Ibm & Wimbledon Outline New Digital Plans

IBM and The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), have unveiled new technologies for The Championships 2017, marking the next phase in the AELTC’s work in digital.

The Championships 2017 sees AELTC and IBM reveal four areas of focus. 

Changing fans’ perceptions is a new real-time insight powered by a solution from IBM, which seeks to highlight matches of particular interest and quality. By providing real-time insights and analysis around breaking match records faster than anyone else, IBM supports Wimbledon in being ‘first to market’ with content, helping Wimbledon rise above the noise of other global media outlets.

The use of a new competitive margin metric will help the Wimbledon editorial team to tell the stories of the matches in new ways as play unfolds. 

AI will also be used to assist the Wimbledon visitor. The ‘My Wimbledon Story’ apps have been enhanced this year with the new Watson-enabled bot, ‘Ask Fred.’ IBM Watson will offer a cognitive assistant to answer a variety of questions from fans visiting the event. The new mobile app will serve up information about dining options, features a natural language interface and the app also provides an interactive map of the venue. The new assistant is available to visitors to Wimbledon within the official apps for mobile and tablet.

In addition there will be AI-powered automated video highlights for Wimbledon fans that don’t just want to know what happened, they want to see it. The Wimbledon video production team is responsible for serving up all the best highlights from across the tournament for their own digital platforms. 

AI-powered automated video highlights will be generated using IBM Watson and other video and audio technologies to bring to life moments of The Championships from the six main Show Courts. 

IBM will leverage all of the data and cognitive capabilities put in place for The Championships to delve into what it takes to be a great champion at Wimbledon, adding social listening to debate who is the greatest of all time.

New for 2017 is ‘What Makes Great’, a solution powered by IBM’s data and cognitive capabilities. This provides fans with a new perspective on greatness from an analysis of 44 years of sports coverage. IBM will use its detailed historical data to identify key tennis performance measures against a set of topics that are collectively required to make a great champion.

Alexandra Willis, head of communications, content & digital at the AELTC said: “We are excited for this year’s developments, yet again improving and developing our digital strategy for fans to make the most of their experience year-on-year. In an increasingly competitive sporting landscape, IBM’s technology innovations are critical to continuing our journey towards a great digital experience that ensures we connect with our fans across the globe – wherever they may be watching and from whatever device that may be.

“With help from IBM, we are providing new on-site features in the SmartPhone apps such as the ‘Ask Fred’ assistant, allowing fans to plan their day at The Championships and make the most of their visit. Similarly, we are working with IBM to access additional insights in order for our fans to truly understand and share the moments that matter. This year, a combination of design and data driven content and insights will provide fans with the unique Wimbledon experience they expect and more.”

Sam Seddon, Wimbledon client & programme executive, IBM added: “At the heart of Wimbledon’s technology are IBM’s cognitive solutions delivering the best insights and analysis possible to the AELTC to encourage great fan engagement.

“Cognitive computing is the next revolution in sports technology and working with us, Wimbledon is exposed to the foremost frontier of what technology can do, as we work together to achieve the best possible outcome for the brand and the event. Cognitive is now pervasive from driving the fan experience, to providing efficiency for digital editors to IT operations.”