Infosys, Tennis Australia are harnessing technology for good

Tennis Australia – Customers are resolutely marching alongside artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and digital advancement, demanding that organizations be more environmentally sustainable, inclusive, and responsible. It’s a situation that begs the question for every IT and business leader: How can we increasingly harness technology not just for the sake of technology, but for the good it can do?

Infosys, a $18 billion IT services company, is working hard to solve this conundrum as it partners with organizations such as Tennis Australia and the annual Australian Open. It was also the driving force behind every presentation and discussion about technology investments at this year’s Infosys APAC Confluence event.

Infosys has been Tennis Australia’s digital innovation partner for five years, and each year strives to raise the bar on digital innovation delivered at the Australian Open. The 2023 tournament was no exception, with sophisticated AI use cases, immersive mixed reality engagement, and clever data and analytics at the heart of every game played, ball served, and player, fan, and coach involved.

However, it is by expanding the Tennis Australia relationship to drive a more sustainable Australian Open, as well as more positive community impact, that the pair demonstrate how inextricably linked technology and CSR have become. According to Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley, the partnership with Infosys is “rooted in digital and data,” but it is also “fueled by long-term goals.”

Tennis Australia

This year, Infosys and Tennis Australia collaborated to define, design, and develop Engage, a prototype digital platform that supports TA’s 2030 goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50% and achieving net zero emissions by 2040. The Infosys platform lays the groundwork for TA to track and visualize its emissions reduction performance, while also bringing in vendor and supplier emissions data. The goal is to achieve transparency across Scope 1, 2 (owned or controlled), and 3 (consequential) emissions by 2023. The goal is then to generate actionable insights that drive long-term change.

Tennis Australia was among the first to sign the UN Sports for Climate Change Action Framework five years ago. From

With such scope, improving TA sustainability is a daunting task. The annual Australian Open, as the largest sporting event in the Southern Hemisphere, presents significant challenges in and of itself, with over 900,000 attendees, 600 players and their entourage, and staff onsite.

“From an event standpoint, we lease the venue,” Tiley explained to attendees at this year’s Infosys Confluence, which coincided with the Australian Open 2023.

Tiley continued, “the important job of understanding waste management and its environmental impact at the precinct can only be driven by access to data.”

“The insights Infosys provides are critical to meeting those targets and understanding what we need to do to achieve them,” he said. “We are not completely in control of our own destiny.” We can’t do it alone when it comes to tennis clubs across Australia, our partners, and meeting our three objectives.”

Given the size of the Australian Open, it has inevitably become a platform for messaging – political, environmental, and social, according to Tiley. “However, if you’re data-driven and have the facts, the answers to how we can be a platform for good present themselves,” he said.

This year’s Infosys Fan Zone with virtual reality experiences at Melbourne Park was certified as climate active, with its entire carbon footprint offset and the event’s entire carbon footprint offset.

Technology with a positive social impact

Of course, pursuing sustainability isn’t just about the environment. Diversity and inclusion, as well as community impact, are critical components of any CSR or ESG approach. Andrew Groth, EVP for A/NZ at Infosys, sees community as a critical platform for IT leaders and their organizations to improve sustainability credentials and find their next opportunity.

In order to accomplish this, Infosys has been actively broadening its community canvas in accordance with its ESG 2030 goals by enabling digital skills at scale.

“The more diverse we are, the more diverse our perspectives will be, and the better we will be,” Groth explained. “As we chart our course for the future, it is critical that we collaborate with customers and partners to incorporate diversity into our thinking and enable us to assist people, organizations, and communities in realizing their full potential and next opportunity.”

Tennis Australia advanced its Future Leaders Program this year by utilizing the Infosys Springboard digital learning platform. Through digital skills, digitally accessible content, cloud and mobile-first learning, and its rich partner ecosystem of mentors, community partners, and volunteers, Infosys Springboard aims to create learning pathways for under-represented communities across Australia and New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Future Leaders allows student volunteers to collaborate closely with local tennis clubs to improve their game.

In addition, Infosys collaborates with the University of Technology Sydney on the Galuwa program, which assists young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in finding a path to education and employment. In addition, Infosys has committed funds to flood-affected communities and collaborated with Tennis Australia on its Tennis Plays for Peace initiative, contributing and raising funds for humanitarian assistance in Ukraine.

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