The Paris 2024 data lab is located in Madrid

The JJ. YES. from Paris they start their countdown. The management of information technology (IT) is important. How can we get instant results and statistics from all Olympic events? The laboratory Integration Testing Lab of the company Atos, based in Madridtest and validate digital transformation.

These tests are carried out in Integration Testing Lab (ITL) that Atos has in Madridin collaboration with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 (OCOG), international sports federations and technology partners from around the world.

The purpose of this campaign is to validate the operations of some key systems for the success of the Games and to maintain the best services during the event, regardless of the scenarios and periods of maximum activity, as well as to verify operating procedures and interfaces. with the providers and report the progress of the exams to the various organizers.

When the Olympic flame lights up the Paris sky on July 26, 2024, this laboratory will be able to conduct more than 250,000 hours of tests. At the moment, tests are carried out using real data and scenarios from previous appointments, although from July 2023, new data from qualified competitions will be introduced into the test campaign.

“The planning is designed in a five-year cycle. For example, for Paris 2024, we will start with the planning phase (2020) followed by design (2021), construction (2022), testing (2023) and operation (2024)”, announced Nacho Moros, head of operations of large Atos events.

Europe’s leader in digital transformation

Atos is considered the leading digital transformation company at a European level in the cloud computing and cybersecurity sector. It has 110,000 employees, annual revenue of 11,000 million euros, offers integrated solutions in 69 countries and is listed on Euronext Paris.

For the 2024 Games, around sixty Atos experts are leading the test campaigns from operational units dedicated to each area of ​​sport and competition, spread over a thousand square meters of laboratory surface area in Madrid, where 33% of the team are women.

The size of this laboratory can be summarized in numbers such as the 43 service units used, the 220 terminals to access the virtual machines, the eight servers used or the 64 virtual machine to test applications of sports results.

“Hosting the Games is like starting a new company every two years,” expressing Charles von Prabucki, CEO of Atos Spain, during EFE’s visit to its headquarters in Madrid, which will be empty a month before the Games with the transfer of all staff to Paris.

The laboratory can test the performance the Olympic Management System (WHO) and the Olympic Broadcasting System (ODS). Both provide essential services to all parties interested in the Games such as athletes, coaches, commentators, fans or journalists. Together, WHO and ODS guarantee the centralization of information and communication between those involved.

He Olympic Management System is responsible for the requested 500,000 accreditation, competition calendar, voting applications of athletes who participate in the decision-making processes of the IOC in its commissions, the Volunteer Portal, where there are 300,000 candidates who have to leave 50,000 , and the management of operating teams.

He Olympic Broadcasting SystemFor its part, it is in charge of announcing the results of 878 sporting events in real time to the media and the Olympic and Paralympic family. This includes the so-called ‘Commentary Information System’ (CIS), which provides reporters with results and statistics from the field, as well as biographical information and athletes’ careers.

Also the Web Results System (WRS) and Results Mobile Application (RMA) provide information on the outcome of the competitions to millions of fans around the world while the Olympic Data Feed (ODF) centers on the results and statistics collected by the On-Venue Results (OVR) system.

“For some End Games, 200,000 employees are needed, 54 locations, there are 4,000 million customers worldwide and 24/7 information is provided,” underlined Angels Martín, general manager of Atos Spain.

commitment to the environment

Atos has deployed a sustainable and replicable operational solution since the PyeongChang Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2018 to reduce the number of servers and the environmental impact of event technology. In this way, the number of physical servers used in the Tokyo 2020 Games is more than half that compared to previous events.

This model includes the Madrid Laboratory, the Central Technology Operations Center (CTOC) in Barcelona and the Technology Command and Control Center (TOC) located in each host city during the Games.

“The Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris are called the most connected. To this end, our ITL teams are fully mobilized with the Olympic authorities and their technology partners during this critical testing phase. Throughout these phases, we increase the amount of data in anticipation of the demands placed on our systems to ensure their reliability,” said Patrick Adiba, Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Major Events at Atos.

Atos’ relationship with the Olympic movement goes back a long way, as it has been one of the main IT providers since 1989, when the company provided its services to the Barcelona’92 Games Organizing Committee, although only until 2001. became the preferred partner for its technology development.