Building on its successful delivery of the IT systems that supported the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City in 2002 (operated as SchlumbergerSema), in Athens in 2004 and in Torino in 2006, Atos has primary responsibility for information technology including consulting, systems integration, operations management, information security and software applications development for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The Group will manage a consortium of best-of-breed technology expert partners and suppliers, under the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games’ (VANOC) technology Department supervision.

Qualifying a winning IT team for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

Right after completion of the Games in Turin, the Atos Major Events team, had already delivered key software applications for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 and begun preparations for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. In June 2006, only months after completion of the Torino 2006 Winter Games, Atos dispatched IT managers and engineers to already start working on the Vancouver project.

Currently the size of the Atos IT team in Vancouver is around 15 but the team will grow rapidly over the next couple of years. During the 2010 Winter Games, Atos will manage the technology consortium team estimated at 2,000 staff, including 400 Atos experts, made up of locally hired staff, local volunteers and overseas Olympic Games technology experts.

During the first six months the focus of the Atos team in Vancouver has been to run and staff the technology Help desk for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and on planning for the next four years.

Knowledge and Experience Transfer : a critical component

Atos is responsible for designing a complex and secure high quality IT infrastructure on time, to specification and within budget. While designing the IT architecture for each Games, Atos considers the next Games and how to transfer the knowledge gained. For the Torino 2006 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games for instance, Atos used 95% of the operational procedures and knowledge gained at the Athens Games.

The complex, massive IT infrastructure of the Olympic Games is deployed by large teams of people into different cities in different countries every other year. Such a major task is all about risk management capitalizing on the knowledge gained from previous Games Operations. This knowledge and experience transfer is critical in keeping costs down and in lowering the risk of future Olympic Games.

“The IT project for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games is moving forward on schedule," said Chief Information Officer Ward Chapin at VANOC. “This is a result of the joint efforts of VANOC and Atos IT teams, enriched by Atos' significant experience in IT support of major events. VANOC is happy with the initial results and we appreciate Atos' efforts in knowledge transfer from previous Games and building upon it according to our vision.”

“Atos has successfully delivered and secured the critical IT systems for the last edition of the Olympic Winter Games, facing the weather and transportation challenging constraints that a mountainous environment brings,” stated Magnus Alvarsson, Chief Integrator at Atos for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, “The unique experience we have gained in managing complex large-scale events will be used in Vancouver to help VANOC and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) minimizing IT-related risks and costs .”

The Atos contract with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the largest sports related IT contract covering: Salt Lake City in 2002, operated as SchlumbergerSema, Athens in 2004, Torino in 2006, Beijing in 2008, Vancouver in 2010 and London in 2012. Atos has primary responsibility for Information Technology, which is related to consulting, systems integration, operations management, information security and software applications development for the Olympic Games.


For more information about the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, visit the official web site