Singapore – Tata Communications has announced a five-year global host broadcasting services deal covering the World Athletics Series of events.
From 2025, Tata Communications will be a key strategic supplier for World Athletics, with a view to elevating innovation and audience engagement to new heights.
Through this partnership, Tata Communications will empower World Athletics to captivate a global fan base and forge lasting connections with the sport by amplifying the excitement and drama of live global athletics competitions.
The company will deliver customised, world-class live content to broadcasters across continents, to ensure the action reaches fans in every corner of the globe. As the host broadcaster, it will take on the pivotal role of crafting immersive coverage for World Athletics events globally.
Furthermore, Tata Communications will enable broadcasters to elevate the viewer experience and create a connected fan base through localised regional feeds.
The deal with World Athletics benefits from Tata Communications global media platform underpinned by a video native edge platform and application stack, offering reliable end-to-end support that meets the coverage demands of the sport’s action-packed calendar of international events.
Talking about this collaboration, Dhaval Ponda, global head of media & entertainment business at Tata Communications, said, “It is an exciting time of new content and changing viewer demands. Tata Communications is ideally placed as a global connectivity provider to help World Athletics meet its ambition of bringing athletics and inspirational stories to fans around the world.”
“We offer the global footprint and scalable, resilient solutions necessary to carry these stories from arenas directly to viewers, whether from the UK, Tokyo, USA or beyond. As we bring the vibrancy of global athleticism to screens, I’m eager to see those stories inspire the next generation of Indian sporting excellence,” he added.
The collaboration kicks off during another huge year for the sport, with 2025 including the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing in March, World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou in May and World Athletics Road Running Championships in San Diego in September, as well as the flagship World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Tag: Partnership
Manila, Philippines – The Manila Times (TMT), in partnership with Cedara, the carbon intelligence platform, has launched a project to completely measure advertising carbon emissions. TMT will use Cedara, the provider of emissions mapping across the media supply chain, to measure and minimise its carbon footprint in accordance with industry standards.
TMT intends to measure its digital media first, then move on to measure its print business and, in the long run, look into organisational emissions as a whole.
Speaking about the partnership, Dante Ang II, chairman and chief executive officer of The Manila Times, said, “We are thrilled to partner with Cedara in our mission to lead the way as the first publisher in our geographic region to measure advertising carbon emissions. By harnessing Cedara’s expertise and leading technology, we are taking proactive steps towards environmental sustainability and reinforcing our commitment to corporate social responsibility.”
Meanwhile, Eric Shih, chief operating officer of Cedara, expressed, “We are delighted to collaborate with The Manila Times in their pioneering initiative to measure advertising carbon emissions. At Cedara, we are committed to partnering with media organisations that prioritise sustainability and environmental impact. Together with The Manila Times, we are proud to drive positive change in the APAC market and contribute to a greener, more sustainable future.”
Jakarta, Indonesia – Local telecommunications provider Telkomsel has announced a partnership with anime streaming service Crunchyroll for its first specialised anime destination package in Indonesia, namely the ‘Telkomsel and Crunchyroll Bundling Package.’
Through the bundle, Telkomsel customers, including both prepaid and postpaid (Halo) users, can easily purchase it through the MyTelkomsel app and website. ‘The Crunchyroll Fan’ package, when purchased through Telkomsel, is priced at IDR 36,000 which includes 3 GB of MAXstream quota for use on a single device. Similarly, ‘The Crunchyroll Mega Fan’ package on Telkomsel is priced at IDR 48,000 and includes 5 GB of MAXstream quota for use on up to four devices simultaneously.
Moreover, ‘Mega Fan’ subscribers will also get access to the Crunchyroll Game Vault which provides unlimited access to a constantly growing library of premium mobile games specifically for fans of anime and anime-inspired entertainment.
Both packages are valid for one month and include a Crunchyroll subscription, allowing access to a wide range of popular Japanese anime content, such as One Piece, Kaiju No. 8, Solo Leveling, Chainsaw Man, JUJUTSU KAISEN, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, amongst others.
After purchasing the Telkomsel and Crunchyroll Bundling Package through MyTelkomsel, customers will receive an SMS containing a Crunchyroll Voucher Code. Telkomsel customers can redeem this voucher code via tsel.id/croll. After downloading the Crunchyroll App from the Play Store or App Store, they will have access to both the exclusive Japanese anime shows, many of which are exclusive to Crunchyroll.
Terry Li, executive vice president of business development at Crunchyroll, said, “Crunchyroll’s goal is to always meet fans when, where and how they want to love anime, and the Telkomsel partnership aptly positions us to give Indonesian fans that access. It’s a significant milestone in expanding our audience base in the region with localised access.”
Meanwhile, Nirwan Lesmana, VP of digital lifestyle at Telkomsel, commented, “By integrating Telkomsel services with premium content from Crunchyroll, we aim to enhance the experience of our customers, especially anime content lovers spread across Indonesia. We hope this collaboration will facilitate anime fans in accessing their favorite content, supported by the widest and most advanced broadband connectivity from Telkomsel.”
Subsribers can utilise the MAXstream Quota included in the Telkomsel and Crunchyroll Bundle Package to watch the latest contents on Crunchyroll, MAXstream, and other video streaming services that have partnered with Telkomsel.
Singapore – YouGov, the international online research data and analytics technology group, and advertising agency Havas have announced the expansion of their data partnership, which powers Havas’ client insights.
In this expanded partnership, Havas and YouGov’s collaboration now supports Havas’ Village approach, integrating media, creativity, and talent collaboration to provide customers with a more meaningful brand experience.
The new deal also increases the market coverage of the partnership, from 18 to now 26 markets across the globe. Havas also expanded the relationship to encompass Havas Media Network, Havas Creative Network, and Havas Health & You agencies, allowing the entire network to benefit from the YouGov Profiles and YouGov BrandIndex data.
YouGov and Havas also continue to collaborate on three global custom research studies for in-depth client analysis: ‘Meaningful Brands,’ a flagship survey analysing brand impact and equity over 15 years; ‘Connect,’ a study on brand association and influence throughout the consumer decision journey; and ‘Content,’ an in-depth survey on the effectiveness of over 35 content types.
The collaboration grants Havas access to YouGov’s connected living data approach, enhancing custom study data with insights from YouGov Profiles and YouGov BrandIndex. This global partnership provides Havas with continuously updated data sets.
Dan Hagen, global chief data & technology officer at Havas Media Network, said, “As we aim to deliver upon our One Havas ambition and power the convergence of creativity, data, technology, media, and production across our global network, YouGov will be a key data partner for the future. Our expanded partnership will greatly enhance what we can offer our clients and bring in insights from key markets across Europe, LATAM, MENA, and APAC. YouGov has a global reach and connected data capabilities, which have enabled us to integrate their data at a respondent level into our data and tech platform, Converged, in markets around the world.”
Also speaking on the partnership, Steve Hatch, CEO of YouGov, shared, “We are pleased to deepen our partnership with Havas and honoured at the level of trust they have placed in our data-driven insights. With YouGov’s unique combination of data from our proprietary panel, our connected data abilities, and our best-in-market research tools, we are proud to enable one of the world’s largest global communications groups to gain a deeper understanding of consumers and make more informed business decisions. This expansion of our partnership reflects our shared commitment to delivering the most actionable insights to companies and institutions around the world.”
Singapore – Experience management company Qualtrics has announced that travel retailer Flight Centre is now utilising their AI program to enhance customer experience and agent productivity through a new ability to analyse and respond to every piece of structured and unstructured customer feedback being shared with the company.
While traditional customer experience programs focus on structured feedback, such as satisfaction and post-sale surveys, Flight Centre is gaining a more complete view of its customers with the integration of Qualtrics.
Using purpose-built, AI-powered, advanced conversational analytics and natural language processing capabilities, Flight Centre can listen to and analyse customer feedback from a range of structured and unstructured channels – such as emails, chat, messaging, social and online reviews, traditional surveys and more – and understand the emotion, intent, preference, and effort behind every engagement.
The customer experience-specific insights enable Flight Centre to custom-craft and deliver tailored experiences addressing customers’ unmet needs and points of friction, creating opportunities to enhance the customer experience in the moments and channels that matter.
Notably, Flight Centre is one of the first organisations in Asia Pacific to go-live with Qualtrics’ AI-powered conversational analytics and natural language processing technologies.
Talking about this integration, Andrew Stark, global managing director at Flight Centre, said, “Flight Centre is able to deeply understand and respond to their needs better than ever before with Qualtrics. With these new capabilities we’re able to uncover even more actionable, specific insights that can help us deliver greater services, experiences, and products for our millions of customers.”
Meanwhile, Brad Anderson, president of product, UX, and engineering at Qualtrics, commented, “Using Qualtrics AI, organisations like Flight Centre are pioneering an impactful new age for experience management by deepening their ability to understand and meaningfully respond to their customers, which is driving greater outcomes for customers alongside bottom-line business impact.”
USA – OpenAI and News Corp, the American mass media and publishing company, have announced a multi-year agreement allowing OpenAI to display content from News Corp mastheads to help users make informed choices based on reliable information and news sources.
Through this collaboration, OpenAI will receive access to current and archived content from News Corp’s major news and information publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, Investor’s Business Daily, FN, and New York Post; The Times, The Sunday Times, and The Sun; The Australian, news.com.au, The Daily Telegraph, The Courier Mail, The Advertiser, and Herald Sun; and others.
In addition to providing content, News Corp will share journalistic expertise to help ensure the highest journalism standards are present across OpenAI’s offering.
OpenAI also emphasised that the partnership does not include access to content from any of News Corp’s other businesses.
Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp, said, “We believe an historic agreement will set new standards for veracity, for virtue, and for value in the digital age. We are delighted to have found principled partners in Sam Altman and his trusty, talented team who understand the commercial and social significance of journalists and journalism. This landmark accord is not an end, but the beginning of a beautiful friendship in which we are jointly committed to creating and delivering insight and integrity instantaneously.”
Commenting on the deal, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, also shared, “Our partnership with News Corp is a proud moment for journalism and technology. We greatly value News Corp’s history as a leader in reporting breaking news around the world and are excited to enhance our users’ access to its high-quality reporting. Together, we are setting the foundation for a future where AI deeply respects, enhances, and upholds the standards of world-class journalism.”
Singapore – LVMH Group, the global creator of high-quality products, and Alibaba Group, China’s e-commerce and technology firm, have announced an expanded partnership to push the frontiers of luxury experiences in China. This collaboration will take advantage of Alibaba’s cloud technologies and AI-powered advancements in retail and online via Tmall.
The strengthened partnership is a testament to both businesses’ goal of leading retail innovation and providing outstanding, tech-driven luxury experiences. Through this partnership, LVMH will be able to improve its data, omnichannel, and technological footprint in China.
LVMH has started incorporating Alibaba Cloud’s generative AI capabilities, such as Model Studio (Bailian), an extensive AI model-building platform, and Qwen, Alibaba’s proprietary large language model, as part of its innovation quest. The luxury Maison’s dedication to remaining innovative is highlighted by the innovative apps and services that have been made possible by this integration. LVMH wants to drive innovation-driven growth in its global retail businesses and enhance its premium offers for consumers worldwide by utilising technologies.
This partnership extension for an additional five years demonstrates a shared commitment to explore new markets, products, and technical frontiers among the more than thirty Maisons and Divisions located within mainland China and Southeast Asia, including Sephora APAC and DFS. In the future, LVMH will have access to a wider range of technology and tested goods from Alibaba Cloud. In order to better serve the Chinese market, this will improve consumer insights, expedite supply chain management procedures, and further optimise corporate operations.
The announcement of the partnership’s global expansion comes after Tmall was first included in Tiffany’s and Chaumet’s premium retail ventures. Up to now, LVMH has unveiled about thirty esteemed Maisons that are presently collaborating with Tmall Luxury Pavilion to make use of Alibaba’s digital capabilities for captivating experiences, including virtual try-ons, 3D product displays, and live streaming.
Both companies have also increased their cooperation on a number of omni-retail projects, such as membership programs, product launches, digital replicas of famous luxury locations, and one-on-one consultations. Millions of Chinese consumers will now have access to the LVMH luxury experience.
The strategic partnership between the two companies began in 2019. Since then, LVMH has used Alibaba Cloud’s data management tool, Dataphin, to power “LVMH ATOM” China, a platform built by LVMH to provide individualised services to its growing Chinese consumer base. Furthermore, LVMH has used Alibaba Cloud’s machine learning platform, PAI, to create tailored services that respond to the diverse tastes of Chinese consumers across all of its brands.
Speaking about the partnership, Stephane Bianchi, group managing director of LVMH, said, “Alibaba is already a key and valuable partner of our Maisons and the Group. The reinforcement of our partnership with Alibaba aims at helping us accelerate omni-channel business growth and enhancing premium luxury experiences driven by the transformative capabilities of cloud and AI technologies, along with its world-leading expertise in e-commerce operations. Our synergetic and forward-looking collaboration will deliver unparalleled experiences to our global customers throughout their premium shopping journey.”
Meanwhile, Eddie Wu, chief executive officer of Alibaba Group, expressed, “Alibaba is pleased to enable a transformation of the high-end consumption experience with retail leaders like LVMH through our world-class technologies in cloud computing and AI. This comprehensive partnership has elevated the retail experience for LVMH’s customers worldwide, including China-based consumers on Tmall. We look forward to continuing to build on the strong partnership and innovation journey with LVMH.”
Hong Kong – Multinational insurance company FWD Group has announced a five-year agreement for technology services with Amazon Web Services (AWS) as part of FWD’s cloud-first strategy.
As FWD Group’s strategic cloud provider, AWS will continue to host core business applications, ranging from finance to customer and insurance agent interfaces.
The extended partnership with AWS will also provide FWD with greater agility, scalability, and resilience as FWD continues to progressively move away from operating its own onsite data centres.
Examples of previous collaborations with AWS include Omne by FWD, which offers a customer-focused digital self-service and claims process that earned strong net promoter score ratings since its introduction in 2022.
FWD was also supported by AWS in its development of a cloud-based centralised finance hub for collecting, validating, and processing financial, investment, and actuarial data in FWD.
Between 2021 and 2023, FWD saw significant growth in certificates awarded by cloud providers, which included AWS Skills Guild, a programme that builds cloud fluency across an organisation, which trained more than 600 FWD employees and contractors.
Talking about this extended collaboration, Sandeep Pandey, group chief technology & operations officer of FWD Group, said, “At FWD, cloud computing is a holistic business strategy, not just a priority for the technology function. This digital-first mindset has delivered operational infrastructure and capabilities that are not only secure and cloud-based, but also fully integrated across business functions and with valued partners like AWS.”
”With these foundations in place, we can now further scale our generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) deployment in an efficient, effective and responsible way, in line with our vision of changing the way people feel about insurance,” he added.
Meanwhile, Francessca Vasquez, vice president of professional services and generative artificial intelligence innovation centre at AWS, commented, “AWS has been supporting companies in the financial and insurance industry around the world to better serve their customers with its cloud and AI technologies for more than a decade.”
“FWD Group’s ambition of harnessing the power of cloud and generative AI demonstrates their commitment to digital transformation and customer-centricity. We are excited to continue supporting FWD Group with AWS’s proven reliability and capabilities, helping them accelerate innovation, save cost, drive efficiency and expand their business,” she concluded.
Bangkok, Thailand – Traveloka has established a strategic agreement with Filipino carrier Cebu Pacific (CEB) to bring more Thai and Southeast Asian travellers to the Philippines. This cooperation will create an application programming interface that will allow inbound travellers to explore CEB flights using the Traveloka app.
This initiative is expected to positively contribute to the growth of Philippine tourism by making it easier for Thai and Southeast Asian tourists to explore the country’s exciting destinations. It is in line with Traveloka’s commitment to helping the tourism industry in Southeast Asia recover from the pandemic.
The tourist industry in the Philippines continues to develop every year. Over 5.4 million foreign visitors were registered by the Philippine Department of Tourism in 2023, and 7.7 million are anticipated by 2024.
In the meantime, compared to the prior year, Traveloka saw a 2.5-fold rise in searches for the top five airports in the Philippines in 2024. Traveloka’s top five travel destinations in the Philippines are Manila, Laguindingan, Cebu, Davao, Boracay, and Palawan.
Speaking about the partnership, Iko Putera, CEO of Transport Traveloka, said, “Traveloka understands the Philippines’ vast potential for sustainable tourism growth. Therefore, we invite travellers from Thailand and Southeast Asia to discover new experiences in the Philippines. Our partnership with Cebu Pacific, one of the premier and most affordable airlines for the Philippines, will provide diverse possibilities for travellers and spearhead innovation to deliver optimal solutions for customers. We will also contribute to growth within the tourism industry in the Philippines and the wider region.”
Meanwhile, Xander Lao, president and chief commercial officer of Cebu Pacific, expressed, “We are delighted to collaborate with Traveloka to support the local tourism industry and make travelling to the Philippines much easier. The Philippines is home to some of the world’s best beaches, stunning landscapes, and rich cultural heritage. We encourage travellers from all over the world to fly with Cebu Pacific and experience the beauty of our country, now made more accessible through our partnership with Traveloka.”
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad (Bank Muamalat) has formed an extensive partnership with Backbase, a global engagement banking platform, as part of its strategic plan to become a next-generation digital Islamic bank for all. This collaboration, together with Mambu’s core banking transformation, represents a key milestone in Bank Muamalat’s efforts to reinvent its digital Islamic banking solutions.
Innovating towards a unified Islamic digital banking experience by bridging silos and traditional banking processes, Bank Muamalat uses platform technology to achieve their aim of creating an outstanding customer-centric experience. With the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform acting as the main platform, Bank Muamalat can design distinctive and personalised customer journeys that are secure, consistent, scalable, and enable end-to-end processes like onboarding, financing, transactions, and backend consumer servicing and engagement.
A digital Islamic banking super app that aims to improve the bank’s retail banking offerings is essential to its digital transformation. This significant change gives the bank the flexibility and control to carry out its long-term vision while enabling it to provide customised banking experiences catered to each individual customer’s preferences.
In addition to standard banking services, the aim is to provide integrated life empowerment elements that cover financial and faith-based components, as well as the guarantee of security and peace of mind in every transaction, in order to meet the needs of Malaysia’s broad consumer base. In the near future, Bank Muamalat also hopes to incorporate similar advances into its SME and commercial banking sectors.
The technical developments that are occurring are a result of Bank Muamalat’s dedication to innovation and constant improvement in all of its offerings, including services, products, and client experiences. The eight strategic thrusts that constitute the foundation of this change are: increasing customer centricity; facilitating Islamic banking for all; and accelerating business growth. These priorities highlight the bank’s goal of exceeding the ever-expanding requirements and expectations of its growing clientele.
Mambu for digital core capabilities and Backbase for modernization and customer-centric Engagement Banking are integrated into Bank Muamalat’s comprehensive cloud-based transformation. The bank’s financial services and product offers are improved by switching to a cloud-based model, which also saves a lot of money and increases operational effectiveness. Furthermore, by leveraging Mambu’s digital core to meet regulatory standards and fortify its security controls—both of which are critical for a financial institution—it helps Bank Muamalat’s developers to expedite software development cycles.
Mambu takes on a crucial role as one of Backbase’s most important core partners. The integration of Mambu’s core banking platform with Backbase’s engagement banking solutions creates a basis for banks of all sizes to break free from isolated, antiquated cores and go through a comprehensive digital revolution.
Backbase and Mambu’s collaboration offer an efficient and resilient shift to contemporary banking protocols by providing a comprehensive, end-to-end, cloud-native digital banking solution built on an open architecture. Banks are better equipped to address the changing demands of the modern, tech-savvy customer and the larger banking environment with this unified offering.
Speaking about the partnership, Khairul Kamarudin, president & chief executive officer of Bank Muamalat, said, “We are attentive to the current needs of our diverse consumer base and are dedicated to advancing financial inclusion and Islamic banking practices to be more modern, customer-centric, and digitally progressive. The strategic advantage of the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform lies in its ability to ‘adopt and build’, which aligns with our goal to launch the digital Islamic banking platform by the end of the year.”
Meanwhile, Riddhi Dutta, regional vice president of Asia at Backbase, stated, “Islamic banks, especially in Asia, are keen to enhance their digital banking solutions to stay competitive. At Backbase, we’ve had the privilege of collaborating with Islamic banks across the globe, gaining invaluable insights into their unique needs and challenges. Our Engagement Banking Platform is designed with flexibility at its core, offering pre-built journeys and microservices that can be customized to meet the unique requirements of Islamic banking.”
He added, “Our partnership with Bank Muamalat exemplifies our commitment to support Islamic banks in their digital transformation endeavors. Additionally, we hold a deep appreciation for Malaysia’s vibrant Islamic banking culture and dynamics, which stand as a beacon of innovation and growth in the global Islamic finance sector.”
Lastly, Perminder Grewal Dallow, director of solutions engineering at Mambu, remarked, “Mambu is a key player in the cloud-native core banking space, today powering financial institutions across 65 countries. As one of the first traditional banks in Southeast Asia to embrace our cloud banking platform, we look forward to enabling Bank Muamalat to build innovative products and services, streamline IT processes, and craft exceptional customer journeys.”
“The endorsement from Bank Negara Malaysia, the regulatory body for Malaysia’s financial sector, to advance this project underscores the trust and assurance in both Mambu and Backbase. We look forward to a strong partnership with Bank Muamalat as it modernises its technology foundation,” Dallow added.