Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence arm of Alibaba Group, has announced its support and ongoing partnership with the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games in Asia - the Gangwon 2024 Asia Winter Youth Games. As the official cloud services partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the company will leverage its scalable and secure cloud infrastructure to enhance operational efficiency and maximise the engagement of sports fans.

The Gangwon 2024 Organising Committee will deploy critical operations, including staff management, ticketing, and volunteer systems on Alibaba Cloud's infrastructure. The company's innovative technologies are set to enhance the experience of participants, spectators, sports fans globally, staff and volunteers.

Anne-Sophie Voumard, Managing Director of IOC Television & Marketing Services, commented, "Gangwon 2024 is about using sport to bring together talented young people from around the world. Our ongoing partnership with Alibaba Cloud enables us to continue exploring creative ways to engage with our worldwide audience and sports fans, while enhancing operational efficiency using the latest proven cloud technologies."

Selina Yuan, President of International Business at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, added, "Building upon our TOP partnership with the Olympic Games since 2017, we are expanding our solutions to further drive the digital transformation of large-scale sports events. Working with the Gangwon 2024 Organising Committee presents new opportunities for us to engage with the younger generation of athletes and sports lovers with our innovative cloud technologies."

Juvenile athletes aged 15-18 from 81 countries and regions, totalling over 1,900, are set to take part in 15 disciplines for the event scheduled from January 19 to February 1 in South Korea's most northerly province. With Alibaba Cloud at the helm of operational duties, streamlined services such as an advanced ticketing system capable of supporting over 460,000 spectators and enhanced Staff and Volunteer Management are ensured.

Alibaba Cloud has developed a bespoke Staff and Volunteer Management (SVM) portal incorporating features like training, announcement notifications, and schedule management. It is complemented by a dedicated volunteer recruitment portal and together they assure smooth internal collaboration leading up to and during the event. Hosted on Alibaba Cloud, the SVM portal is currently assisting the effective coordination of over 5,000 staff and volunteers.

Additionally, the Gangwon 2024 Organising Committee is bolstering its ticketing system on Alibaba Cloud's secure and elastic infrastructure to maintain uninterrupted services, even in high traffic periods like ticket sale campaigns and onsite ticket checking at event times. Alibaba Cloud's elastic computing and network security products are set to support over 460,000 spectators during the fortnight-long event.

Alibaba Cloud will also champion the Winter Youth Olympic's digital reach by deploying a cloud-based digital flame that will light up alongside the Olympic flame at the Opening Ceremony. Integrated with real-time weather data, the digital flame backdrop will mimic one of 32 possible weather conditions in Gangwon. A Live Cloud solution, built in partnership with the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), will deliver high-definition live coverage of the event to global Media Rights Holders.

Further demonstrating its commitment to engaging the younger generation, the Gangwon 2024 Organising Committee, in partnership with Alibaba Cloud, is hosting the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games Alibaba Cloud Hackathon. The competition encourages young tech enthusiasts to create a web-based metaverse application that tackles a real-world challenge while incorporating brand elements of Gangwon 2024 and Alibaba Cloud. Winners will be announced during the Winter Games.