Having been for millennia the capital of one of the most powerful and enduring empires in the world, Beijing strives now to become a symbol of modernity and technological innovation. Fourteen years after the opening event of the 2008 Olympic Games, the city amazed the world again at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Not so much with dazzling choreographies, scenography, and costumes this time, but mainly with cloud technology. In fact, authorities of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) expect that the recent Winter Games will be remembered as a benchmark for cloud technology development.
Cloud technology sports and its legacy
The path to this achievement began a few years ago, in 2018, when the Olympic Broadcasting System (OBS), a communications company responsible for bringing the games to viewers all over the world, partnered with Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing subsidiary of the enormous Alibaba. Together, they launched an innovative broadcasting solution operating in the cloud and used by broadcasters all over the world called OBS Cloud. With this powerful solution, they were able to deliver almost 6 thousand hours of content during the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. The IOC broadcasters and their partners were able to reach new audiences, setting a new record for content consumption.
IOC officers expect that this development will make a huge impact on the ability to reach new audiences during upcoming games. As compared to satellite transmission -which has been dominant for more than 4 decades- IOC considers cloud delivery to be much more agile and cost-effective, allowing them to reach their digital transformation goals, while also significantly reducing the cost of the Olympic Games, which is part of the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020+5.
In the long term, relying on a highly sustainable technology like this one makes them hope that its legacy to the world will last for many years to come. With the help of the cloud and the power of data, they expect to deliver audiences a whole new way of experiencing sports.
Carrying the torch forward
The extraordinary leveraging of cloud technology at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games would not be so important and impactful if it weren’t for its effectiveness in reaching a bigger goal. In the last decade of the nineteenth century, when Pierre de Coubertin proposed a global effort to restore the Olympic Games that were held in Athens during the days of Ancient Greece, he aimed at reviving a spirit that came from a distant past.
In our days, in yet another ancient imperial city, cutting-edge cloud technology became one of the main allies of those trying to carry Le Coubertin’s torch into the future. Using the latest, most innovative data management tools and cloud technologies, they were able to convey the inspiring thrill of sports to the whole world -and especially to younger generations- with thoroughness and accuracy that had never been seen before.
