6‑1

6 Games Management Operation Centres

Summary of Technology Management andOperation in the Tokyo 2020 GamesYOSHIDA Tadashiro

KASAI Hideo

YAMAGUCHI Kazuhiko

Olympic and Paralympic Games is one of the worldʼs largest technology projects in terms of the number of equipment
and human resources It is also a global project conducted by staff not only from all over the world but from various
technological area of many affiliated companies Therefore management of technology was crucial for the success of theGames This article describes the activities of technology management at the Tokyo 2020 Games dividing into threephases Planning Operational Readiness and Operational
Keywords：Tokyo 2020 Games Technology management Operation centre Test event COVID‑19

1．Foreword
The Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020

success of the Games to manage the technology because
the organization started with no knowledge of the
Olympic and Paralympic Gamesand many staff(hereinafter referred to as “Tokyo 2020 Games”)

members from home and abroad joined just before theprovided a variety of technology services at 190 venues

Games

including 43 competition venues such as time results

High‑quality technology services were realized byand scoring distribution of competition results elec-

strong governance from the Technology Operation

tronic judging systems video and audio distribution forCentre (TOC) standardized equipment configuration atbroadcastingand information systems for Gamesthe Equipment Deployment Centre (EDC) and the

management The following two points can be cited asincident management process in an easy‑to‑understanddifficulties in the operation of technology in Olympic andmanner with the Technology Call Centre (TCC) which

Paralympic GamesThe first is the large scale ofserved as the first contact from users (1) The details of

operation as represented by 17 000 PCs 16 000 network

each of these centres are described in the articles thatdevices and 15 000 technology operation staff at thefollow and this article summarizes the overall technol-Tokyo 2020 Games The other one is that most of theogy management

staff have no experience of sporting events althoughTechnology management was divided into threesome of them such as the time and scoring staff havephases same as in the past Games : Planning Phase fromhad in the past Games It was a major challenge for thethe launch of the organization in 2014 to around March
2019 Operational Readiness Phase (preparation) fromYOSHIDA Tadashiro
Technology Services Bureau The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic
and Paralympic GamesKASAI Hideo
Technology Services Bureau The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic
and Paralympic GamesYAMAGUCHI KazuhikoTechnology Services Bureau The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic
and Paralympic Games

April 2019 to around May 2021 and Operational Phase

The Journal of The Institute of Electronics Information and Communication Engineers Vol 105 No 8 Supplement pp 301‑306 August 2022

Games were the first Games ever held amid a COVID‑19© 2022 The Institute of Electronics Information and Communication Engineersfrom June 2021 onward (Table 1)

The following

sections summarize each of these phases Countermeasures of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) aredescribed in the Operational Phase The Tokyo 2020
outbreak A special support team was established andSpecial Issue : Technology and Innovation in the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020301

Table 1

Three Phases of Technology Management

Planning Phase

Operational Readiness Phase

Operational Phase

PeriodApril 2014‑March 2019

April 2019‑May 2021

June‑September 2021

Main
Activities

・Requirements definition for technology services
・Determination of technology architecture and solutions
・Implementation of each service
・Planning of network and equipment
allocation at each venue
・Definition of operational policies andprocedures・Test events to verify the operation of
the technology services
・Technology rehearsals to ensure
prompt incident response
・Disaster recovery exercises to confirm
response to major data centre failures
・Tabletop exercises to confirm incident
response at each venue

・Installation of equipment at venues
・Operation during the Olympic Games・Transition from Olympic Games to
Paralympics
・Operation during the Paralympic
Games・Removal of equipment at venues

operated because infection of technology staff working(PnP) were defined to ensure reliable operation and tofor time and scoring for instance could have affected theenable a quick and flexible response to various incidents

operation of the Games itself

The operational structure was designed to be similar tothe past Games consisting of three levels : TCC venue
and TOC

2．Planning Phase

All incidents from service users werereported through TCC and escalated to the venue and/The Planning Phase was a phase in which technology
services and their operation were defined and imple-

or TOC depending on the complexity and importance of
the incident

mented Since many stakeholders of the Games who

In this Planning Phase change of specification thatwould use the services had the experience of the pastwould affect other areas occurred frequently Because

Games the services such as what to whom and where

the large number of people involved in the Games it waswere determined based on the past Games in theimportant for all parties of stakeholders to share thebeginning in order to avoid a confusion in the Gameslatest information at all times and to communicate

operation Then solutions and operational procedures

frequently

including following items were defined and implemented :･

3．Operational Readiness Phase

The architecture of the network information
system infrastructure cyber security etc

Operational Readiness Phase was a phase to confirm
the service operations defined in the Planning Phase and･

Solutions for each technology area

to train staff through practical events Four large‑scale･Service levels such as response time and recovery

and operationally important activities from the various
exercises and rehearsals conducted

time
･
･

Requirements of the venue

such as room

structure network power supply desk layout etc･

are described

below

Details of equipment allocation

Operational policies and standard procedures ofoperation

31

Test Events

Test Events were a series of events held approximately one year (two years for Tokyo 2020 Gamesbecause of the postponement of the Games due to the

For example only a few types of hardware were used

COVID‑19) to six months before the Games in which

But the final number of models reached

the Organising Committee international and national

approximately 70 since the components of peripherals

federations volunteers partner companies and otherand software differed according to each service The

Games officials participate to conduct the sporting event

Technology Equipment Allocation Plan (TEAP) wasat the Tokyo 2020 Games venue The purpose of thedefined as a deployment plan which showed which

event was to confirm the overall operational readiness offor PCsmodels and how many pieces should be installed in every

the Games including competition management venue

room of every venue

management various technology services information

In addition more than 400 Policies and Procedures
302

security and staffing

THE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONICS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERS

In the Tokyo 2020 Games 56 events were held andbers to familiarize procedures and communication who

technology services were provided for the following

took on Games roles for the first time and ran the event

purposes :In addition it was a good opportunity to understand eachotherʼs activities during the Games time Their roles･

Confirmation of the operation of the technology
services･

Provision of services for the operation of otherbusiness areas･

Pre‑installation of infrastructure for the Games()

Confirmation of the Operation of the Technology Services

between TOC and venue staff sometimes were swapped
for better understanding Debriefing sessions were held
after the test events to discuss good points and areas of
improvement that needed to be shared with the staff tobe joined later
32

Technology Rehearsals

Technology Rehearsals (TRs) were large‑scaleTechnology services to be used at the Games were

exercises to confirm the procedures for incidents whichchecked from the perspective of operating them in thewere held four to two months before the Gamesactual venue environment It was determined in which

Whereas the test events focused on experiencing thetest events staff members needed to participate and at

operational aspects of the competition the TRs con-which points needed to be checked to optimize costs andfirmed the readiness of the IT infrastructure

future risk based on the viewpoints of the complexity

systems

and difficulty of the time results and scoring operation

processes through incident response More than 1 500

whether a competition was newly introduced at thepeople participated including the Organising Commit-

Tokyo 2020 Games or not and so on Since the task oftee volunteers relevant delivery partners the Interna-

volunteers was important for the timing and scoringtional Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Organisingsystems in some of the events volunteers participated toCommittees from future Gamessupport model

staffingITand operational

check their tasks as well as the technology staff The golf

TR exercises simulated or triggered actual problems

test event found concerns about the English communica-that might occur at the Games time with scenarios basedtion skills of volunteers However we were able toon incidents that had occurred in the past Games The

prevent problems by increasing training opportunities atincidents covered a broad range of problems including

the venue in preparation period

sudden absences of staff members cable cuts system
malfunctions unexpected competition delays etc The()

Provision of Services for the Operation of OtherTR Officers (TROs) selected from the IOC and partner

Business Areas

companies informed the staff members of the occurrence

The operation of the Games required a variety ofof problems and/or changes in the situation according totasks such as transportation of athletes and admission

a progression procedure called a scenario and the staff

management Hence the tasks to be checked at each test

members took the correct actions according to theevent were different the technology services to beprocedure manual for their roles

provided differed accordingly Therefore it was neces-TRs were taken place twice TR1 and TR2 TR1 wassary to provide technology without any gaps according

conducted for three days in March 2020 mainly toto the test plans of each business area It was a goodevaluate the operation of the competition results in theopportunity to discuss the detailed role and responsibil-

distribution system at the Integration Testing Lab

ity among related stakeholders of the Games(ITL) in Europe Although the number of actual venues
used in Tokyo was limited to seven the ITL operated

Pre‑installation of Infrastructure for the Gamesthe results distribution system for all competitions with

Network equipment and cablings were not removed

more than 500 scenarios (about 300 types) for 33()

and remained in use until the Games at the venues thatcompetitions

could be exclusively used for Tokyo 2020 from the test

TR2 was originally planned for May 2020 but was

event to the Games This significantly reduced the time

postponed to June 2021 due to the COVID‑19 It wasand cost of re‑installation

conducted at 25 venues for three days with a cumulative

The Test Events were to confirm operations but they

total of 1 200 scenarios (about 600 types) 60 scenarios

also provided an important opportunity for staff mem-

were conducted at the Olympic Stadium (National

Special Issue : Technology and Innovation in the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020

303

Stadium) which was the largest venue for Tokyo 2020

infrastructure were clarified in the preparation period ofGames A total of 37 scenarios were conducted forthe exercise

infectious disease control which was a new challenge

procedure of restoring the authentication server from its

due to the COVID‑19 TR2 participants included many

backup data but also the procedure of recovery forpeople from overseas such as the IOC and the Paris 2024

important systems to run individually without theOrganising Committee who followed the strict entry/

authentication server by changing the configuration to

The exercise clarified not only theThis DRR3 achieved a practical andexit and action rules of infectious disease control

disconnect it

regulated by the Japanese Government and the Playbook

effective exercise for service restoration from thedefined by the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee This

incident of a large‑scale disaster or cyberattack

operational experience was useful for infection control at
34

the time of the Games period
TRs were effective and last practical opportunity

Tabletop Exercise

The purpose of the tabletop exercise is to confirm theto improve the proficiency andprocess flow of the response to incidents and theunderstanding of the procedures of staff They learned

communication procedures among stakeholders Nor-the importance of quick prioritization and action as wellmally this exercise is conducted just before the Gamesas sharing information and communication to enable

when all staff members are present but for the Tokyo

quick actions

2020 Games it was conducted for a longer period frombefore the Games

August 2020 to April 2021 for venue staff and from
33

December 2020 to January 2021 for TOC staff because

Disaster Recovery Rehearsal

Disaster Recovery Rehearsal (DRR) was an exercise

of following reasons : () there was one‑year blankto ensure smooth restoration of services in the event of

because of the postponement of the Games due to thean unexpected disaster or security incident that would

COVID‑19 and (significantly affect the operation of critical equipment

the Tokyo 2020 Games TR scenarios were used in theand systems

exercise and the findings of TR1 were re‑shared to

For the Tokyo 2020 Games

three DRRs were) many staff members left/re‑joined

improve the knowledge level of the staff

conducted between October 2020 and April 2021 Data

Four sets of scenarios were prepared for venue staff

Centres were implemented in the host city of each

Four rounds of the exercise using each set of scenarios

Games conventionally however the transition to cloudfor each round were conducted for a total of 170 people

computing was promoted from PyeongChang 2018

who already joined The venue staff was divided into

System services provided by worldwide partners weregroups of four to six people with a mixture of technology

offered using Data Centres in Europe For this reason

venue managers and venue IT managers One of seven

DRR1 in October 2020 was conducted for a group ofcore staff members was assigned as a facilitator to eachservices located in European Data Centres and con-session and triggered five to seven scenarios in thefirmed that the primary Data Centre switched over to asession Other activities included a study session on

backup secondary Centre within two hours as planned

technology services by service owners and decision‑

While many services were migrated to the cloud

making and communication procedures to remove large

environment the Data Centre in Tokyo also operated aequipment in the event of a typhoon

critical system exclusively for the Tokyo 2020 Games

Group training used to be an in‑person exercise at the

DRR2 in March 2020 confirmed the migration proce-

past Games The tabletop exercise above howeverdures work time and communication system for thesemade extensive use of online conferencing and e‑

services Through this exercise we were able to identify

learning because of COVID‑19 infection control

configuration problems and shorten the recovery time

addition e‑learning which enabled self‑learning was

DRR3 in March 2021 expanded the scope with aeffective for staff members who joined after the tabletop

scenario in which the authentication servers were down

exercise because it was difficult to find time for groupdue to a cyberattack in addition to confirming improve-

training so that each staff member could move to thements from DRR2 regarding the failover

becausevenue and start their work as it was getting closer to thePyeongChang 2018 was suffered from a cyberattack on

opening of the Games Remote training using ICT isthe opening ceremony day The criticality and priority of

expected to become more and more important in theeach service and its dependency on the systemfuture304

THE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONICS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERS

In

Four major activities in the Operational Readiness
Phase elicited the following findings :and prompt identification of close contact person whenfound positive On the other hand overseas staff faced
many problems when entering Japan The entry of･･The person in charge of each technology area

overseas staff required government permission which

needed to understand the entire related architec-

was to be processed through Tokyo2020 ICON How-

ture to give a prompt and accurate response to theever there were many cases where registration was notincident reports because information systems andcompleted in time before entry or inconsistencies of

networks varied and related to each otherregistration information occurred because the system

The communication channels among the opera-

was released just before the entry The team had totional centres of the business units needed to besolve these issues with irregular paper procedures In

established and all staff members needed to haveaddition there were many incidents such as a delay infull knowledge of the communication process so thatthe immigration process due to incomplete PCR‑nega-

the incident reports on technology could be esca-

tive certificates at the time of entry into Japan

lated promptly･

The team accomplished their mission to coordinate

The fundamental procedure needed to be definedwith airports and travel agencies from early in thefor managers and other members in each technol-

morning to late at night to handle infected staff and toogy areaso that advanced incident scenarios

follow up on sudden illnesses without any problems

which caused complicated incidents simultaneously

despite the late recruitment and teaming of the staff justcould be integrated for practical exercises

before the Games As a result the team supported 642
technology‑related overseas staff members entering

4．Operational Phase
The Operational Phase includes both the period of theJapan in July including 112 staff members entering only
for July 15 They worked around the clock to register
information into the system

handled incidents andcompetition and the installation of venues beforehandarranged transportation for those who could not register

Service level such as response time to an incident wentin the system or enter the country due to insufficient

up in this phase because one incident could be critical for

certificates PCR testing subject to the playbook was

the overall Games operations TOC provided 24‑hour

conducted for 14 637 technology‑related staff members

support to the venues with a total of 551 experts of all

including volunteers during the Games time Althoughtechnical areas in 171 positions TOC detected and24 people tested positive during the Games

resolved problems proactively through twice‑daily

identification and follow‑up of persons with close

status review meetings held with key managers from allcontacts prevented the outbreak of cluster infections andtechnical areas and also through coordination meetings

minimized the impact on the Gameʼs operation

thewith all business functional managers of the Games Thissection focuses on the COVID‑19 handling

5．Conclusion

Countermeasures against COVID‑19 were urgently
needed just before the Games which caused special

This article has summarized the technology manage-

immigration procedures for overseas staff transportment of the Tokyo 2020 Games dividing it into three

between airports hotels and venues arrangement ofphases Planning Operational Readiness and Operation-

designated accommodation PCR tests for all technology

al Phase

staff including Japanese local staff and health monitoring A specialized support team with six staff was

Although Olympic and Paralympic Games has alreadysophisticatedsystems

andoperational

processes

established hastily in TOC The team developed andthroughout their long history it is crucial to implement

disseminated a guidebook on infectious disease counter-

technology services according to the evolution of

measures They also managed necessary information bytechnology and to adjust the difference in role andusing Tokyo2020 ICON an infectious control business

responsibility of stakeholders from the past Games By

support system and supported staff when incidents

enhancing close communication with stakeholders in-happenedcluding IOC and partner companies from the early stage

The daily operation with Tokyo2020 ICON went wellof planning we as the Tokyo 2020 Games were able toin health monitoring visualization of PCR test results

realize our TOC EDC and TCC and provide technology

Special Issue : Technology and Innovation in the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020305

services designed based on the past Games
It is said that each of the Games has its challenges and
COVID‑19 was certainly the biggest challenge forTokyo 2020 Games It was the first time for anyone
including IOC and those who had participated inprevious Games to hold the Games in the face of
COVID‑19 as well as to postpone the Games for any
reason Although the management itself was a bit of achallenge the postponement period was able to be used
for staff training and other activities to improve thequality of services
As a result the Games accomplished with great
success with only 47 of high severity incidents escalated
to the TOC one‑third to one‑fifth of the number ofincidents compared to the recent summer GamesThe Olympic and Paralympic Games is a too huge
events to be achieved by a small number of specialized
staff members

We are confident that the 15 000

technology staff members as well as the many technology professionals who worked together as One Team led
the Tokyo 2020 Games to a successful conclusion We
would like to take this opportunity to express mygratitude to all of them #Arigato
References()

YOSHIDA Tadashiro
Graduated from the Faculty of Engineering
Utsunomiya University in 1989 and completed
a masterʼs degree in information technology at
the same university in 1991 He joined Nippon
Telegraph and Telephone Corporation in thesame year Since then he has been engaged inresearch on databases and open‑source software During the Games he was seconded to
the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee where
he was a head of venue technology
KASAI Hideo
Graduated from Waseda University in 1987
with a bachelorʼs degree in engineering andeconomics He joined Fujitsu Limited in thesame year Since then he has worked as apharmaceutical engineer and as a quality
control manager for financial and social infrastructure During the Games he was seconded
to the Organising Committee of the Olympic
and Paralympic Games where he was incharge of technology PMOYAMAGUCHI Kazuhiko
Graduated from Yamaguchi University in
1993 with a bachelorʼs degree in engineeringand electrical engineering and completed amasterʼs degree at the same university in 1995
He joined Fujitsu Limited in the same year
Since then he has been engaged in the planningand development of cell phone systems During
the Games he was seconded to the Organising
Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic
Games where he was involved in the promotion of Operational Readiness in technology

D. Finch, “Overview of the technology landscape for the London 2012
Olympics,” Delivering London 2012 : ICT Delivering London 2012 :ICT enabling the games,” The Institution of Engineering andTechnology, pp. 14-17, London, 2011.
(Received February 9 2022 ; Revised March 4 2022)㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇㍇

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