Paris 2024 Reinforces its Commitment to Innovation at VivaTechnology 2017

Paris 2024 has today presented its Olympic and Paralympic project to leading European and global innovators and experts at VivaTechnology 2017, Europe's biggest innovation event.

Over three days (15-17 June), 50,000 visitors, 5,000 startups and many large organisations have gathered in Paris to share the latest developments in innovation and promote the importance of tech to the lives of people in the region. Paris is considered a leading player in innovation and was ranked the top European city and third globally on a list of dynamic tech cities published on the World Economic Forum’s website yesterday.

Paris 2024 has placed innovation at the heart of its project from the outset. Supported by 20 renowned partners, in many cases world leaders in their sector, the bid is dedicated to enhancing the organisation of major events and mobilising support through the use of innovative technology. One example of this is Overlap Reality ®, an augmented reality technology enabling films to be superimposed over real-life images in a 360° visual effect, which was used during the recent IOC Evaluation Commission visit to Paris.

At VivaTechnology 2017, the Paris 2024 Bid Committee and 11 of its partners, presented "Towards Paris 2024", a project which aims to highlight the many innovative proposals put forward by companies involved in the French candidature, on topics such as mobility, housing, social integration and celebration.

A "Paris 2024" prize will also be awarded at the event by a jury composed of:

· Emmanuelle Assmann, President of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee (CPSF);

· Benjamin Carlier, head of the Le Tremplin technology start-up incubator in Paris;

· Marie-Amélie Le Fur, triple Paralympic Champion and Co-Chair of the Paris 2024 Athletes’ Committee;

· Brice Guyart; double Olympic Fencing Champion and member of the Paris 2024 Athletes’ Committee;

· Lambis Konstantinidis, Head of Sports and Paralympic Integration at Paris 2024.

The award will be given to the most innovative idea submitted by a startup on the theme of spectator experience at the Paralympic Games, following Paris 2024’s call for entries earlier this year. In total, almost 40 projects from 11 different countries have been shortlisted with entries presented to the jury about matters such as Paralympic Games legacy, social inclusion and accessibility.

Marie-Amélie Le Fur, triple Paralympic Champion, Co-Chair of the Athletes’ Committee Paris 2024, said:

"In the Athletes’ Committee, we have put innovation at the heart of our project for Games designed by athletes, for athletes. We have contributed to several digital projects such as our app that is dedicated to athletes and Paris 2024 Run, a game in which I appear with my fellow Athletes’ Committee Co-Chair Teddy Riner, that was conceived as a playful and innovative way to further mobilise our community behind our project."

Tony Estanguet, triple Olympic Champion and Paris 2024 Co-Chair, added:

"As a progressive and forward-thinking bid we have sought to integrate innovation at every stage in the development of our concept, both as an engagement tool and as a way to enhance the delivery of our project. We have used creative thinking and cutting edge technology – such as with the development of our mobile fitness app "Objectif Paris 2024" – to successfully mobilise support for our candidature in France and abroad. We will continue to work with our partners and the leading innovators and tech startups in Europe and around the world to create a truly unique project that changes the way major events are delivered in future."

The partners of Paris 2024 present at VivaTechnology 2017 are: AccorHotels, Air France, BNP Paribas, Bouygues Construction, Engie, JCDecaux, La Poste, LVMH, Orange, RATP and SNCF.

For more information, please contact:

Raphaël Leclerc

Paris 2024 Bid Committee

Email: rleclerc@paris2024.org

Phone: +336 73 16 88 06

Sujit Jasani

VERO Communications

Email: sjasani@verocom.co.uk

Phone: +44 (0)207 812 6589 / +44 (0)7940 375 282

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