LONDON: Formula 1 team ROKiT Williams Racing has confirmed Indian MNC Tata Communications as its official digital transformation partner starting the upcoming 2019 championship season.
Tata Communications has a proven track record, having been the official connectivity provider of Formula 1 as a whole since 2012, enabling the sport to seamlessly reach its half a billion fans globally each season. It also plays a central role in MotoGP and the European Tour too.
The company also collaborates with other sports, such as football, sailing and cricket, using its networking, cloud, mobility and security expertise to pave the way for new, more efficient ways of working in sports, to enable fans to engage with their heroes in new ways, and to lower the barriers for sports to expand to new markets. Tata Communications has tested in action technologies such as live 360°, Ultra-HD video, and explored how innovations such as the Internet of Things could offer unique data-driven insights for teams and individuals.
Williams is set to benefit from Tata Communications’ reliable delivery of network, hosting, broadcasting and security services to the Formula One ecosystem. The team will use the company’s digital infrastructure to enable real-time data transfer between the pit lane garage at all its competing races and the team’s factory in the UK.
This includes a super fast subsea fibre network that carries around 30% of the world’s internet routes. It powers Internet of Things applications across the globe, underpins Tata Communications’ cloud and cyber security services, and enables software defined networking for multinational businesses.
Harnessing the brand’s digital capabilities means that even if the team’s engineers are thousands of miles apart, they are able to share vital data and insights, and collaborate on race strategy as if they were in the same place.
“Tata Communications plays a central role in all areas of Formula One – arguably the most challenging technology environment there is,” ROKiT Williams Racing deputy team principal Claire Williams said.
“We’ve chosen Tata Communications as our new partner because of its deep understanding of the Formula One ecosystem and its unique technology requirements, and the company’s ‘whatever it takes’ attitude to support our team. We know we can trust Tata Communications to deliver at every race weekend, anywhere in the world.”
“Since 2012, Tata Communications’ role in Formula One has continued to grow, and we’re incredibly proud to now work with one of the most iconic teams in the paddock,” Tata Communications CMO Mehul Kapadia added.
“Our aim is to unleash the full potential of digital transformation in live sports by enabling organisations like ROKiT Williams Racing to harness the power of our technology capabilities.”
