The ICF have entered a partnership with Alibaba ©ICF

The International Canoe Federation (ICF) has partnered with Alibaba at a ceremony during the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games in an attempt to improve the sustainability of its events.

Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence arm of the Alibaba Group, will be tasked with optimising the ICF's organisational practices in support of sustainability goals.

The agreement was announced here in Hangzhou, which is where the company is headquartered and providing cloud computing services for the Games.

ICF President Thomas Konietzko and secretary general Richard Pettit visited the Asian Games Village and experienced sustainable lifestyle tools provided by Alibaba.

These tools have been implemented to help participants of the Games adopt low-carbon habits and reduce carbon emissions.

"We are a sport that is very much connected to the environment, and we must lead the way in remaining at the cutting edge as an international sport in terms of sustainability," said Konietzko.

"The win-win collaboration with Alibaba Cloud will introduce ICF to AI-driven digital technology and solutions, making Canoe a vehicle for sustainability values."

ICF President Thomas Konietzko claims the deal between Alibaba and his organisation will be a
ICF President Thomas Konietzko claims the deal between Alibaba and his organisation will be a "win-win" ©ICF

Alibaba is the official cloud services partner of the International Olympic Committee, and launched its AI-driven sustainability solution Energy Expert earlier this year. 

The solution has been implemented at various events, such as the Olympic Esports Week in addition to Hangzhou 2022.

It aims to allow event organisers to identify sources of carbon emissions, quantify a venue's carbon footprint, and provide an integrated dashboard with online reports for visualising sustainability performance.

The deal with the ICF will include the development of sustainability toolkits based on the governing body's strategy.

It will also look to create sustainable event management programmes to assist national federations and organisers in promoting sustainability for all of the ICF's global events.

"Alibaba Cloud has been committed to advocating sustainability practices through technologies, and we are deploying our latest cloud and AI technologies to support organisations worldwide to make their events more sustainable and efficient," said William Xiong, vice-president of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group and general manager of Enterprise Service Cloud.

"The partnership with ICF is another testimony to our long-term devotion to sports innovation and sustainability initiatives."