As with many Olympic Games in the past, broadcasters and other media professionals working at the IBC and MPC set up by the host country Japan will tend to interact freely with one another, renewing friendship, exchanging information and latest updates on various games going on simultaneously in and around Tokyo. With the COVID-19 pandemic still lingering, Alibaba Group has come up with an innovative digital cloud-based pin that also act as a name tag to provide a safer way for them to interact with one another.
Alibaba Group, being the Worldwide TOP Partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has officially unveiled the Alibaba Cloud Pin, its cloud-based digital pin, for broadcasting and media professionals attending the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
The pin can be worn either as a badge or attached to a lanyard. The digital wearable is designed to enable media professionals working at the IBC (International Broadcasting Centre) and MPC (Media & Press Centre) to engage with each other and exchange social media contact information in a safe and interactive manner during the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games starting tomorrow, July 23, until August 8.
“The Olympic
Games has always been a thrilling event with opportunities for media staff to
meet like-minded professionals. With this unprecedented Olympic Games, we want
to use our technology to add new exciting elements to the Olympic pin tradition
at the IBC and MPC while connecting media professionals and enabling them to
maintain social interactions with safe distancing," said Chris Tung, Chief Marketing Officer of
Alibaba Group.
“As a proud
Worldwide Olympic Partner, Alibaba is dedicated to the transformation of the
Games in the digital era, making the experience more accessible, aspirational
and, inclusive for broadcasters, sports fans and athletes from across the
world.”
Christopher Carroll, Director of Digital Engagement & Marketing at
the International Olympic Committee, emphasized: “Today, more than ever, we look to engage
people around the world through our digital ecosystem and connect them with the
spirit of Tokyo 2020.
“We are excited
to be partnering with Alibaba to support us in our digital transformation
journey and to help us build engagement during the Olympic Games.”
Serving as a multifunctional
digital name tag, the pin enables users to meet and greet each other, adding
people to their ‘friend list’, and exchange daily activity updates, such as step
counts and the number of friends made during the day.
This can be
done easily by tapping their pins together at arm’s length, bearing in mind the social distancing measures.
The digital pins also include specific designs of each of the 33 sports on the Tokyo 2020 Programme, which can be unlocked through a list of playful tasks like making new friends. To activate the pin, users simply download the Cloud Pin application, and pair it with a wearable device via its bluetooth function.
This Cloud pin at the Olympic Games will be given as a token to the media professionals working at the IBC and MPC during the Olympics.
As the official
Cloud Services partner of the IOC, Alibaba Cloud offers world-class cloud
computing infrastructure and cloud services to help enabling the Olympic Games
to digitalise its operations to be more efficient, effective, secure and
engaging for fans, broadcasters and athletes from Tokyo 2020 onwards.
In addition for
Tokyo 2020, Alibaba Cloud and Olympic Broadcasting
Services (OBS) launched OBS Cloud, an innovative broadcasting
solution that operates entirely on the cloud, to help transform the media
industry for the digital era.