TCS New York City Marathon app wins gold at Best in Biz Awards 2017 International
Mumbai: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation, has been named a gold winner in the ‘App of the Year Category’ in the Best in Biz Awards 2017 International, the only independent global business awards programme judged each year by prominent editors and reporters from top-tier publications from around the world.
Almost 300 public and private companies, hailing from all sectors of the global economy, from more than 30 countries, competed in the Best in Biz Awards’ fifth annual international programme. TCS won for its new and innovative marathon app features, including live, on-map tracking of up to 20 runners in real-time, an interactive map to guide users through the TCS New York City (NYC) Marathon Health and Wellness Expo, ‘connected’ maps of the race course and subway, a vibration alert when tracked runners crossed the finish line, and more.
As a result of its features that bolstered the spectator and runner experiences, the app was ranked as the top free sports app and featured as a best new app in the Apple App Store on Race Day. It was also downloaded more than 317,000 times, which is the most ever for the TCS NYC Marathon or any other global marathon.
“With 2+ million on-site spectators lining the TCS New York City Marathon course and 51,000+ runners, the mobile app’s new enhanced tracking capabilities have enabled friends and families to see on a map the exact whereabouts of their runner(s), knowing exactly where and when to cheer and offer encouragement,” said Surya Kant, President of North America, UK and Europe, TCS. “We are excited that the race app continues to break new ground in terms of downloads and engagement from users around the world. Recognition from Best in Biz International is a testament to our promise of making the TCS New York City Marathon the most technically advanced race in the world,” Mr Kant added.
In addition to being the title sponsor of the TCS NYC Marathon, TCS is the first-ever premier partner of New York Road Runners (NYRR), applying its technical excellence and resources to the organisation’s prominent five-borough races throughout the year, and acting as the principal supporter of all youth and community initiatives.
“It is always an honour and a pleasure to be asked to judge one of the categories in Best in Biz Awards International,” said Didi Cardoso, editor-in-chief of Gamers Intuition. “In my fourth year participating as a judge, this was the most challenging decision yet. All the nominees for Executive of the Year had equally impressive and innovative ideas, and they certainly didn’t make my task any easier,” Ms Cardoso added.
Winners in the fifth annual programme were determined based on scoring from an independent panel of judges hailing from a wide spectrum of top-tier publications and media outlets and from 15 countries and all continents. Best in Biz Awards’ uniqueness stems, in part, from the composition of its judging panels. Each year, only editors, writers and contributors to business, consumer, financial, trade and technology publications, as well as broadcast outlets and analyst firms, are invited to serve as judges. Structured this way, Best in Biz Awards can best leverage the expertise, experience and objectivity of its influential judges to determine award winners.