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Technology Operations Centre Launched For London Olympics
By siliconindia
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Thursday, 13 October 2011, 23:08 IST
London: London 2012 and Atos, the Worldwide IT Partner for the Olympic and Paralympics, today officially unveil the Technology Operations Centre which is the mission control for all 94 Olympic competition and non-competition venues. Today's launch follows the first phase of the London Prepares Series, during which the London 2012 technology team together with Atos, the lead integrator and the other technology partners have worked in partnership to deliver the IT for all the test events.
Technology Operations Centre
The Technology Operations Centre monitors and controls the IT systems that deliver the results from all the Olympic and Paralympic sports competitions to the world's media in real time. For the London 2012 Games, Atos expects to process 30 percent more results data than in Beijing ensuring the world's media meets the increasing demand of fans for information as it happens. With 8.5 billion PCs, smart phones and tablets predicted to be connected to the internet by 2012, the London Games are set to be the biggest smart Games ever.
One of the technology improvements for the London 2012 Games is that, for the first time ever in the Summer Games, all 26 Olympic sports and 5 of the Paralympic sports have been added to the Commentator Information System (CIS). This Commentator Information System provides commentators and journalists with touch-screen technology that gives results in real time, so quick they can see the results before they hear the roar of the crowd. It is also the first time broadcasters will have access both in London and their home countries to the system for all Olympic and 5 Paralympic sports.
During Games time, the Technology Operations Centre will operate at full capacity with about 450 business technologists covering 180 positions, to manage and monitor 24/7 the technology infrastructure and systems including IT security, telecommunications, power and the results systems. It will be staffed by a combined team comprising the London 2012 Technology team, Atos and the other technology partners.
London Prepare Series
The first phase of the London Prepare Series serve as the first real life practice events for not just athletes, but also the technology team, as well as the media, and the venues themselves.
During the 79 days of competition, the London 2012 technology team, Atos and all the technology partners set up and took down almost 180 servers, over 1160 PCs and laptops, 190 network and security devices and more than 400 printers and copiers. In terms of technology, the events went well. The electronic access control system, fully integrated with the accreditation system was tested during the first phase of the London Prepares Series. It checks real time that the person is accessing space where he/she is authorized.
Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee said that the technology is radically changing depending upon how spectators enjoy the Olympic Games and our longstanding worldwide partner, Atos, is playing a critical role in ensuring technology to continue and enhance the spectator experience. And he also told that IOC is very impressed with the progress of the preparations in London.
Paul Deighton, London 2012 Chief Executive, said that even though the technology often goes unnoticed and yet is absolutely critical to their success in 2012. The Games cannot happen without technology and he also expressed his happiness towards the London 2012 Technology team together with Atos and the teams of technology partners are on track to deliver the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.
Patrick Adiba, CEO at Atos for Iberia, Olympics and Major Events, said that it's an honour to be with London 2012 and their technology partners to write history with the official launch of the Technology Operations Centre the mission control for the London 2012 Games. He ensured that this will be the central technology hub providing the results to the Olympic family and world's media in less than a second, so spectators around the world can follow events in real time wherever they are and on any device.
The Technology partners for this event are:
1 Atos - Worldwide Information Technology Partner
2 Acer - Worldwide Computing Equipment Partner
3 Airwave - Official Private Mobile Radio Services Supplier
4 BT - Official Communications Services Partner
5 Cisco - Official Network Infrastructure Supporter
6 Omega - Official Timekeeper
7 Panasonic - Official AV Equipment Partner
8 Samsung - Official Wireless Communications Partner
