Australian Open ‘on path to net-zero’

Tennis Australia has enlisted the help of this tech giant to slash its carbon emissions over the next decade.

Indian tech giant Infosys is in its fifth year of a partnership with the Australian Open, and fresh from raising its global revenue and sales forecasts – and renewing its tennis partnership until 2026 – the company has a new focus: helping the Open achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.

Infosys has collaborated with Tennis Australia on a new prototype digital platform dubbed Engage, which it says will help Tennis Australia achieve a 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and net-zero by 2040, in accordance with the UN Sports for Climate Change Action Framework.

The platform will enable TA to track and visualise its emissions reduction performance and will facilitate integration of vendor and supplier emissions data, Infosys’ local boss Andrew Groth said in an interview.

The platform will enable better transparency for each Australian Open event from 2023 onwards, across Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, he said.

“It’s a big priority for us. We’ve been carbon-neutral as an organisation ourselves for a number of years, it’s something we’re really proud of, especially we’re a big global organisation of about 300,000 people,” Mr Groth said.

Infosys global chief operating officer Pravin Rao with its Australian boss Andrew Groth. Picture: Aaron Francis/The Australian

“Having been through that journey ourselves it’s something that we’re then able to help our customers and our partners go through, and we’ve created this platform for the Australian Open that will be base lining this year, and fully functioning next year. It’s about measuring the Open’s emissions, the partners’ emissions, and then helping with what actions need to be taken to be carbon-neutral by 2040.

“It’s a really important piece of work we’ve got with them.”

Along with the new climate focus, Infosys is providing players at the Open with new AI-generated videos including game and competitor insights, along with ‘Get into the Zone’, a feature that plays video montages of the player’s previous exceptional performances to put them in the winning mindset before the match.

Fans have access to new insights and experiences too through Match Centre 2.0, a feature on the AO website and mobile app that includes features such as AI commentary and rally analysis, as well as real-time predictions of match outcomes.

The multinational company, which provides business consulting, IT and outsourcing services, this month raised its annual sales forecast, and said it was bullish on large clients’ need to cut costs and automate their systems.

“Working with Infosys over the past five years has enabled us to set new benchmarks in fan engagement using digital technologies,” Australian Open chief executive Craig Tiley said.

“This partnership has enabled us to deliver new innovative digital experiences year after year for everyone associated with the tournament. We are also going deeper and wider in our journey this year with truly meaningful use of technology for climate action.

“We remain committed to making the Australian Open a global standard for a digitally-enabled sport that is inspiring, engaging, inclusive and sustainable.”