It is crunch time for IT staff at the
Beijing Olympics, with opening ceremony taking place at
lunchtime today, UK time.
It represents the culmination of four years of preparation for
the IT professionals involved in making the event happen.
The IT infrastructure of the games has been up and running 24
hours a day
for three weeks, but
chief integrator Jeremy Hore admitted last week he was feeling
nervous about the first few days of the event.
"There are millions of things that could keep you awake at
night," he said. "There is no one big problem, but the technology
is very complex, anything can happen and there are lots of small
things."
Atos Origin leads a nine-strong supplier consortium which has
designed and managed all the Olympics IT systems. The 2008 games
are technologically advanced, with a network of sensors and staff
entering results as winners are announced. This is relayed to media
around the Olympics sites - and all over the world - in real-time
by the commentator information system.
The opening ceremony - happening at 8pm Beijing time - is being
shown on 24 giant screens across the city, but residents who do not
have tickets have been asked to stay at home to watch the show, to
ease congestion on the roads.
The Chinese government has spent more than £20bn on the Games,
but has not been able to clear the city of its notorious smog.