ITF

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY The itf has strived to remain at the forefront of technology with the development of a range of new services in 2012 A s new technology continues to enable more immediate and effective ways of sharing information through web-based services, and breaks new ground in the use of social media and mobile technologies, the ITF has strived to remain at the forefront of these areas with the development of a range of new services in 2012. Much of our attention was focussed on the London Olympics and on helping to promote the Olympic Tennis Event by making it more accessible through the best use of the many available technology channels. To accomplish this we created a dedicated 2012 Olympic Tennis website as our primary information resource during the Games, and this was provided alongside additional mobile phone and tablet optimised versions of the site. With the rapid growth in smartphone usage and the increasing numbers of people using smaller portable devices as their primary means of accessing the internet, we wanted to offer the best possible mobile experience during the Olympics. Taking live feeds directly from our website and from the Games' own results systems, we produced an Olympic Tennis mobile app that delivered full coverage of the event for smartphone and tablet users. With live scores, a constantly updated stream of results, news, and photos, plus integrated Facebook and Twitter feeds, the websites and app proved extremely popular with tennis fans across the globe and enabled us to provide full event coverage across all platforms and devices. Following the success of the Olympic Tennis app, and to support our other major events, we also launched dedicated mobile apps for Davis Cup and Fed Cup to allow fans of both competitions to get closer to the action with instant access to live scores, news and full coverage of the World Group weekends. In addition to our efforts to enhance the ways in which information is provided to tennis fans and the media, we launched two web portals in 2012 designed to improve communication and the exchange of information between the ITF and some of our key stakeholders. National Associations were provided with access to a new intranet offering a wide range of resources and advice on staging successful Davis Cup and Fed Cup ties. The creation of a new central database for ITF officials was the foundation on which we were able to build a secure, web-based portal through which officials could keep up-to-date with developments in the officiating world, and also provide the ITF with their work records and other key information electronically. FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION 29

• Cover