Microsoft Appointed Operating System Software Supplier to Sochi ’14

Leading computer software giant Microsoft has been unveiled as the exclusive operating system software supplier of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia, the Games’ organising committee announced yesterday, June 16.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, Microsoft Russia president Nikolai Pryanishnikov and Jean-Philippe Courtois, president of Microsoft International, were joined at the signing ceremony by Sochi organising committee president and CEO Dmitry Chernyshenko.

Chernyshenko stated: “The agreement with Microsoft is very important because the company has specific experience of having co-operated with the organising committee of the Beijing Olympic Games,” adding on Twitter: “Together with Microsoft we will continue to work on an innovative technological legacy for the Games.”

In other news, Chernyshenko told the Financial Times that Sochi, which is undergoing a huge redevelopment program ahead of the Games, is to be transformed into “a model city” in Russia. He added: “There are so many things happening, not only in the region, but on the national level…that would never happen if Sochi didn’t host the games.

“The state leaders consider the big social and sport events as catalysts to accelerate the process of redeveloping the country’s environment and the economy. We are redeveloping the entire region. This is not just infrastructure for the competition. This is roads, power stations, sewage works. It will mean a better living standard for the people who live there.”