As one of the main digital and IT solution partners for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 event, Alibaba Cloud has announced the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is going to implement its data-driven sustainability solution, Energy Expert, to measure and analyze electricity consumption at the competition venues for the upcoming competition.
With this solution, the IOC can consolidate all energy-related data during the Olympics and Paralympics—such as electricity consumption, power demand contingency, venue capacity, competition-related information, and onsite weather conditions—into an easy-to-understand dashboard for a user-friendly experience across all 35 competition venues.
Based on integrated cloud-based intelligence and deep-learning AI models from Alibaba Cloud, Energy Expert aims to provide more accurate analysis to produce venue-specific forecasts and recommendations, such as power demand optimization to minimize power wastage.
In addition, real-time electricity consumption at the level of operational spaces on-venue will be gathered from a selection of competition venues with 100 smart electric meters installed. These meters will collect comprehensive datasets, including real-time electricity consumption from various operational spaces on-venue, such as playing fields, broadcast and media working areas, technology operational spaces, food and beverage equipment, and other temporary operational areas. Data collection will consider temperature conditions and real-time occupancy of the areas at different times of the day, enabling a more accurate context for Organising Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs) when referring to the energy consumption data from the Paris Games.
To support OCOGs in conducting a more comprehensive analysis of Games energy consumption trends, electricity data from previous Games—including the Olympic Games London 2012, Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, and Olympic Games Tokyo 2020—will also be available for analysis within Energy Expert.
Outside the competition venues, Energy Expert’s AI-driven recommendations have been applied to help Alibaba itself optimize energy consumption and minimize carbon emissions at its temporary exhibition venues during Paris 2024. For example, at the Alibaba Wonder Avenue in the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, sustainable wooden materials and recyclable steel will be used for the main structure to reduce the carbon footprint. The semi-open design of the space has also contributed to optimizing energy consumption and minimizing carbon emissions by leveraging natural lighting and ventilation.
Introduced in June 2022, Energy Expert’s first application at a sports event was in 2023 at the first Olympic Esports Week in Singapore. The solution was trialed for measuring and analyzing carbon emissions from temporary constructions built to host the Olympic Esports Week, generating data-driven insights on the choice of materials and equipment used at the event. A series of metrics—including the impact of energy consumption, waste management, signage, and decoration—were assessed, enabling the comparison of the relative impacts of various materials and equipment used at the event.
Beyond sports environments, Energy Expert also helps over 3,000 customers worldwide measure, analyze, and manage the carbon emissions of their business activities and products. The solution provides actionable insights and energy-saving recommendations to help customers accelerate their sustainability journeys.
Here are the statements given by key figures from the IOC and Alibaba Cloud.
“Sustainability is one of the three pillars of Olympic Agenda 2020+5 alongside credibility and youth. With Energy Expert, we can now forecast our energy-related impacts well into the future and accurately measure our progress, electricity consumption is a large contributor to the Olympic Games’ carbon emissions. The data-driven insight produced by Energy Expert will help us learn from each Games edition and apply that knowledge intelligently to make future events even more energy efficient.” – llario Corna, Chief Information and Technology Officer at the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
“Energy Expert will further prove its value in the most high-profile and challenging arena of all—the fast-paced and highly competitive world of international sports. The insights Energy Expert delivers will form part of the solution to assist the IOC and future Games to be more sustainable.” – William Xiong, Vice President of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence and General Manager for International Industry Solutions
