Higher, Faster, Stronger — the first high-tech Winter Games in Beijing
How innovative were the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics?
In February 2022, the Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games got off the mark in Beijing. After Tokyo’s least-watched Olympics ever, Summer or Winter, it was up to Beijing to try to win over a doubtful audience. Yet, if you are a digital lover as I am, it would have been a mistake to skip these games.
After winning the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics — becoming the world’s first dual Olympic city — Beijing sent a strong signal: hold “high-tech Winter games”. And it is a no-brainer to to think that, if any country could do that, it was China. With the huge amount of innovation, the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics asserted China’s digital supremacy, and made its technologies shine for a worldwide audience. Let’s see why these Olympics and Paralympics really were a first!
The first “Cloud Olympics”
The stakes are high, so were the resources provided by Alibaba to bring these games fully into the cloud era. Through its subsidiary Alibaba Cloud (also known as Aliyun), the tech giant has proven its commitment with the International Olympic Committee in transforming the Olympic and Paralympic Games for the digital era. Forget all you knew about the traditional IT system; everything was migrated to the cloud.
From Olympics and Paralympics results and event broadcasting to athlete logistics (including transportation, accommodation, arrival, and departure) and other information systems, everything was made accessible through Alibaba Cloud. A great feat from the tech giant that brings two major benefits:
- Greener Winter Olympics: unlike other controversies related to Beijing 2022, the transition to the cloud is a major step towards having a greener games. Not only would the IT machines not destroyed after the very short period of the event, but the energy consumption would also be reduced from 70% in the Winter Olympic Cloud Data Center in Zhangbei.
- Better game-watching experience: the cloud also allowed spectators to enjoy a better viewing experience. Multi-angle synthesis, multi-array videos gathered in panoramic dynamic pictures, the watching experience gave undeniable benefits from more dimensions and angles than ever. All thanks to the cloud - but not only.
The power of automation
Driverless retail minibuses, automated restaurant, and 5G high-speed train. This was only a snapshot of the automated innovation that took place in Beijing. Lots of robots were in place — but not all of them were visible.
- Driverless Minibus
Already available on some university campuses, these minibuses use the 5G technology and China’s self-developed BeiDou Navigation Satellite System. The users can summon the minibus to come to them and buy water or souvenirs by waving their hands. - Automated restaurant
In the canteen of the main press center in Beijing, robots were both the cooks and the waiters. From the preparation of the hamburgers to noodles dished up “from the ceiling”, the press staff had to get used to it to comply with the strict sanitary protocol of the games. And, presumably, it also saves on tips!
- 5G high-speed train
The 5G Express connects Beijing to Zhangjiakou with a lot of innovation and one person less: the train driver. The first smart automatic pilot high-speed rail line in China is navigated by the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System to reach an automated driving speed of 350 km/h. The 170 kilometers separating the two competition areas are completed within less than an hour.
Unleash the power of 5G
After so many years of hearing about 5G, Beijing 2022 finally gave us a glimpse of the fifth generation of mobile networks in action. And it went well with the Olympic concept of higher, faster, and stronger!
“The much-anticipated 5G signals will cover all venues, including the roads that connect them. This will provide network connectivity for applications such as ultra-high-definition video and smart services,” said Yu Hong, Head of the Technical Department of Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee.
Inside the National Alpine Skiing Centre, based in one of the main venues of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, lots of new services are provided thanks to the 5G. Amongst others, this included smart COVID-19 prevention, real-time weather monitoring, and 5G first aid for athletes.
Thanks to 5G, the broadcasters had the possibility of providing a brand-new experience. 8K TV and AR brought a real-time immersive experience in ultra-high definition. And because only the sky is the limit, there was even a live-streaming studio in the world’s first 5G Express.
The rise of digital currency
Three : there were only three payment options in the Winter Olympic Village: Visa, cash, and … the digital renminbi, or e-CNY. Supported by the People’s Bank of China, the country’s national bank, this digital currency was hoping to get the best out of the games to shine in front of the world.
Everything was prepared for the big show :
- The Bank of China had deployed special types of ATMs to exchange 18 types of foreign currency to e-CNY. The users then received a physical e-CNY wallet, with an ink screen that displays transactions.
- Beijing had enticed businesses, including long-term western Olympic and Paralympic partners (such as Nike and McDonald’s) to accept the digital yuan in the Olympic village.
- They even considered providing athletes ski gloves with payment functions
Everything was prepared except … the spectators. By strictly restricting the number of Olympic and Paralympic spectators, the Chinese government shot itself on the foot. And that might be the unluckiest moral of the story. Despite all the efforts made into these “High-Tech” Winter Games, only a few privileged people got access to them. Maybe we will see some of them taken forward to the next games in Paris 2024.
About this article
This article has been written by a student on the Grenoble Ecole de Management’s Advanced Masters in Digital Strategy Management. As part of a content creation assignment, students are given the task of writing articles based on their digital interests and disseminate the articles online. Articles are marked but we make minimal changes to the content. Thanks for reading! James Barisic, Programme Director, MS DSM.
