Dakar 2026’s core digital services to be deployed on Alibaba Cloud’s digital infrastructure
Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, today announced to power the Summer Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026 (“Dakar 2026”) – the first Olympic sporting event to be held in Africa – with its proven cloud and AI technologies.
Dakar 2026 as the 4th Summer Youth Olympic Games will take place in Senegal, the first country on the African continent to be awarded the honor of hosting an Olympic sports event.
As the official cloud service provider of the IOC, Alibaba Cloud is committed to supporting the digital transformation of the Olympic Games, delivering a future-ready digital foundation that enhances the operational efficiency and fan engagement of the Youth Olympic Games.
The initiative was announced during a signing ceremony in Hangzhou, China among Alibaba Cloud, the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee (YOGOC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Antoine Azokly, Head of Youth Olympic Games Technology & Energy at International Olympic Committee said: “As a result of our ongoing partnership, the integration of Alibaba Cloud’s proven AI and cloud technology into Dakar 2026 exemplifies our shared commitment to making the Olympic events more efficient, sustainable and engaging. This collaboration will not only benefit the Youth Olympic Games but also leave a lasting digital legacy for sport in Africa.”
“As we prepare to host Africa’s first Olympic event, partnering with Alibaba Cloud marks a crucial step in our journey to deliver a technologically advanced and seamlessly operated Youth Olympic Games,” said Ibrahima Wade, General Coordinator of Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee, “The implementation of Alibaba Cloud’s digital technologies across our core services will not only ensure efficient Games operations but also create a lasting technological legacy that will benefit Senegal and the African sporting community long after the Games conclude.”
Under the partnership, the Dakar 2026 Organizing Committee will deploy Alibaba Cloud’s Apsara Stack, a comprehensive private cloud solution to build a secure, scalable and high-performance infrastructure for the Summer Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026. The platform will serve as the core IT infrastructure, hosting digital applications and services required for the planning, operation, logistics and post-event activities for the Dakar 2026, enabling enhanced fan experiences and streamlined event logistics
Notably, Alibaba Cloud will support Dakar 2026 with digital flame services, leveraging its latest AI and cloud technologies to create dynamic, immersive visual experiences for global audiences and sports fans.
The Summer Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026 will be held in Senegal from October 31 to November 13, across three host cities: Dakar, Diamniadio, and Saly. The Games will bring together 2700 world’s best young athletes, with a maximum age of 17. A total of 35 sports will feature on the YOG programme, including 25 competition sports and 10 engagement sports.
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About Alibaba Cloud
Established in 2009, Alibaba Cloud (www.alibabacloud.com) is the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group. It offers a complete suite of cloud services to customers worldwide, including elastic computing, database, storage, network virtualization services, large-scale computing, security, management and application services, big data analytics, a machine learning platform and IoT services. Alibaba maintained its position as the third leading public cloud IaaS service provider globally since 2018, according to IDC. Alibaba is the world’s third leading and Asia Pacific’s leading IaaS provider by revenue in U.S. dollars since 2018, according to Gartner.
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