The Olympics: How IT & Telecom Win
By: Kim Cullen
The evolution of technology and computer equipment has changed the way we live our everyday lives. Each person reading this article is in a profession of buying, selling, servicing, or maintaining IT equipment as part of their career choice. Each person reading this article is also influenced by technology and IT equipment on a daily basis by buying groceries at a store which uses POS equipment, stopping at a red light which is controlled by a computer cycling the light rotation and this Winter watching the Olympic Games online from your personal computer or on your new flat screen television at home. The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games will host around 3,000 athletes from all over the world competing for Olympic games records and world records in different sports and events including hockey, figure skating, speed skating, skiing, bobsledding and more. The Olympic worldwide athletes have been able to throw farther, ski faster, jump higher and cycle longer with the help of computers and technology evolutions. The International community has also been able to take part in viewing these amazing athletes break records thanks to ever evolving technology software and equipment.
It was 1912 in Stockholm, Sweden when equipment was first used for photo finishes in Olympic Track races and events. At these Olympic Games, electronic timing devices were used, unofficially. It was not until 1932 at the Games in Los Angeles, California that the stopwatch and photo finish were used officially to determine an Olympic games winner. Today, the timing and photo finishes are produced by the Omega Scan’O'Vision camera. This camera takes up to two thousand images per second. At each snapshot a time is associated and then the image is shifted. The remote control of the camera lens is managed directly from a computer. Similar technology is used to help athletes train for the Olympic Games and other competitive events. Viewing and analyzing their swim stroke or high jump angle of their body helps athletes and their coaches push themselves to their best performance, frame by frame. In 2007, AT&T announced that it had achieved a complete technology and equipment overhaul at three Olympic Training Centers across the United States. The new circuit has further helped the US Olympic Team and coaching staff connect and improve.
In the 1924 Paris, France Olympic games, the first technological turning point focused on the fans of the games. It was at the 1924 Olympic games when the radio broadcasted the games live for the first time. The Berlin, Germany 1936 Olympics were the first Games to be televised and broadcasted locally in Germany. International viewers in 1936 were given the opportunity to know the results by telex, a global teleprinter routing network, and newsreel film delivered days after the events. In Melbourne, Australia at the 1956 Olympic Games, a live International broadcast of the Games on television premiered. However, because the boycotts and political turmoil of the Games in 1956, many viewers were only able to see a select few pre-recorded events. The Tokyo, Japan 1964 Olympics were the first to be viewed by satellite with live telecast seen globally. At the Beijing, China 2008 Olympic Games, coverage was not only broadcasted globally via satellite but was also available for online viewing in real time. In the United States, NBC Universal shot over 3600 hours of Olympic coverage that aired on its multiple HD television channels and had available games online via live broadband coverage.
The 2002 Salt Lake City, Utah Winter Olympic Games featured computers to track and certify access to all of the athletes, coaches, media and tourists from around the world attending the Games. Results of each game were also compiled, analyzed and sent to worldwide website visitors and reporters in real time. Thousands of computers in the Salt Lake City Olympics were provided by multiple IT equipment and service providers including Qwest Communications. IBM was the main provider and technology sponsor of the Olympic Games for 40 years, starting in 1960. IBM did not renew its sponsorship as of 1998. The Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008 included over 300,000 pieces of equipment furnished by Lenovo, the sole hardware provider of the 2008 Games.
The 2010 Winter Olympic Games are the first Olympics to converge all voice, video and data traffic over a single IP-based network. Bell Canada, the Telecommunications Partner, and Nortel, the equipment provider, have been working hard to provide security and reliability in voice, video, data and broadcast services for the Winter Games.
The upcoming Winter 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver will have their IT needs met by Atos Origin. Atos Origin has the responsibility for information technology including consulting, systems integration, operations management, information security and software applications development. The first IT managers and engineers to start working on the Vancouver project nearly 4 years ago in 2006. The Technology Operations Centre for the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver include 800 Servers, 6,000 Computers, 4,000 Printers, result system terminals, including CIS and Intranet terminals. Over 100,000 hours of testing are said to have taken place to ensure the Technology Operations Centre is reading for the Olympic Games.
For fans of the Olympic Games, Acer is currently promoting its Olympic Edition Laptop, Acer Aspire Timeline AS4810TZ-4183. Microsoft is offering a contest based around the Olympic games to showcase how Office 2010 technology allows users to share and collaborate across the PC, phone and browser. The winners of Microsoft’s contest will be blogging alongside the press using the Microsoft Office 2010 technology to report on the Olympic Games.
Computers and technology advancements will continue to push our athletes to reach new heights, manufacturers and service providers to build impressive equipment and networks, as well as allow the Global Community to enjoy the Olympic Games. As technology helps bring the world together this summer for the Olympic Games, most countries put aside political and religious differences to focus on the events and amazing worldwide athletes. Enjoy watching the Olympic Games this February.
