Britain takes pole in first F1® Connectivity Innovation Prize’s challenge

Tata Communications, the Official Connectivity Provider of Formula 1^®, today announces that two UK entrants have been selected as the winners of the F1^® Connectivity Innovation Prize ‘Challenge One’. The prize is a three-part crowdsourcing platform for connectivity innovation that engages international brainpower against the demanding backdrop of Formula 1^® racing over the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship™ season.

The two UK entrants overtook international competition to take pole position following an extensive and stringent judging process by an impressive calibre of judges which included Formula One Management’s Chief Technical Officer, John Morrison and Tata Communications’ Managing Director of F1^® Business, Mehul Kapadia. Both winning ideas feature open application programming interfaces (APIs) which is representative of a broader industry recognition of the potential of open-APIs and a web-based approach to connectivity innovation.

The first of three challenges, announced in the lead-up to the 2014 FORMULA 1 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX, called for demonstrations of new and insightful information that can be derived from Formula One Management’s live data feeds. Additionally, contenders were asked to create a visual package for this new information in order to add suspense and excitement to the audience experience.

 

Winning entry 1: Individual entrant Chris Thelwell (UK)
Idea: Create a new open-source data humanisation service that brings the data to life. It does this by taking an XML feed from the F1^® data set and comparing it to historical data and significant events through logic statements, attaching meta data to each story and delivering a story feed via an API platform for services to disseminate the story via a variety of channels. The feeds not only deliver to mobile devices for fans, but also wearable technology for track-side technical and engineering staff and audible screen reading technology for blind and partially-sighted fans.

Winning entry 2: Team entrants Ben Lambert, Will Horner-Glister, Mike Albers and Fabian Birgfeld (UK)

Idea: Segmenting consumption of the F1^® data set by user groups: ‘The Team’, ‘The Enthusiasts’ and ‘The Fans’. Each solution is tailored to separate audience’s needs: an API and web-based feed prioritising readability and user-control for engineers and race officials in high stress situations; a fully interactive and personalised circular graphic language for the enthusiast’s individual consumption needs; and finally, a simplified version for fans that highlights key data in a format that is accessible via mobile devices and connected televisions.

Mehul Kapadia, Managing Director, F1^® Business. Tata Communications, says, “Congratulations to our winners and a tremendous thank you to all the F1^® enthusiasts who took the time to submit an entry. The quality of ideas submitted made judging a challenge in itself, but ultimately, both winning entries stood out for the way they pushed the boundaries of technology and design innovation in this fast-paced sport.”

Both winning entrants will each receive VIP trips for two to the glamorous FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2015². Furthermore, they are automatically entered into the race for the overall Grand Prize of USD $50,000 at the end of the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship™ where they will compete against the winners of the next two challenges. The next two challenges will be announced exclusively on Tata Communications’ F1^® Connectivity Innovation Prize website on the below dates:

• Challenge two: September 3rd 2014
• Challenge three: October 29th 2014

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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 www.tatacommunications.com/f1prize.

² Dates to be confirmed

 

Ends…

 

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.

 

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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

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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.

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