How AI is guarding Wimbledon's tennis traditions, and its digital future

Wimbledon's famous All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, bedecked in the iconic purple and green and overflowing with Ivy, flowers and generations of tradition might, at first look, seem like a strange place to be contemplating how technology and sport have become such familiar bedfellows. And yet this most traditional of sporting environs is embracing technology on a whole host of levels, whilst maintaining the dignity and history as the home of tennis. Mick Desmond, the AELTC's commercial and media director explained that there was an "alchemy" in the balance of seeking what's new and innovative whilst understanding and enhancing what makes this most famous of tennis tournaments great. "We look at what's true in our brand in terms of the all-white dress code, the grass courts and the strawberries and cream, and as an event we do transcend the sport. We look at the things that make us special and we amplify them. "But in the digital realm particularly we can be very innovative and push the boundaries… whilst still enveloped in a Wimbledon way." This intent, according to former England cricketer and academic, Ed Smith, is not as new as many might think - insisting that embracing the latest technology has actually been at the heart of sport's development. "If you think about sport as we now play it, it's rested on a series of technological evolutions," he insists, taking us on a whirlwind tour of innovation, from lawnmowers to the iPhone via vulcanized rubber and, of course the impact of sport in the media. "The year 1923 brought the moment that changed sport forever - a radio station in New York saying we're going to put every second of the World Series on air.