Atos SE - Experts & Thought Leaders

Atos, a global pioneer in digital transformation powered by Artificial Intelligence, and the key Technology Partner of Special Olympics International (Special Olympics), today announces the successful delivery of critical digital and competition management services for the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games (USA Games), helping organisers, athletes, volunteers, and officials enjoy a seamless and inclusive sporting experience, and looks ahead to the Special Olympics Unified Football World Cup Paris 2026 (Unified Cup). The USA Games brought together thousands of athletes, coaches, volunteers, and supporters from across the United States, celebrating the power of sport to foster inclusion and create opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities. Community engagement activities As part of its 5-year partnership with Special Olympics, Atos delivered the same core services during the USA Games that successfully supported the Special Olympics World Winter Games Turin 2025, including competition management, data processing, sport entries, credentialing, timing and scoring integration, and results distribution services. These capabilities are supported by Atos' development and maintenance of the Special Olympics Global Games System, infrastructure, and security services, and event support delivered by specialized on-site and remote teams. The USA Games showcased the transformative power of sport through a week of competition, celebration, and inclusion. Athletes from across the United States competed in multiple sports disciplines while participating in opening and closing ceremonies, community engagement activities, and Unified Sports competitions bringing together athletes with and without intellectual disabilities. Beyond sporting achievements Beyond sporting achievements, the USA Games highlighted the values at the heart of the Special Olympics movement: courage, determination, friendship, and inclusion, while providing athletes with a global platform to demonstrate their talents and inspire millions of supporters, families, volunteers, and spectators. The USA Games also reinforced the role of technology in helping organisers, participants, and fans share and celebrate every moment of competition. Leveraging its dedicated sports technology expertise and Major Events teams, Atos worked closely with Special Olympics organisers to ensure that competition operations, participant management, and results services were delivered reliably throughout the USA Games, enabling athletes to focus on performance while creating an engaging experience for spectators, families, and media. Creating engaging experience “Atos teams were extremely proud and humbled to be given the chance to contribute to such an extraordinary event as the Special Olympics USA Games,” said Nacho Moros, Head of Atos Major Events. “What was displayed there was a combination of courage, performance, understanding, and kindness that is barely seen in any other sport event. We are delighted that our technologies helped make this edition of the USA Games another tremendous success.” “It is of critical importance to us that we deliver professional, world-class events that reflect the hard work, dedication, and achievements of our athletes. Our athletes deserve the very best that technology has to offer in supporting well-run, high-quality Games,” notes Isabel Cervelló, Vice President of Major Event Technology, Special Olympics. “In that spirit, we are extremely pleased that Atos has delivered similar types of services that power some of the most iconic sport events worldwide, helping us strengthen the experience for our communities and foster inclusion and mutual understanding.” Foundational digital services The successful delivery of the USA Games further strengthens the partnership announced in 2023 between Atos and Special Olympics, under which Atos provides foundational digital services supporting a series of global Special Olympics events, including both World Winter and Summer Games, USA Games, and the Unified Cup. Following the successful support of the USA Games, Atos is preparing to continue its partnership with Special Olympics as an official technology partner for the Special Olympics Unified Football World Cup Paris 2026, which will take place in Paris at Stade Charlety, from 5 to 11 July 2026. Delivering innovative solutions The event will bring together men’s and women’s teams composed of footballers with and without intellectual disabilities, competing together under the Unified Sports model, demonstrating the power of sport to create inclusion, unity, and mutual understanding. Paris 2026 will be the first Special Olympics event hosted in France and the third edition of the Unified Football World Cup. Atos has maintained a dedicated Sports and Major Events division for more than 30 years. This experience in delivering innovative solutions for the world’s most prestigious competitions enables Atos to provide the flexibility and technological excellence required for all types of events — from local tournaments to major global showcases. Leading this commitment is its role as UEFA’s Official IT Partner for National Team Football since late 2022, as well as its long-standing relationship with many other international sports organizations. Most recently, Atos became CONMEBOL’s Official Innovation Partner, which will focus on South American football’s domestic-club competitions.

Atos, a global pioneer in AI powered digital transformation, has worked in close collaboration with the Premier League since its inception in 1992, scheduling the Premier League’s fixtures each season.  Across 34 Premier League seasons, Atos has supported the complex challenge of creating a balanced fixture list across a total of 13,166 matches involving 51 different clubs. Advanced technology is combined with deep human expertise to assess millions of possible scenarios, ensuring the final schedule is fair, competitive and compelling for clubs, fans and stakeholders alike.  AI powered digital transformation The process begins at the start of the year and typically takes around six months. Sophisticated systems generate an initial schedule, which is then rigorously refined through expert oversight to meet the league’s strict sporting, operational and logistical requirements - following the League’s “Golden Rules”. These include:  In any five matches there should be a split of three home fixtures, two away or the other way around.   A team will never have more than two home or away matches in a row.  Wherever possible, a team will be home and away around FA Cup ties.   A club will never start or finish the season with two home or two away matches.  Managing travel demands Alongside this are considerations around preventing local rivals from playing at home on the same day, accounting for policing capacity, and managing travel demands, particularly during peak periods such as public holidays or major national events, for example minimizing travel for fans on Boxing Day and New Year's Day. Even minor changes can have wide ranging consequences, often triggering adjustments across multiple fixtures. This is where Atos’ long standing experience is critical.   Fixture-list compiler Glenn Thompson, Atos UK&I, said: “There are pinch points in the process where it can become stressful, culminating in several days in a room manually checking for any issues that may have cropped up. The whole process is complex involving many different data points. Ultimately you can't satisfy everyone and it's a compromise across all clubs without favouring any one club.”   Global football calendar This year’s fixture list has also been shaped against an increasingly demanding global football calendar, with a focus on player welfare, recovery time and alignment with international competitions.  Michael Herron, Head of Atos UK&I said, “For millions of fans, the release of the Premier League fixture list is when a new season really comes to life. We’re proud to support the Premier League and are looking forward to another exciting season ahead.”   Major global showcases Atos has maintained a dedicated Sports and Major Events division for more than 30 years. This experience in delivering innovative solutions for the world’s most prestigious competitions enables Atos to provide the flexibility and technological excellence required for all types of events — from local tournaments to major global showcases. Leading this commitment is its role as UEFA’s Official IT Partner for National Team Football since late 2022, as well as its long-standing relationship with many other sports international organizations. Most recently, Atos became CONMEBOL’s Official Innovation Partner, which will focus on South American football’s domestic-club competitions. 

Atos, a global pioneer in AI-powered digital transformation, with more than three decades of experience in delivering mission-critical solutions for major global sporting events, today announces it has successfully supported the CONMEBOL (South American Football Confederation) eLibertadores, one of the world’s most prestigious football eSport competitions. As football audiences become increasingly digital-first and community-driven, sports organizations are exploring new ways to engage younger generations of fans beyond the traditional broadcast experience. At the intersection of football, gaming and technology, esport is emerging as a powerful environment to experiment with more immersive, interactive and participative fan experiences. Next-generation digital ecosystem Through the CONMEBOL eLibertadores, CONMEBOL and Atos are contributing to this evolution by helping create digital experiences designed around real-time interaction, accessibility and community engagement. This initiative builds on the strategic partnership established in December 2025, which positions Atos as the Official Innovation Partner for CONMEBOL’s club competitions. Under this agreement, Atos is contributing to the development of a next-generation digital ecosystem, including new websites and mobile applications designed to enhance fan interaction, improve accessibility and unify digital experiences across competitions in a region with exceptional passion and growth potential. Digital fan culture As part of the EA SPORTS FC Pro World Championship ecosystem, the CONMEBOL eLibertadores has established itself as a global football eSport competition, engaging large digital audiences. The 2026 edition, culminating in the finals at Gamescom Latam in São Paulo (May 2nd-3rd), further illustrates both the increasing maturity of football esport and the rapid evolution of digital fan culture worldwide. The CONMEBOL digital ecosystem, developed with Atos, allowed the integration of live data, editorial content and interactive features within unified platforms, enabling a more direct, interactive and personalized relationship between fans and competitions. Beyond enhancing the fan experience, these environments also provide sports organizations with new opportunities to better understand audience behaviours and explore emerging forms of digital entertainment and broadcasting. Most advanced technologies “As football diversifies its reach and engages with younger audiences, esport - now at the crossroads of some of the most advanced technologies, is definitively one of the prominent and fastest growing vectors for Clubs to engage with their audience,” said Nacho Moros, Head of Atos Major Events. “eSport has evolved into a fully-fledged discipline, and Atos teams were fully immersed in the enthusiasm of the participants, whose performances sometimes mirror those of their real-world idols.” Through this collaboration, Atos reaffirms its role as a trusted innovation partner for the sports ecosystem, supporting organizations in designing next-generation digital experiences that are more immersive, connected and scalable. Major global showcases Atos has maintained a dedicated Sports and Major Events division for more than 30 years. This experience in delivering innovative solutions for the world’s most prestigious competitions enables Atos to provide the flexibility and technological excellence required for all types of events — from local tournaments to major global showcases. Leading this commitment is its role as UEFA’s Official IT Partner for National Team Football since late 2022, as well as its long-standing relationship with many other sports international organizations. Most recently, Atos became CONMEBOL’s Official Innovation Partner, which will focus on South American football’s domestic-club competitions.