

With cloud-based AI, vintage photographs of female athletes’ achievement were colourised and restored to be featured in the short film.

IOC president Thomas Bach said the film allows the committee to reflect on one of the most important priorities of the Olympic community - empowering women in and through sports. “Gender equality is a team sport. We all have a role to play and we all have to lead by example,” he said.

“This project is a great example to showcase how technology can be utilised to promote the values we cherish,” said Chris Tung, president of Alibaba Group’s Strategic Development.