Olympic Park 2012

The internet has become such an essential part of our life, that I find it quite hard to believe that only the last 4 Olympics actually had a website – that is Atlanta ‘96, Sydney ‘00, Athens ‘04, and Beijing ‘08 (leaving winter games to one side for the moment). Considering that the first radio broadcast was in 1924 and the first TV coverage was in 1936 (Berlin of Jesse Owens vs Hitler fame), we have waited for a long time for a new medium of coverage.

I hope the ‘Technology Partners’ for the London 2012 Olympic Games (see list below) are ready to go for some really inspirational, efficient and sustainable IT infrastructure.

• Atos origin – Official Worldwide IT Partner to International Olympic and Paralympic Committee
• Samsung – Official Worldwide Wireless Telecommunications Equipment Olympic Partner
• BT – Official Partner to 2012 Olympic Games
• Nortel – Official Partner to 2012 Olympic Games (…but they have fallen prey to the downturn … currently operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection …more on that later)

Atos Origin, an international IT services company will be in charge of the IT system that relays results, events and athlete information to spectators and media around the world. It is estimated that games will use c. 900 servers, 1,000 network and security devices, and 8,000 computers, and all applications and equipment will have to undergo loads of testing.

As FT.com reports the supremo at Atos said:

“We are looking to reduce the amount of hardware, power consumption, air conditioning and space needed,” said Michele Hyron, Atos Origin’s chief integrator for the Olympics. The Beijing Games required some 10,000 computers and 50m sheets of paper. Ms Hyron said she hoped to reduce these levels “dramatically” in London.”

Atos needs to be bold, and to be encouraged to be so. The contract it now holds with the International Olympic Committee is the world’s largest IT-related sports contract covering the Athens 2004, Torino 2006, Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010 and London 2012. So it clearly has the confidence of the IOC, but apparently they are still not sure about server virtualisation.

“Atos and the Olympic committee are still evaluating, for example, whether or not to use server virtualisation – a fairly established technique for cutting computer power consumption – at the Games.”  FT.com

Server virtualisation uses one physical server across multiple virtual machines, that can run in isolated operating environments and applications. This reduces need for hardware, power cooling etc.  Nice article by someone who knows much much more than me. It is a young technology and not normally used for large scale ops. but perhaps this is the opportunity to take it to the next stage. If they can do it, it would be nice and maybe that could even be one more ‘legacy’ of the UK games.

So far construction crews are using IT applications inside a virtualised environment, and there is the promise to improve on Beijing in other ways.

“The London Games will also make greater use of remote information systems than any previous Olympics, streaming real-time results and coverage to broadcasters around the world and offering a single feed of all Olympics news. The tech is aimed at reducing unnecessary travel by journalists and using less paper than the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where seven million sheets were printed out.” ZDNet.co.uk

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I was quite impressed with the care being taken to preserve local wildlife in the Olympic Park and leave a green legacy for the East End of London. In the next couple of years work 45 hectares of wildlife habitats are to be made. These are the artistic impressions of what the completed work will look like during and after the games.

So far the ecology team have cleaned up some of the canal system’s waterways, and taken some of the aquatic wildlife to a nearby reserve. Local trees have also been taken to nurseries. ‘London Plane’ trees for example that have been here for up to 100 years and replanting of Crack Willion and White Willow will take place. This is a shot of a tree just south of the Olympic Park site, it is a hybrid willow and the shot is from winter 2009 so there are no leaves, but I think it still looks beautiful.

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The latest initiative announced by London Mayor Boris Johnson is a 11.5 Million pound investment in the local cycle routes and walk ways. The intention is to encourage spectators to be active, and also to improve the existing cycling infrastructure in London. I like it but not for either of these reasons.

ODA Chair John Armitt said: ‘London 2012’s aim is for 100 per cent of spectators to get to the Games using public transport, walking or cycling’. An impressive ambition to be sure, but the investment seems targeted at the walking/cycling more than the public transport side. According to Builder & Engineer Online:

“The ODA’s investment will see two new walking and cycling paths created and six more significantly improved. The new cycling paths will stretch from Finsbury Park to Victoria Park, where 5,000 new bike spaces will be provided for Games-time use, and from Epping Forest and the Wanstead Flats to Stratford.”

As a cyclist part of me is very pleased, but as everyone who has used the tube or busses in London will know, the public transport system is pretty creaky, what with having been built so long ago. There already exists a network of cyclepaths, canal towpaths and greenways that is used for commuting and it could do with a little work but nothing compared to the London underground.

Cycle route map from ODA

Perhaps the real benefit of this might be that is helps develop a ‘London Olympic brand’. Since the handover ceremony at Beijing, which most people feel was a poor representation of what UK could offer the world in 2012, Brits have not really developed an idea of how to package the games and make it uniquely ‘British’ or special. We are pretty good at being understated, but it would be a shame if this translated into a complete lack of inspiration. If ‘active spectatorship’ is one of the definining characteristics of the games, I’d be pleased. It that a ‘British’ thing? Probably, but even if it isn’t yet, it could still be.

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The Olympic Delivery authority (ODA) announced that the foundations have now been completed for the energy centre. The idea is that the energy centre is environmentally concious and uses green sources of energy.

The press release from the London 2012 Site says :

The Energy Centre will include biomass fired boilers using sustainable biomass fuels to generate heat, and a Combined Cooling Heat & Power (CCHP) plant to capture the heat generated by electricity production. This contributes significantly to ODA’s overall target to reduce carbon emissions by 50 per cent across the Olympic Park. The site-wide heat network will generate domestic hot water and heat the Aquatics Centre swimming pools and other venues and buildings. The Energy Centre design is flexible to allow future technologies to be incorporated as they are developed in years to come.
The foundations of the Energy Centre building were completed at the start of the year and work is now nearing completion to erect the steel frame of the building. Over 500 tonnes of steel used will be used in the structure which will be 45m tall at its highest point. Once the steel frame has been completed, 3,500 square metres of concrete ‘planks’ will be lifted into place to form the floors and roof of the Energy Centre.

The Energy Centre is due for completion by the end of 2009 and is expected to become operational from early 2010 when it will begin providing heated water to the Olympic Stadium. The Energy Centre will then be connected to further venues and buildings when they are completed, delivering an early legacy of essential services throughout the Olympic Park.

Work on the wider utilities infrastructure across the Olympic Park is also making strong progress. The electrical substation structure is taking shape and is due for completion in the summer. Work is also well underway on the pumping station and 1.8km foul sewer networks which are due to be operational by the end of 2009.

Some Pictures :

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