Global IT services provider HCL Technologies has agreed a deal to sponsor the 2017-18 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race sailing event.
HCL Technologies will serve as the official IT services provider for the event, and will work with organisers to deliver an IT platform that will allow fans to follow the action during the eight-month race.
The IT infrastructure will facilitate the event’s streaming and television production for key points in the race, such as arrivals, departures and the in-port race series.
HCL Technologies will also deliver inter-site connectivity at the race’s global stopovers, digital content delivery, mobile data centres and infrastructure with full redundancy, Wi-Fi networks, and multimedia centres and race offices.
In addition, the company will provide IT support in the race villages at all 12 stopovers.
Volvo Ocean Race chief executive Mark Turner said: “The upcoming edition of the Volvo Ocean Race will be more digitally focused than ever before. Connecting the expected three million race village visitors, the 5,000 accredited journalists and our millions of fans around the world is an immense task.
“Building the complex IT infrastructure that we use for this around the world is a huge challenge, and we’re confident that this partnership with HCL Technologies will allow us to provide fans, media and stakeholders with a more connected experience than ever before.”
The 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race begins in Alicante, Spain on October 22. The race will then travel to Lisbon, Cape Town, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Auckland, Itajaí, Newport, Cardiff and Gothenburg before concluding in The Hague in June 2018.