Using machine learning to disrupt the traditional experience of the Tour de France is not the only ambition of Dimension Data!

[51CTO.com original article] The general public's understanding of bicycle racing may only be limited to the literal meaning of the word "cycling". Most people don't know that there are three top bicycle races in the world - Tour de France, Tour of Spain, and Giro d'Italia. Among them, the Tour de France is the most influential, largest, and highest-level bicycle race in the world. Its significance and charm to cyclists is like the desire of football players for the World Cup.

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As in previous years, 13 countries, 22 teams, and 198 top riders gathered in July this year to compete for four honor jerseys and stage championships in the 104th Tour de France. What is different from previous years is that the official technical partner of the event, Dimension Data, has introduced machine learning technology to the Tour de France, bringing an unprecedented experience to cycling enthusiasts around the world.

What different experiences did Dimension Data bring to the Tour de France using ICT technology? What changes and inspirations can these experiences bring to the application of ICT? What difficult problems did Dimension Data encounter when using technology to support the Tour de France? A series of questions were answered after the reporter interviewed John Lombard, CEO of Dimension Data Asia Pacific, and Lu Zhihong, CEO of Dimension Data China.

Tour de France becomes a technical show

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John Lombard told the reporter that Dimension Data has become a partner of the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the organizer of the Tour de France, since 2015. When talking about the original intention of the cooperation, John Lombard believes that the cycling race attracts the younger generation of audiences, which provides Dimension Data with a very good brand positioning opportunity to let more young people know about Dimension Data. "The Tour de France provides a showcase for Dimension Data's combination of various technologies. We have made extensive use of various technologies such as the Internet of Things, data centers, network communications, wireless transmission, and cloud computing."

Unlike fixed-venue events, where the venue is fixed and the data collection points are relatively simple, the Tour de France is divided into 21 stages and the route changes every year, so the entire technical solution must adapt to the characteristics of mobility.

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John Lombard introduced that Dimension Data installed a global satellite positioning system signal transponder under each bicycle seat, and these signals can be shared between Dimension Data's big data vehicles, helicopters, and live broadcast equipment, ultimately forming a real-time data. It is understood that this year's Tour de France generated and analyzed more than 3 billion data points in 21 stages, a significant increase from last year's 128 million.

Machine learning is a very noteworthy point in the overall solution. The Dimension Data data analysis platform, jointly developed by Dimension Data and ASO, introduces machine learning technology and sophisticated algorithms to combine the real-time data of the event with historical data and provide more in-depth analysis based on the progress of the event. Fans can also use the driver's personal profile to deepen their understanding of which track environment and competition conditions the driver performs best.

“Through machine learning, we can predict the top five racers in each stage with 90% accuracy. Machine learning will focus on analyzing the racer’s condition based on the racer’s historical performance, the steepness of the track slope, and the speed. This information can be provided to the racer, allowing the racer to understand his or her performance and compare it with other racers to adjust his or her strategy, such as whether to start a breakaway, save energy, or adjust his or her position in the team?” John Lombard also said that every bicycle has become a node in the Internet of Things, constantly uploading data to the cloud. Dimension Data attaches great importance to security issues. During the 2016 event, Dimension Data’s cloud security system detected and blocked more than 140,000 suspicious access events.

Technology isn’t just disrupting sports

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Lu Zhihong, CEO of Dimension Data China, revealed that in February 2018, Dimension Data will support more sports events. By then, the means of collecting data will be more abundant, especially the collection of physical data of contestants, such as heart rate, blood pressure, muscle acidity, muscle contraction attenuation, etc. These data are very important information for coaches and can also make people predict the results of the game more accurately. "The analysis of these data is the value of machine learning, and it can be extended to more fields."

Obviously, Lu Zhihong does not regard Dimension Data's support for sports events as a simple training ground. In his opinion, once machine learning reaches a certain level of intelligence in data collection and analysis, it can completely subvert the inherent applications of many traditional industries and bring a new experience. He told reporters that in Africa, people can protect animals and avoid illegal hunting through Dimension Data's solution; in the medical field, through the patient's body sensor, even if the patient does not go to the hospital, the IOT device can also upload the collected data to the hospital in real time for doctors to diagnose and treat the patient in the shortest time.

Using technology to accelerate customers' ambitions

When talking about the changes in IT in recent years, Lu Zhihong admitted that in the past, enterprises had to buy software and hardware to build IT, which was a very rigid model. Now, the burden of flexibility and agility is handed over to Dimension Data.

Lu Zhihong told reporters that the current society is an era that requires ambition, and Dimension Data hopes to help corporate customers achieve digital transformation through technology. "Dimension Data can provide complete delivery, whether it is network services, communication services, call centers, or terminal services, data centers, mobile security, Dimension Data has different delivery models." He said that Dimension Data helps customers make more targeted choices and use technology to transform organizational structures and business models. For example, consulting is to provide business transformation assistance to enterprises, helping customers design, implement, support, and deploy, helping customers reduce costs and improve efficiency. "Let the CIO become an innovation officer and use innovation to bring greater value to the business. Enterprises can evaluate step by step, unlike in the past, after purchasing, they have to wait until the end to calculate the return on investment."

John Lombard added that we should look at the development of the company from a development perspective. If there are 2,000 employees today, it may become 4,000 tomorrow. How should we buy IT equipment? It is better to buy IT services like buying water and electricity, and this is the core competitiveness of Dimension Data.

At the end of the interview, John Lombard also emphasized that digital transformation is an inevitable choice based on the development of the company's business and future transformation. How to quickly transform employee experience so that other colleagues can share it will accompany the entire digital journey of the company.

[51CTO original article, please indicate the original author and source as 51CTO.com when reprinting on partner sites]