Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 has successfully migrated its core games technology services to Alibaba Cloud, Alibaba Group's digital technology and intelligence backbone, in order to support the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) digitalisation ambitions. The relocation took place in the wake of the Covid epidemic in order to provide a safer, more efficient, long-term, and inclusive experience for participants and audiences from all over the world.
“The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 will not just be remembered by the excitement and the phenomenal achievements brought by the athletes from across the world, but also for the new benchmarks it had set for driving a more efficient, sustainable and inclusive Olympic Games,” said Jeff Zhang, President, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. “We are proud to be supporting the digitalisation of the Olympic Games, and we hope our experience in hosting Beijing 2022’s core operating systems on Alibaba Cloud will be passed on to future sporting events.”
Advanced cloud capability to boost organiser efficiency
The IOC and the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG) executed a master plan for the Olympic Winter Games. It includes the implementation of key operational systems delivered by the IOC’s Worldwide IT Partner Atos, such as the Games Management Systems (GMS), Olympics Management Systems (OMS) and Olympics Distribution Systems (ODS). These have all been migrated to Alibaba’s cloud infrastructure.
The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 have seen a further shift to cloud-based services, lowering the amount of time and money spent on IT infrastructure, hardware, and related management. Beijing 2022 planning and management were further streamlined and improved for a more smooth user experience thanks to the innovative cloud-based capability to analyse real-time intelligence.
Taking advantage of the cloud infrastructure's scalability, reliability and security features, event organisers like the IOC can reduce the complexity of the game planning based on intelligence-driven decisions; striking for the right balance between optimising existing resources and creating new ones. That way, hosting cities can also reduce the upfront costs associated with the legacy physical infrastructure investment.
Cloud technology helps bring the world closer together
Beijing 2022 also featured a number of technical advancements designed to provide more inclusive experiences for fans across numerous venues. Alibaba unveiled Cloud ME, a cloud-based, realistic projection that allows for remote social interactions. People can meet and talk with life-sized, true-to-life persona projections of one other, overcoming distances.
In addition, Alibaba unveiled Dong Dong, a 22-year-old virtual influencer. Originating from Beijing, Dong Dong was created to interact with fans globally, sharing fun and informative Olympic-related facts. Speaking in a natural-sounding human voice, she can convey a range of emotions. This has proven to be particularly efficient for engaging with the younger audience. From February 4 to 20, Dong Dong’s live streaming has been viewed by more than 2 million viewers with a fan base of more than 100,000.
To deliver the best Olympics content to a global audience, Alibaba’s cloud computing technology also powers the Olympic Channel Services, which brings high quality programs to fans around the world to engage with the Olympic Movement anytime, anywhere, and on any device.
Sustainable innovations for the future of Olympics
The delivery of live Olympic Games signals through the cloud has been enabled for the first time, offering Rights Holding Broadcasters (RHBs) with flexible and cost-effective choices. The OBS produced 6,000 hours of footage for the Olympic Winter Games, which was aired to over 220 nations and territories.
The entirely cloud-hosted OBS Video Server provides RHBs with an efficient and scalable system while reducing onsite hardware expenditure. RHBs may easily access all content created during the Olympic Winter Games, including live coverage, using Content+. The implementation of OBS Live Cloud also provides an alternative to heavy investment for RHBs and the host cities, when the Olympic Games related contents can be transmitted over the public cloud, effectively reducing the carbon footprint of broadcasting related operations.
In addition, OBS also leveraged multi-camera replay videos with Alibaba, providing replays of competition highlights for curling and speed skating within seconds, bringing engaging and dynamic viewing experiences to audiences around the world via RHBs on the cloud.
Ilario Corna, Chief Information Technology Officer, IOC said, “Beijing 2022 should champion innovation as well as sporting success. I am thrilled to see that the cloud-based technology in action at the Olympic Winter Games not only benefits athletes, fans and operating staff, but also helps us to honour our ambition to ensure the Olympic Games are at the forefront of sustainability.”
