Atos Powers 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics with Cutting-edge IT and AI Solutions

Atos, the worldwide IT partner for the Summer and Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, invited a group of industry analysts to the 2024 Paris Olympics. The goal of the event was to show Atos in action during the Games with a tour of the Technology Operations Center in Paris, which is one of the three locations responsible for delivering IT services and keeping the Games running. The analysts also attended a swimming competition event at Paris La Defense Arena, to experience the secure and digital experience provided by Atos and its partners in running the IT systems behind the Games.

The Olympics Must Run Flawlessly; There Are No Second Chances

Atos utilized its well-established expertise in the sports and entertainment industry to provide IT services for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics and enable a secure and digital experience for end users, which typically amounts to a total of approximately 4 billion viewers globally. Atos has been providing services for the Olympic Movement since 1989. Atos established its relationship with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as a Worldwide IT Partner in 2001 and provided IT services for the first Winter Olympics in 2002 in Salt Lake City. Providing uninterrupted running of the IT systems behind the Olympics every two years requires dedication and strict execution of processes and timelines.

 

According to Angels Martin, general manager Olympics at Atos, “Olympics challenges are similar to other projects; the difference is visibility [of the Games]. No one will postpone the opening ceremony because Atos is not ready.” Martin also explained that cybersecurity management is a vital activity that Atos provides as the Games are one of the most targeted events in terms of cyberattacks, which could threaten the smooth functioning of the Olympics. She also stated that the Games are complex to manage with multiple parties, such as the IOC, sports federations, broadcasters and journalists, requiring services and access to information 24/7 from anywhere on any device. Martin also noted that demand for information has changed significantly since the first engagement 30 years ago, and today Atos is applying AI-driven solutions to enable processes for the Games. For example, Atos used AI solutions for the 2024 Paris Olympics to support the Organising Committees for the Olympic Games in providing scenarios for matching volunteers with job positions based on skills and abilities. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Atos provided an AI solution for facial recognition for venue access using accreditation.

Atos Integrates Critical IT Systems and Manages Partners to Run the Games

Atos is responsible for integrating critical IT systems, managing programs with IT vendors that deliver services for the Organising Committees for the Olympic Games, supporting critical applications for the Games and providing security services to enable smooth and uninterrupted running of the Games. For example, for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics Atos operated the Olympic Management System, which included a volunteer portal, a workforce management system, athlete voting applications, sport entries and qualifications, competition schedule and accreditation. Atos was responsible for the Olympic Diffusion System, which contained Olympic data feed, web results, mobile apps for results, a Commentator Information System, an information system for journalists called MyInfo, and a print distribution system. Atos was also responsible for cloud orchestration between private cloud, public cloud services and data centers at venues.

 

Additionally, Atos applied its expertise around working with a diverse group of technology partners to help run the Games and provided systems integration of applications with other IT providers and partners. Atos integrated partners, such as technology providers, media, the IOC, Organising Committees for the Olympic Games, and security providers, to ensure efficient delivery, operations, timelines and venue management activities. Atos also helped coordinate responses on daily activities and addressed critical events when they occurred. For example, Atos worked with Omega, the timing and scoring sponsor of the 2024 Paris Olympics, to relay results and data to spectators globally in real time. Omega captured raw data around timing and scoring, fed the results into scoreboards and videoboards at venues jointly with Panasonic, and provided data to Atos to feed into the Commentator Information System.

Atos’ Olympics and Paralympics Achievements

Achievements from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2024 Paris Olympics show the magnitude of work Atos provides. There are approximately 900 events that Atos has to manage to be able to transmit results instantly from competition and noncompetition venues. The company utilized the volunteer portal to process 200,000 volunteer applications prior to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and the number of volunteer applications swelled to 300,000 for the 2024 Paris Olympics. According to Atos, one of the most complex activities around managing people for the Olympic and Paralympic Games is assigning volunteers to the large number of necessary positions. For the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics, Atos innovated the volunteers’ assignment process by implementing an optimized pre-assignment scenario model and an AI-based solution that utilized constraint logic programming to improve position matchups. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Atos issued 535,000 accreditations through the system and established 350 accreditation checkpoints with facial recognition in all competition and noncompetition venues. Additionally, cloud usage at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics enabled Atos to reduce by 50% the number of physical servers at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and improve sustainability.

Every Two Years Atos Organizes Upcoming Games

Typically, pre-project activities for each Olympic Games begin six years prior to the event. For example, pre-project activities for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics began in 2018, and planning began in 2020 with the development of a master plan and strategy and related responsibilities matrix. In November 2020 Atos appointed the first core team for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics. In 2021 Atos began designing business requirements and systems infrastructure and established a test lab, and in 2022 the company initiated the building of systems and expanded the testing facility. In June 2023 Atos launched testing activities such as integration tests, acceptance tests, systems tests, events tests and multisport tests to prepare for operating the Games in 2024. During the first several months of 2024, Atos worked on venue deployment, disaster recovery and technical rehearsals.

 

For example, between May 13 and May 17 Atos completed the final technology rehearsal for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics. The rehearsals, which took place across different locations in Paris and other sites of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, were designed to test IT policies and procedures and how well IT teams can collaborate and handle real-time situations that may impact the Games. Atos is the IT integration leader and coordinates with the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and with experts and technology partners. The technology rehearsals were conducted in 39 venues, including Atos’ Central Technology Operations Center in Barcelona, Spain, and venues specific to the Games, such as Atos’ Technology Operations Center in Paris, the Main Press Center, The Stade de France and competition venues.

 

The Olympic Games resemble a large-scale international corporation mobilizing approximately 300,000 people for the duration of the Games. Atos provides IT services with teams located in the host city and in Atos’ facilities in Poland, Morocco and Spain, and serves more than 4 billion customers globally competition results. While every two years Atos must set up a new organization for each Summer and Winter Games, the company has a well-established process and experience with starting over again. Every two years Atos establishes a Technology Operations Center (TOC) in the host city of the Summer and Winter Games. The TOC is the technology command and control center that houses teams from Atos, the IOC, the Organising Committees for the Olympic Games and other technology partners. The TOC consists of approximately 300 people who are coordinated by Atos and available 24/7 while the Olympics and Paralympics are running. Atos also has a Central Technology Operations Center (CTOC) in Barcelona, which is organized in a similar manner as the TOC in the host city. The CTOC delivers remote support during competitions and critical events, such as the volunteer campaigns, and orchestrates applications for the Games, and consists of approximately 80 people who provide services around operations, architecture, security, infrastructure and data management. Atos also has an Integration Testing Lab in Madrid that manages system testing for the Games.

 

Atos Adds New clients in the Sports and Entertainment Industry

Atos’ engagement with the IOC ends with the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics. However, Atos has been expanding its client roster in the sports and entertainment industry, applying its vast experience gained from the Olympics. In December 2022 Atos signed an eight-year deal with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to be the official technology partner for men’s national team competitions. Atos is assisting UEFA in managing, improving and optimizing its technology landscape and operations. Atos is also managing and securing the hybrid cloud environment and infrastructure that hosts UEFA’s services, applications and data. In July Atos announced that it had successfully delivered key IT services and applications supporting the UEFA EURO 2024 from June 14 to July 14. Atos supported UEFA systems such as accreditation, access control solutions and competition solutions. Atos managed core IT systems through its football service platform and stored and distributed UEFA football data to stakeholders. Atos is the official IT partner of UEFA National Team Football until 2030.

 

Conclusion

Atos has a well-established position and history of operating in the sports and entertainment industry. Expanding its client roster with organizations such as UEFA will help the company maintain its reputation as a reliable IT services provider and innovation partner for major events. Enabling the running of complex events such as the Summer and Winter Olympic Games and the UEFA EURO 2024 championship provides global visibility of Atos’ capabilities and brand and enables the company to augment its client base in the industry.