Alibaba Cloud, Alibaba’s cloud computing division, has played a key role at Olympic Esports Week by provide an AI-based sustainability platform called Energy Expert.
This platform has been used to measure and analyze the carbon emissions generated by the temporary constructions built for the event, including aspects such as energy consumption, waste management, signage and decoration.
Alibaba Cloud’s platform enabled Olympic Esports Week organizers to quantify the carbon footprint of temporary buildings and visualize their sustainability performance through an integrated dashboard and online reporting.
For example, thanks to the Energy Expert platform, it was determined that the temporary construction for the event generated around 274 tons of CO2e. In addition, opportunities to reduce emissions were identified, such as replacing 60% of printed signage with digital signage, which would mean a reduction of 14 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, or reusing 50% of carpets after the event, which would reduce emissions by 10 tons.
Vincent Pereira, Head of Virtual Sport at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), expressed his satisfaction at working with Alibaba Cloud and applying cutting-edge technologies to measure carbon emissions, stating that this makes a difference in the field of sustainability.
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Alibaba Cloud and the IOC have collaborated on multiple occasions to drive digital transformation in the context of the Olympic Games.
For example, they have worked on updating the Olympic digital infrastructure, such as moving the broadcasting backend to the cloud during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which allowed the size of the international broadcasting center to be reduced by 25% compared to the Rio 2016 Games and reduce the number of personnel present by 27%.
Additionally, Alibaba Cloud has leveraged its technology to foster engagement and awareness of the importance of reducing carbon emissions. During Olympic Esports Week, they launched a web application that invites the public to take photos of everyday objects, such as keyboards and headphones, to find out their carbon footprint. The application also offers recommendations to reduce the carbon footprint when using these objects, such as increasing their useful life or buying second-hand equipment.
Selina Yuan, President of International Business at Alibaba Cloud, stated the company’s commitment to providing data, insights and energy-saving recommendations that have a positive and tangible impact as the sports industry continues to evolve.
Olympic Esports Week, held in Singapore over four days, brought together some of the best virtual and simulated esports players from around the world. In addition to competitions, the event showcased the latest esports innovations and exhibition matches were hosted to encourage engagement with the esports community.
