|
 |
|
|
|
Fixing Games glitches before they happen
Drawing lessons from the Atlanta 1996 debacle, technology providers SchlumbergerSema are helping Greek organisers hammer out an exhaustive information system for the Athens 2004 Olympics By John Hadoulis Here's a dilemma: how does the EU's lowest-tech country meet the gargantuan information requirements of the Athens 2004 Olympics? In 2004, Games organisers must provide a lightning-quick information feed to thousands of reporters and Olympic officials in near-zero response times. That task is shared with SchlumbergerSema, the information technology systems providers that took over from IBM as Olympic sponsor after the Sydney 2000 Games. The benchmark for failure has already been set - - ironically by the city that beat Athens to the 1996 Olympics. In media circles, Atlanta 1996 is best remembered as the Glitch Games after an information blackout left reporters groping for competition results in the dark. Some critics fear a different kind of blackout in Athens 2004 -- a real one. "It's true, here you see power outages very often," says Claude Philipps, Schlumberger summer Olympics Games manager. "[Greek organisers] took this seriously... There is a diesel generator in every venue." Given the enormity of the IT task, this is a risk that Greek organisers cannot afford to take (and money they cannot afford to save). Schlumberger calculates that the 2004 Games will require two to three times more "IT power" than the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games, their first assignment as official sponsor. For Athens, they will obtain and provide 10,000 computers, 450 servers, 2,000 faxes and copiers and 2,000 printers, plus a workforce of nearly 4,000 (3,500 of whom will be volunteers). [To read the whole article, please click here (members only). To become a member of the INV Business Network, which includes complete and unrestricted access to the entire INVgr site, please register on-line.] <<< Back to INVgr's main Athens 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games page Please carefully read our special disclaimer related to Athens 2004 Olympic Games material and information published on INVgr. INV International Ltd. is not responsible for the content of external Web sites.
Advertising
| Guest Book | E-mail | Disclaimer |
