Atos has a two-week window to switch its technology over for the Paralympics, with the outsourcer saying the tight timescale is the biggest challenge.
The Paralympics has 21 sporting disciplines compared to 36 for the Olympics. For each discipline, there are disability categories and classifications to organise athletes according to their level of impairment.
The IT systems need to be updated to include these changes and alignment to the federation rules for each sport. The technology used for the Olympics and Paralympics is the same, only deployed in a smaller number of venues.
“The media starts arriving several days before the Opening Ceremony. At the same time, we have to manage the accreditation system for the Paralympics,” the official IT integrator for the Games told Computer Weekly.
“Where the same venue is used for both the Olympics and Paralympics, we simply transition to the Paralympics system. Where the venue was not used for Olympics, such as Eton Manor for wheelchair tennis, then a new deployment will take place at the Paralympic venue,” it said.
At the end of the event all equipment will be decommissioned and brought back to the Equipment Deployment Centre. London 2012 organiser Locog will then decide what happens to it at the end of the Games.
