Specialist Network Operations (SNO) has been announced as the official technology partner of ParalympicsGB.
The company will be managing the network and IT infrastructure for ParalympicsGB at various locations in Paris between 28 August and 8 September 2024, and then again in Los Angeles in 2028.
The SNO network will support more 250 users in the village accommodation blocks, including all operational and public areas. In addition, SNO is providing the network infrastructure at PGB House, the team’s hospitality centre in Clichy. This includes hospitality zones, administration and the visitor management system. This also involves managing the content streaming for the media feed for C4TV and other broadcasters.
Security of the network is paramount, especially where confidential data is being handled in the medical and performance centres. The other priority is to make ParalympicsGB team members feel at home and able to communicate with their families and friends the minute they arrive in the village.
SNO's IT services team is headed by systems engineering director Stephen Goodman. The planning, design, staging and installation started months before the games and the infrastructure must be maintained throughout with an onsite SNO presence during the Games.
Following the Games, the equipment will be stored, ready for the next edition in Los Angeles in 2028.
Goodman said, “Every Games presents a new and exciting set of challenges. Our priority is to ensure everything is ready when the athletes arrive and to support the wider ParalympicsGB team. We are delighted to be involved and to be part of the ‘Team behind the Team’”.
Tony Brook, CEO of SNO, said, “Building a secure network and setting up hundreds of devices is no mean feat. We feel enormously privileged to be supporting our talented Paralympians and giving them access to their IT devices and mobiles during the Games. SNO wish ParalympicsGB every success.”
David Clarke, CEO ParalympicsGB, said, “We are delighted to be working with SNO and benefitting from their expertise and personnel in the lead up to and during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. We have a variety of complex technology needs across multiple sites at Games time and working with SNO has made this a very smooth process. A huge thank you to everyone involved, but especially the team out in Paris with us.”