The Roland-Garros Experience: More Digital Yet More Human

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’ll miss the most at this year’s Roland-Garros. And here is a quick list that I jotted down last night, and in no particular order:

- Roger Federer

- An endless stream of people in panama hats

- Seeing the new roof of Court Philippe Chatrier

- Being there as Nadal potentially goes for title lucky number 13

- Taking back a jar of red clay from the court

- The hush at championship point and the roar after it

As far as experiences go in the world of sport, you’re unlikely to find one more enthralling and enriching than Roland-Garros. In 2019, becoming a part of this experience as the Digital Innovation Partner meant an exciting vision forward for Infosys. Last year, we made considerable progress on the journey with platforms built around our three partnership pillars: data, insights and digital experiences. This year, well, where do we begin with this year?

A lot of digitization has been forced upon us. Some of it we like, and some of it - like the video call - we might never come around to. That’s why it was all the more important for us to ask: is this digitization meaningful? Or is it digitization by force? Especially when the dates of Roland-Garros 2020 were pushed back: it was time to ask how we could do more for everyone who was part of the tournament. Another list, but this one was white boarded on a call with the team at FFT rather than jotted down:

- Remote training: How can we help players better their game?

- Remote viewing: What kind of experience do we bring home for fans?

- Remote storytelling: Can we aid journalists in keeping pace with the need for more digital media content?

Finding the answers has been keeping Infosys and the French Tennis Federation (FFT) teams busy over the past few months. There may have been as many agile sprints as there were calls, someone quipped the other day. But the outcome is that we have succeeded in doing what we set out to do: build digitally and meaningfully.

The first is for players and coaches, potentially changing the way match strategy is approached, maybe for good. And this has been done by democratizing access to video analytics for all players and coaches within the RG Players’ App. They can filter their game to the granular level of a stroke like a backhand drop shot, create a video playlist, and collaborate to make strategy notes.

The second innovation is what we’re calling a ‘match companion’ - it’s a new way to watch with data, and in the streaming era, we’re serving up streaming match analytics. It will be available on the RG Fan App, and an immersive new 3D Match Centre where fans can get 360° views 0f stats like bounce height, mapped to ball trajectories.

Third, and possibly the most interesting one, is a portal we’ve created called AI-Assisted Journalism. It’s a real game-changer. What it does is help the media analyze multiple matches without having to follow each one. For instance, if I’m covering the tournament and I missed a match, I can pull up a SWOT analysis with video clips of pluses and minuses: brilliant serves, costly errors, and more. With this filtering and serving of analysis, my job becomes easier: telling a better story, faster.

Someone actually asked me the other day if all this digitization meant AI would replace journalists. And I said, the answer is in the name of the technology itself: it’s called AI-Assisted Journalism for a reason. The AI helps us see many more things than a journalist might, but it’s the reporter or editor who’ll ultimately find that perspective to tell a deeper story. That’s the true promise of being more digital: which is to empower and be more human. We’ve done just that for players, fans and media at Roland-Garros 2020.

The many ways in which we’re empowering them led to another list. And over another call, the list manifested as a thought that captured our spirit of innovation and resilience: #15Love. The teams shaped 15 innovations this year, and now more than ever, it was time to celebrate this spirit. (See the 15 innovations behind #15Love at Infosys.com/Roland-Garros)

Yesterday, the main draw of Roland-Garros began with all our technologies ready to be served. The teams at both Infosys and FFT feel a sense of elation that despite the challenging circumstances, we have still found a way to bring these innovations to life remotely. The game changes, even as the game goes on.

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Watch The Spirit of Innovation, narrated by Jim Courier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q8ijrxTL8w&feature=emb_logo

Behind the #15Love Experience: This blog series celebrates the spirit of collaboration and innovation that went into shaping the Roland-Garros 2020 digital landscape. Follow Infosys on LinkedIn to hear stories of passion and purpose from the teams at Infosys and French Tennis Federation (FFT), as they talk about the next normal in experiences, partnerships, technology and branding.