Tata Communications calls on technology enthusiasts to design a Formula 1® Grand Prix prediction tool for fans

Submit your entry for the 2015 F1® Connectivity Innovation Prize by September 8th 2015 for a chance of winning $50,000 and a VIP trip to the 2015 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX

London, August 18, 2015

London – August 18, 2015

Tata Communications today announces the second challenge of the 2015 F1® Connectivity Innovation Prize[1]. The goal of the contest with its USD $50,000 prize is to inspire the brightest minds around the world to harness their ingenuity, technical know-how and passion for F1® racing to engage fans in the sport through two technology challenges.

In a sport where success is defined by the ability to adapt quickly as circumstances change, drivers receive crucial support from their teams’ ability to make decisions based on data-driven predictive analytics. The second and final challenge aims to show how fans can be engaged at the very heart of F1® racing. Set by Formula One Management, the challenge is to design a prediction tool that asks F1® followers to forecast how each Grand Prix will unfold, and to submit their predictions for each driver and team for evaluation. The tool should also enable Formula One Management to rank the predictions and reward the fans that forecast the most accurate outcomes.

John Morrison, Chief Technical Officer of Formula One Management, says, “Each Grand Prix weekend, fans are glued to their TVs to see how drivers and teams respond to changing circumstances such as adverse weather conditions or an unexpected safety car deployment. With this challenge, we are asking entrants  to create a platform where F1® followers can use practice data and their knowledge of the sport to predict how the story of each race will play out and who will emerge as the winner.”

Julie Woods-Moss, Chief Marketing Officer and CEO of NextGen Business at Tata Communications, says, “The way we watch sports has changed for good – people want to be more engaged, sharing their own commentary via social media and using different devices to follow multiple video feeds and build their own picture of the action. The second challenge of the F1® Connectivity Innovation Prize is about finding new techniques for fans to experience and engage with the sport. We had a remarkable response to the first challenge, and I encourage technical visionaries and creative minds around the world to take part in the final challenge to shape innovation in F1®.”

Martin Brundle, former Formula 1® race driver and F1® commentator for Sky Sports F1®, says, “In addition to bringing existing die-hard F1® fans closer to the sport, a predictive analysis tool would also open up new possibilities on how the sport could evolve and attract new followers in the future. This challenge has incredible potential and I’m looking forward to being a part of the judging panel.”

The first challenge of the F1® Connectivity Innovation prize, set by the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One™ Team, was to design a new approach for displaying critical race car telemetry and sensor data to enable engineers at the race track and at the factory in the UK to make more accurate decisions through real-time data visualisation. The winning entries came from the UK, Spain and Australia.

Each entry will be evaluated by a judging panel of drivers and F1® technologists including John Morrison, Chief Technical Officer of Formula One Management; Lewis Hamilton, MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One™ Team race driver; Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical) of the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One™ Team; David Coulthard, former Formula 1® race driver and F1® commentator; and Martin Brundle, former Formula 1® race driver and F1® commentator. They are joined by Mehul Kapadia, Managing Director of F1® Business at Tata Communications.

The deadline for entries for the second challenge is Tuesday September 8th 2015 at 5:00pm BST (GMT +1). A full brief can be downloaded from the F1® Connectivity Innovation Prize website. To hear more about the challenge, see this video featuring Martin Brundle.

The Grand Prize of the F1® Connectivity Innovation Prize is a cheque for $50,000 and a bespoke trophy, to be presented to the winner (or winning team) at the end of the season in November. Additional prizes will include VIP trips to the final of the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship™, the 2015 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX. [2]

Tata Communications is the Official Connectivity Provider of Formula 1®, enabling the sport to seamlessly reach out to its tens of millions of fans across the globe.

Twitter hashtag: #tatacommsf1prize

 

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Tata Communications was the Official Connectivity Provider of Formula 1® between 2012 and 2019. Tata Communications was also the Official Managed Connectivity Supplier to Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, and Official Digital Transformation Partner to ROKiT Williams Racing until the end of the 2019 season.

 

About Formula 1®

Formula 1®, which began in 1950, is the world’s most prestigious motor racing competition and the world’s most popular annual sporting series. In 2014 it was watched by 425 million unique television viewers from 200 territories. The 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship™ runs from March to November spanning 19 F1® Events in 19 countries across five continents. Formula One World Championship Limited is a subsidiary of the Formula One group, founded by CEO Bernie Ecclestone, and exclusively holds the commercial rights to the FIA Formula One World Championship™.

F1, FORMULA 1, FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, GRAND PRIX and related marks are trade marks of Formula One Licensing BV, a Formula One group company. All rights reserved.


[1] No purchase necessary. Official Rules identifying (i) who is eligible to participate; (ii) how to participate, (iii) how winners will be selected, and (iv) a description of the prizes available will be posted at http://prize.tatacommunications.com

[2] See Official Rules for complete details.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE

Natalie Chak
Tata Communications
+44 (0)7833 043 779
natalie.chak@tatacommunications.com
Neil Thomas
Hill & Knowlton Strategies
+44 207 413 3454
neil.thomas@hkstrategies.com

About Tata Communications

Tata Communications Limited (CIN no: L64200MH1986PLC039266) along with its subsidiaries (Tata Communications) is a leading global provider of A New World of Communications™. With a leadership position in emerging markets, Tata Communications leverages its advanced solutions capabilities and domain expertise across its global and pan-India network to deliver managed solutions to multi-national enterprises, service providers and Indian consumers.

The Tata Communications global network includes one of the most advanced and largest submarine cable networks and a Tier-1 IP network with connectivity to over 240 countries and territories across 400 PoPs, as well as nearly 1 million square feet of data centre and collocation space worldwide.

Tata Communications’ depth and breadth of reach in emerging markets includes leadership in Indian enterprise data services and leadership in global international voice. Tata Communications Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.

https://www.tatacommunications.com

Forward-looking and cautionary statements

Certain words and statements in this release concerning Tata Communications and its prospects, and other statements, including those relating to Tata Communications’ expected financial position, business strategy, the future development of Tata Communications’ operations, and the general economy in India, are forward-looking statements. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including financial, regulatory and environmental, as well as those relating to industry growth and trend projections, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of Tata Communications, or industry results, to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from such forward-looking statements include, among others, failure to increase the volume of traffic on Tata Communications’ network; failure to develop new products and services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; failure to successfully complete commercial testing of new technology and information systems to support new products and services, including voice transmission services; failure to stabilize or reduce the rate of price compression on certain of the company’s communications services; failure to integrate strategic acquisitions and changes in government policies or regulations of India and, in particular, changes relating to the administration of Tata Communications’ industry; and, in general, the economic, business and credit conditions in India. Additional factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from such forward-looking statements, many of which are not in Tata Communications’ control, include, but are not limited to, those risk factors discussed in Tata Communications Limited’s Annual Reports. The Annual Reports of Tata Communications Limited are available at www.tatacommunications.com. Tata Communications is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements.


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