After months of preparation the start of the Commonwealth Games is finally here!
Thousands of athletes, spectators, volunteers and officials are now arriving in Glasgow ready for the 11 days of competition, and as the official IT Hardware and Data Centre supporter, we couldn’t be more excited to be providing the technology critical to helping make the games a success.
Technology is often seen as the unsung hero of sport and for Glasgow 2014 there’s a huge reliance on technology to ensure everything runs smoothly in what will be a highly pressurized environment.
Our teams have been working hand-in-hand with the Glasgow 2014 organising committee for close to two years to help ensure that everything runs to schedule without any problems. In addition to the hardware and data centre support, we’re also primed and ready to provide the high level of service required to ensure the Game’s computing environment works and that we can quickly resolve any issues should they occur.
In the lead-up to the Games, we’ve also been asking our athlete ambassadors to get involved in a number of local community programmes to help young students and businesses get excited about sport in general and the Commonwealth Games in particular. Recent examples include cyclist Elinor Barker leading a session with local Glasgow charity Action4Kids on the positive influence of sport, Paralympic champion swimmer Sam Hynd hosting a swimming session with Elite Athlete students from Strathclyde University, and Athletics team member Lynsey Sharp supporting a sports day at Golfhill Primary School.
Finally, we’ve been working hard to ensure our role won’t just stop when the Games end. We want to find opportunities to leave a lasting and positive legacy for the people of Glasgow by identifying ways for our Games technology infrastructure to be used for ongoing community or business purposes. Stay tuned for more to come on that!
For those of you that haven’t been following our journey to the games, here are some key facts:
- Glasgow 2014 has 46 sponsors, including Dell as the official IT Hardware and Data Centre supporter.
- Our solution includes 2,400 desktops and laptops, 2,300 monitors, 50 servers and storage solutions.
- 123 terabytes of storage will be provided during the games – enough to hold 80+ million photos.
- Details of 50,000+ applicants for 15,000 volunteer places are being held securely on Dell Servers.
- Apart from the Technology Operations Centre, 40 different venues will use our technology.
- Results captured within the arenas will be displayed instantaneous to spectators outside the venues.
- 6,772 athletes and officials will keep in touch with family and friends using Dell tablets.
- The Games Data Network, underpinned by Dell systems, will transmit results at the speed of light.
It’s been a long and action packed journey to the Games and we’re delighted they’re finally here.
Please be sure to check out some of the videos like the one below that we’ve developed for further information about our role and show your support for our athlete ambassadors.
Lynsey Sharp, Elinor Barker and Oliver Hynd (MBE) will all be competing in Glasgow, so be sure to cheer them on with the #TeamDell hashtag on Twitter and follow the conversation at @thecgf, @delluk, @glasgow2014.