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1 Introduction

Summary of Technology and Innovationin the Tokyo 2020 GamesTACHI Takeshi

This article provides a quantitative overview of the technologies introduced in the Olympic and Paralympic GamesTokyo 2020 from the perspective of the evolution of technologies in past Games and describes the success factors of the
projects the legacy of the Games and the innovation initiatives
Keywords：Communication networks Information systems Cyber security measures Innovation

1．Foreword

While general spectators were banned from competition
venues the digital media that distributed the results of

The Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020

the games gained the most access in the history of the(hereinafter referred to as “Tokyo 2020 Games”) which

Games The Games were also supported by the largest

were postponed for one year due to the pandemic of thenumber of partner companies and many innovation

new coronavirus infection (hereinafter referred to as

projects were planned and implemented by them“coronavirus pandemic”) were an event that relied

The author believes that accurate and quantitative

more heavily on digital tools than previous Games

records of numerous and various technologies as well as

Specifically digital tools were used first of all toinnovation projects that supported the Games will notprovide a remote work environment for staff engaged inonly serve as a reference for large‑scale events in thethe vast amount of plan revisions and contract changes

future but will also contribute to the development of theas well as to proceed with immigration applicationindustry as footprints of historical projects

procedures health management and social distancing

summary of such special issue of articles this article

measures for the Games stakeholders In addition asreviews the Tokyo 2020 Games including the evolution

As aGames without a centralized Olympic Park where theof technology introduced in the past Games analyses thecompetition venues are located it was necessary tofactors that enabled the Games to be a great success inconstruct the most extensive communication andterms of technology operation and also discusses thebroadcast contribution network in the history of thetechnology legacy of the Games

Games Furthermore cyber security measures wereanother issue that attracted worldwide attention

2．Evolution of Games Technology

following the cyber incident that had occurred at the
opening ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 GamesThe information systems and broadcast technologies
introduced in the Olympic and Paralympic Games have
evolved in response to the technological trends of theeras and the contributions of partner companies (Table

TACHI Takeshi
The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games1) (1)The Journal of The Institute of Electronics Information and Communication Engineers Vol 105 No 8 Supplement pp 6‑12 August 2022
© 2022 The Institute of Electronics Information and Communication Engineers

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THE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONICS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERS

Table 1
Year/Host city

Olympic Host Year Host City and Technologies Introduced (1)■ Games management perspective (results measurement information systems etc )□ Games watching perspective (broadcast digital media etc )London 1948

□ TV broadcast covering a 50‑mile radius

Rome 1960□ First live TV broadcast of the Olympic Games in 18 European countries

Squaw Valley 1960

■ Data processing of competition results by computer (punch card input)

Tokyo 1964

■ Aggregation and distribution of competition results by on‑line system■ Adoption of quartz timers□ First live broadcast by relay vehicles and helicopters□ First live satellite broadcasting relay

Grenoble 1968

■ Timing and scoring by using quartz timers with 1/1000th second accuracy and computers

Mexico City 1968

■ Large‑scale broadcast centre and press centre□ First color broadcast live slow‑motion video

Sapporo 1972

■ Direct guidance on an electronic bulletin board

Munich 1972

■ Information retrieval by computer system private television system□ Video recording instant replay

Montreal 1976

■ Integrated results system

Sarajevo 1984

■ Systematization of the Games management business (accreditation
distribution ticket sales etc )Los Angeles 1984

■ Dedicated technology teams for each competition venue■ Messaging system (e‑mail voicemail bulletin board application entry form)

Seoul 1988

■ Integrated information system (competition results/games management)■ Olympic Computer Centre□ First live high‑definition broadcast

hotel reservations

Lillehammer 1994

■ INFO (games information retrieval system) and CIS (Commentator Information System)

Atlanta 1996

■ From mainframe to client‑server system□ First official Olympic website on the Internet

Nagano 1998

□ Full‑scale use of the Internet

Sydney 2000

□ BS digital high‑definition test broadcast (Japan)

Salt Lake 2002

■ Competition data feed in XML format

Turin 2006

■ Wi‑Fi service for media

Beijing 2008

□ High‑definition broadcast of all competitions□ Liberalization of media content posting on their websites

Vancouver 2010

□ Streaming video distribution using video signals provided by OBS□ Authorized social media (Facebook Twitter etc )□ Mobile application for the general public

London 2012

■ Media use of INFO on mobile devices (myInfo＋)■ Data service of streaming video distribution for right‑holding broadcasters□ Official YouTube channel by IOC□ 8K Ultra‑High Definition (Super Hi‑Vision) exhibition broadcast

Rio de Janeiro 2016 ＊■ Partial cloud‑based games information system□ Introduction of 360‑degree camera images

Pyeongchang 2018 ＊■ Complete cloud‑based games information system■ 5G trial introduction□ Introduction of free viewpoint images and afterimage video

Tokyo 2021 ＊■ Introduction of face recognition■ Full‑scale introduction of Public Safety‑LTE radio system■ Full‑scale introduction of 5G■ CRM platform in corporation with the IOC□ Ultra‑High Definition (4K) standard signal□ Content distribution for right‑holding broadcasters via the OBS cloud□ Official website operation platform by the IOC＊

uniform

Items after Rio de Janeiro 2016 were added by the author

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Evolution of Game Management Technologies

results and the system evolved into an integrated

The Tokyo Games in 1964 adopted the first online

information system through the Games in the 1980s andsystem for aggregating and delivering competition

1990s Since the PyeongChang 2018 winter Games (andSpecial Issue : Technology and Innovation in the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 20207

the Tokyo 2020 as the first summer Games) this system
has been implemented in a fully cloud environment
operated by worldwide partners (partners that continuously participate in multiple Games) contributing to asignificant reduction in operations and costs that
previously required at a data centre in each host city
The information system that supports various administrative tasks accompanying the personal information
management such as the accreditation of the participation of Games officials has been further developed for
the Tokyo 2020 Games This system was combined witha face recognition system for the secure entry of the
stakeholders and staff It also worked with immigration
management health management and screening test

Figure 1 International Broadcast Centre
This is the basewhere competition images from all venues are aggregated anddistributed to each country （©2021‑International Olympic Committee‑All Rights Reserved）

management of the stakeholders for the special operation of the Games under the coronavirus pandemicof the largest in the history of the Games due to the large
Evolution of Game Watching Technologies

number and distributed locations of competition venues

After the partial introduction of the high‑definition

Furthermore the data network for the Games which

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live broadcast in the Seoul 1988 Games and the fullspanned approximately 100 locations

introduction for all events in the Beijing 2008 Games theathletesʼ village Main Press Centre and other non‑Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) adopted Ultra‑competition venues consisted of 1 200 km of optical

High Definition (UHD) video signals as the standard forfiber 3 900 km of metal cable 5 000 km of WAN lines

the Tokyo 2020 Games It means all competition footages

and 16 000 network devices and was connected to two(2)

including the

The shiftdata centres in Japan (which accommodated 35 physicalto remote production by broadcasters which has been aservers 220 virtual servers and 490 TByte of storage

were basically recorded in the UHD format

trend in recent years has made further progress due incapacity) and overseas data centres operated bypart to the coronavirus pandemic As an environment toworldwide partners In addition 85 000 applications the

support this trend the collaboration between OBS andlargest number in the history of the Games were

the worldwide partners was realized for the cloud‑based

submitted for use of spectrum by the Gamesʼ stakehold-contents distribution

ers of which 64 000 were approved and monitored in

Meanwhile the official Olympic website which wascooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs andfirst introduced in Atlanta 1996 Games was provided inCommunications (MIC) (For details see Chapter 2seven languages in Tokyo 2020 Games and accessed by“Telecommunication Radio Broadcast” of this special

the largest number in the history

issue )The technology equipment installed included 17 000

3．Technology Overview of the Tokyo
2020 GamesPCs 20 000 smartphones 15 000 Personal Mobile Radios(6 300 of which were Public‑Safety LTE systems thefirst full‑scale introduction in the history of the Games)

This section provides a field‑by‑field summary of all

and 2 900 printers and MFPs Kitting out such a large

the technologies that supported the Tokyo 2020 Gamesamount of infrastructure and equipment without failwhich involved installing operating and removing them

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Infrastructure and technology equipment thatat all venues was a major challenge for each Game It

supported game operations

required careful planning in advance and a complete

Having no Olympic Park built as a centralized locationteam structure (Figure 2) including the Equipmentof venues the Broadcast Contribution Network connect-

Deployment Centre and venue technology teams (Foring the 43 competition venues and the International

details see Chapter 6 “Games Management Operation

Broadcast Centre (Figure 1) spanned 1 900 km ofCentres” of this special issue )optical fiber and 10 000 km of leased lines making it one
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Figure 2 Organization Structure Supported Technology Services
The structure was divided into three main sections : the Technology
Operation Centre (TOC) the venues and other centres (Technology Call Centres Equipment Deployment Centres) Each staff wereassigned under the respective duty managers of the teams

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Results Systems and Information Systems Thatof time to ensure the safe operation under the

supported Games

coronavirus pandemic was used to register a total ofSince the ODS (Olympic Diffusion System) was

490 000 participants during the Games time to manage

originally strengthened to increase the number of users

1 79 million health information and 920 000 screening

beyond the capacity of past Games it was able to cope

test results and to issue 53 000 negative certificatesstably with the increased number of users via the(For details see Chapter 3 “Information System Digital

Internet due to the coronavirus pandemic SpecificallyMedia” of this special issue )myInfo the Games information system for the media
was provided to 16 000 users at the Olympics (previ-

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ously capped at 10 000 users) and CIS the information

While the stable operation of technology has always

system for commentators was provided to 450 users at

been a universal issue throughout the history of thethe Olympics (previously capped at 300 users)

Olympics cyber security and congestion control of the

Successful Cyber Security Measures

The video adjudication system has been adopted for 30

mobile communication environment have emerged as

Olympic and 13 Paralympic sports numbers that far

focal points since the London 2012 Games (3) Especiallyexceeded those used in the past Gamesfor cyber security concern cyberattacks and cyberter-

As for the game management system the number ofrorism in recent ICT‑driven event operation can beregistered Games stakeholders increased significantly

relatively inexpensive and effective means to carry out

from the past Games to 420 000 for the Olympic Gamesthe undesirable actions such as radical political propa-

and 310 000 for the Paralympic Games This is mainly

ganda through the media obstruction of the Games by

due to the large number of contractors who wereterrorism and fraud in the sales of Games tickets which

registered to provide transportation and security

are regarded as typical interferences in the Games

services in accordance with the decentralized layout of

In 2014 a group of experts from the ICT industry

the venues The 66 business applications and the 120

including the author joined the Tokyo 2020 Organisingbusiness websites were built and operated to support

Committee (hereinafter referred to as the “Organisingbusinesses of these large numbers of Games stakehold-Committee”) and began analyzing cyber security risks

ers In particular Tokyo 2020 ICON an infection control

that could affect the operation of the Games andsupport system that was implemented in a short period

examining countermeasures During the nearly sevenSpecial Issue : Technology and Innovation in the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 20209

years of study and preparation

new malware and④ prompt incident response through global collaboration

security risks emerged and critical incidents occurredand cooperation during the Games (For details seeat the PyeongChang 2018 Games Also related solutions

Chapter 5 “Cyber Security” of this special issue )became more sophisticated and cloud‑based and thepower structure of the solutions industry changed

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Therefore it was essential to constantly review andStable Operation of Technology during theGames Timereexamine countermeasures

Each of the Games uses a trouble‑ticket management

Despite the cyber security risks of the Tokyo 2020

system of the technology field to register all incidents

Games being pointed out in the media prior to thethat occurred from the test event period to the Games

Games

time period according to their severity level and theno cyberattacks affecting the Games wereobserved

and
(4)

the

Games

were

successfully

Technology Operations Centre (TOC) manages them

The followings can be cited as success(Figure 3) In particular a comparison with the past

factors : ① the early establishment of an information

Games shows that the number of high severity incidents

security management system by the Organising Com-

that occurred during the Tokyo 2020 Games was

mittee ② implementation of secure architecture design

significantly lower than those in other recent Gamesand proactive countermeasures in collaboration with

(Table 2)completedpartner companies IOC and OBS ③ repeated security

This is partly due to the fact that the postponement ofaudits and practical exercises of incident handling and

the Games by one year allowed sufficient time for testing
information systems But it is also due to the extremely
small number of troubles that have frequently occurredin past Games such as communication infrastructure
problems delays in the delivery of venue technology
and disruptions in the operational support of venue
technology Needless to say this is due to the high‑quality services and careful operations provided bymany technology‑related partner companies including
telecommunication partners as well as the staff of theOrganising Committee

4．Conclusion

Figure 3 Technology Operation Centre (TOC)
This centre
remotely monitors and controls all technologies and directs
trouble‑shooting （©2021‑International Olympic Committee‑All
Rights Reserved）

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System Centred on Expert Human Resources

Since the large scale and wide range of technologies

Table 2 Number of Incidents
That occurred in the four weeks which started before the Games ended at theclosing ceremony of each Olympic GamesCounting period(Set to 4 weeks for comparison)

Incidents
Severitylevel 1

Severitylevel 2

Severitylevel 3

Tokyo 2020 Games counting period
7/12〜8/8

12

35

1 091

The Rio de Janeiro 2016 Games
counting period 7/25〜8/21

30

London 2012 Games counting period
7/16〜8/12

21

Total 47

6 755

Servicerequest9 808

Total 17 654
203

Total 233
111
Total 132

Severitylevel 4

Total 32 673
Total 25 473【Definition of Severity】
Severity level 1 : Critical system/service is not working
Severity level 2 : Critical system/service is at risk of failure
Severity level 3 : A component of the system/service is not working and multiple users are affected
Severity level 4 : A component of the system/service is not working and a specific user is affected

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are required for the Games it is clear from the past

Challenge

Games that one of the conditions for success is to have aspectators to watch the Games for which the final

a contest to develop an application forand ③ the significant

system consisting of expert staff in each field within the

judging was held in 2020

Organising Committee and to proactively face partners

improvement of the web accessibility of the competitionand suppliers and lead the project (1) In the Tokyo 2020

results pages in the official website and mobile app

Gamesseveral gold partners in technology‑related

which was achieved with the cooperation of visuallyfields sent their experts as seconded staff at an early

impaired students from Tsukuba University of Technol-stage and these staff took the lead in establishing ICT

ogy All of these were the results of the participation andgovernance to implement and operate the back‑officecontribution of the younger generation in the prepara-

environment in the preparation phase for the Gamestion process of the Games

This ICT governance which was a major feature andadvantage compared to the past Games continued to be

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brushed up and functioned throughout the Games time

While the Tokyo 1964 Games left behind a lot ofLegacy of the Games

hardware legacies in the host city such as bullet trains
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Innovation Initiatives

and highways a theme often discussed by the Technol-

Many innovation projects were planned by technology

ogy Advisory Committee mentioned above was “whatpartners to introduce their latest technologies askind of software legacy the Tokyo 2020 Games can leave

showcasing in the Games On the other hand projects

behind ”

planned by partners tend to experience insufficient

The fact that many competitions were held without

communication and sometimes conflicts of interest with

spectators due to the coronavirus pandemic was very

the teams that build and operate the infrastructure that

unfortunate in terms of the spectator experience whichis central to Games operations such as communication

could have been one of the valuable legacies On the

networks and common system platform Thus there

other hand the CRM (Customer Relationship Manage-

were concerns that this situation would cause problemsment) platform was built and operated in collaboration

and reworks that could have been avoided otherwise

with the IOC for the first time in the history of the

Therefore the Organising Committee launched theGames This platform preserves the precious records ofInnovation Promotion Office in 2017 to separate themulti‑millions of people who have participated in the

projects aiming at showcasing innovation from theGames in various ways such as the Games ticket holders

projects introducing core technologies essential to theor volunteer staff And this for example will be a

Games operations to balance the two different types ofbeneficial legacy to be utilized in future Games andprojects As a result many of the innovation projects

sporting events as clearly seen in the case of the London

were successfully completed in terms of the introduction2012 Games (5)and operation of solutions although the objectives of theMedia” of this special issue )(For details see Chapter 3 “Digitalprojects were not always fully achieved because many ofFurthermore all of the accomplishments reported

the competitions were held without spectators due to thehere were achieved through collaboration discussions

coronavirus pandemic

see Chapter 4

rehearsals and careful handling of problems by a great“Innovation Projects Innovation Initiatives (Covering

team consisting of those seconded to the Organising

High-presence Communication

Committee those of partner companies and of related(For details
5G

RobotsDrone

Show Projection Mapping)” of this special issue )organizations including the national government and theOn the other hand because of the technology teamTokyo Metropolitan Government Above all things thestarting its activities early on we were able to initiate

greatest legacy of the Games is that these engineers andseveral activities to promote “open innovation” through-project managers will contribute to the future digitiza-out the preparation period of the Games Referring totion projects and use of technologies in Japanese society

advice from the Technology Advisory Committee

based on their experience working on the historic

which was established in 2016 to reflect the opinions ofproject

external professionals activities including the followings

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all thewere carried out : ① Tokyo 2020 Ideathon held threepartners suppliers related organizations and volun-

times in total aimed at solving issues related to theteers for their participation and significant contributions

operation of the Games ② Tokyo 2020 Open Innovation

to the Games

Special Issue : Technology and Innovation in the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 202011

References
(

)

(

)

(

)

(

)

(

)

M. Tasaki, “Olympic IT challenge : Behind the scenes of the Gamessupported by systems,” Impress R&D, Tokyo, 2016.
Y. Exarchos, “The biggest challenge the Olympic Games have everfaced,” Media Guide Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Olympic
Broadcasting Services, July 2021.
Delivering London 2012 : ICT implementation and operations, The
Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2013.
B. Gant, “The Tokyo Olympics are a cybersecurity success story,”
Security, Aug. 2021.
R.H.H. Robertson, Written ministerial statement : sporting legacy, May
2013.

TACHI Takeshi
Mr Tachi received his M S from Osaka
University in 1989 and M S from University ofCalifornia at Berkeley in 1997 He joined Nippon
Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT)in 1989 where he was engaged in research anddevelopment of next‑generation IP networks
and cyber security
He has been seconded to the Tokyo 2020
Organising Committee since 2014 Executive
Director of Technology Services Bureau
Since July 2022 Senior Vice President
General Manager of IPES Business Division
NTT Advanced Technology Corporation(Received February 9 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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