Atos, a French based IT service and consulting company announced that it has run and orchestrated the digital IT systems that helped to safely and securely deliver the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Atos’ broad scope of responsibility in the Olympic Games included everything from program and operations management and the development and hosting of critical applications, to digital integration. Working side-by-side with the IOC (International Olympic Committee), Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and other technology partners, Atos ensured the effective digital delivery of the event.
Reducing the environmental impact of the Olympic Games
The fast-evolving secure, decarbonized, digital technology landscape brings innovation, in each edition of the Olympic Games and Tokyo 2020 was an exciting next step in the digital transformation of the Olympic Games. In line with its own groundbreaking commitments towards decarbonization and Net Zero, Atos is actively participating in global efforts to reduce the environmental impact of the Olympic Games – fully migrating all systems to the cloud, supporting key technology testing and rehearsal remotely and scaling down the number of physical servers needed for previous Olympic Games. This new delivery model enabled to reduce energy consumption, heat emanation, reduce the amount and number of resource intensive hardware infrastructures, as well as limiting the number of employees travelling to the host city. Atos will be reusing the same technologies for the Paralympic Games.
“In these unprecedented times, the support and confidence of our Worldwide Partners is now more important than ever. We are pleased to be working with Atos, our trusted guide in a period of great digital transformation, to provide the digital backbone and key digital platforms we rely on to run the Olympic Games. We are delighted to be able to keep counting on Atos to support the Olympic Movement and to help bring the Olympic values to billions of people across the globe.” said Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Tokyo 2020 in numbers
- All critical applications were hosted 100% in the Atos cloud
- 400,000 accreditations issued (up to 30% since Rio 2016) – which also served as a secure official border entry document into Japan
- 41,724 volunteers accepted through the volunteer portal
- 339 events in the Olympic Program with near-instant transmission of results to fans, journalists and broadcasters
- Billions of viewers
- 200,000 hours of technical testing during the preparations – including Olympic Games-first virtual methods to complete technology rehearsals
- Physical servers have been reduced by nearly 50% compared to previous editions – operating from 250 servers in Rio 2016 to just over 130 in Tokyo 2020
- Record breaking traffic for Olympic digital platforms (+50% users compared to Rio 2016)
- 6.5 M users of the official Olympic website during the first days of the Olympic Games
“Members of the Atos team are champions behind the scenes, and I am extremely proud of their hard work and dedication,” said Elie Girard, Atos CEO. “We brought our trusted digital expertise and 30-year experience to ensure the successful delivery of the Olympic Games. By quickly adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Atos family has shown flexibility and has leveraged its digital security expertise to enable fans and all stakeholders worldwide to keep track of their favorite athletes – which is a fantastic achievement, as these Olympic Games were the most connected in history.”
Atos provided critical digital solutions to Tokyo 2020, including Games Management Systems supporting the planning and operations of the Olympic Games and Information Diffusion Systems delivering real-time results to the media and the Olympic family. Atos also secured the entire IT infrastructure, leveraging its expertise in digital cybersecurity and as number #2 managed services provider worldwide. Its centralized and cloud-based security services included a Security Operations Center (SOC), a Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT), endpoint detection & response and vulnerability assessment services.
As part of the digital innovations of the Tokyo 2020, Atos also implemented edge computing technology allowing reduced processing time and developed the most innovative Advanced Access Control System in history, which integrates facial recognition.