While the COVID-19 pandemic is still disrupting major events, the decision to migrate the core systems to a cloud is intended to create a more efficient, sustainable and inclusive experience for participants and audiences alike from around the world.

Jeff Zhang, president of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, said the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics would not just be remembered for the excitement and the athletes’ phenomenal achievements, but also for the new benchmarks it had set for driving a more efficient, sustainable and inclusive Olympic Games.

“We are proud to be supporting the digitalization 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,” he said in a statement.

The IOC and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games (BOCOG) executed a master plan for the events that 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.

At the same time, the move to cloud-based services further reduces the time and cost investment on IT infrastructure, hardware and associated management. With the advanced cloud-based capability to analyze real-time intelligence, the planning and management for the Beijing Winter Olympics was further streamlined and improved for a more seamless user experience.

Taking advantage of the scalability, reliability and security features of the cloud infrastructure, event organizers are able to reduce the complexity of event-planning based on intelligence-driven decisions; striking the right balance between optimizing existing resources and creating new ones. In turn, host cities can also reduce the time and costs associated with the legacy physical infrastructure investment upfront.

Innovative technologies for more inclusivity

Beijing 2022 also showcased a series of technological innovations developed to bring more inclusive experiences for fans in multiple locations. Alibaba introduced Cloud ME, a cloud-powered realistic projection that facilitates remote social interactions. The technology defies distance by enabling people to meet and converse with each other’s life-sized, true-to-life persona projections.

During the event, Alibaba also unveiled Dong Dong, a 22-year-old virtual influencer. Originating from Beijing, she was created to interact with fans globally, sharing fun and informative Olympic-related facts.

Speaking in a natural-sounding human voice, Dong Dong can convey a range of emotions, which has proven to be particularly efficient for engaging with younger audiences.

From Feb. 4 to 20, Dong Dong’s livestreams were viewed by more than 2 million people 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 Olympics anytime, anywhere and on any device.

Sustainable innovations for Olympic broadcasting

For the first time, live signals of the Olympic Winter Games were distributed via the cloud, providing rights-holding broadcasters (RHBs) with agile and cost-effective options. During Beijing 2022, over 20 broadcast organizations used Live Cloud to receive the multilateral live signals of the Games in either ultra-high definition (UHD) or high definition (HD) via OBS Cloud. 

Content+, OBS’ content delivery platform hosted on Alibaba Cloud, serves RHBs with broadcasting services, including access to short-form content, all HD live streams, as well as all the additional content produced by OBS in a range of resolutions for browsing and download purposes.

It is also the first time that RHBs have the capability to create sub-clips from the live sessions on Content+, letting them start editing while the live stream is being distributed. This is a more efficient way of working remotely on large volumes of content and producing clips for social media distribution in a breeze. OBS will also use cloud-based editing to quicken its publishing workflows, with a team of editors working remotely for the first time.

In addition, OBS also leveraged multicamera 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.

Driven by the increasing shift to remote production utilizing cloud-based services and in the context of the global pandemic, the size of broadcast teams covering the Winter Olympic Games has been reduced dramatically, with nearly 40 percent fewer RHB broadcast personnel on-site in Beijing compared to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.

OBS CEO Yiannis Exarchos noted that amid the backdrop of COVID-19, OBS’ partnership with Alibaba Cloud had continued to transform the way the company broadcasts the Olympic Games.

“OBS Cloud is one of the most profound technological changes to our operation. It not only offers broadcasters unprecedented efficiency but also enables endless opportunities for innovation and to seamlessly deliver the excitement of the Olympic Games to the widest possible audience,” he said.

Ilario Corna, chief information technology officer of the 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 Winter Olympic Games not only benefits athletes, fans and operating staff, but also helps us honor our ambition to ensure the Olympic Games are at the forefront of sustainability.”

Watch how Alibaba’s cloud technology is helping rights-holding broadcasters be more efficient in terms of cost and content production at Beijing 2022. 

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