This summer, Toronto hosts the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games. An estimated 7,500 athletes hailing from 41 nations are competing in a variety of sports for the chance to be crowned a champion. The feats of athletic prowess on display during the Games will captivate audiences around the globe. What many spectators may take for granted, however, is the impressive technological infrastructure that blends engineering, architecture and technology to ensure that the Games run smoothly from start to finish.
Better, Faster, Stronger. We have the Technology.
The technological infrastructure in place for the Games sprawls across 57 venues in Toronto and its surrounding municipalities. Although the technology used will include cutting edge sports technology, such as real-time sensors, data collection devices, scoring systems, medical doping technology, digital signage, and other technologies used to monitor an athlete’s performance, the Games will also feature an impressive tech infrastructure to support the flow and processing of information.
For example, the Games will have a vast communications network that will connect tens of thousands of spectators simultaneously. Approximately 1,200 wireless access points, 6,000 network drops, and 250 network switches will enable digital and wireless access to many aspects of the games, including an interactive “Fan Chat” technology used to engage the spectators of the Games in an interactive telepresence experience. Additionally, Cisco, in conjunction with the other sponsors supporting the Games, has set up a high-capacity communications network using dedicated fibre optic cabling that boasts a capacity of 10 gigabytes per second.
As many Torontonians will know, the Games will also feature a massive “Athletes Village” located in the West Don Lands. Beanfield Metroconnect was chosen to build an “Intelligent Community Network”. This sophisticated fibre-optic network will deliver high-speed internet service to the athletes village and waterfront residents throughout the Games and long after they have ended.
Security, Privacy and Reliability Concerns
Cyber-security will be crucial for ensuring that the systems used during the Games are not hindered by cyber threats, such as malware, viruses and denial of service attacks that have become increasingly prevalent in today’s world. The challenged faced by the technology service providers involved in the cyber-security of the Games is to maintain a very reliable, very secure network that remains easily accessible to those wishing to use it during the Games.
Aside from software risks that might threaten the network, the various technological systems used must be safe from physical damage, such as fires that can be associated with putting cabling inside conduit. Additionally, the hardware used to host the network must be safe from unauthorized access
The network must also be designed to run reliably. A single significant outage would not only hinder the operation of the Games, but would also tarnish its reputation and the reputations of the service providers involved. To be reliable, the wide area network (WAN) used to connect the multitude of venues hosting the Games may have built in redundancies of different kinds, like the use of multiple separate links connecting each site, and multiple networking hardware devices . The telecom provider Allstream is the Games’ “Official Managed IP Communications Supplier” and “Official Hosted Collaboration Solutions Supplier”, and has set up a private WAN specifically for the Games.
Additionally, personal information of the participants, including highly sensitive medical information of the athletes, will be stored and processed by the Games’ technological systems. By virtue of the processing of this personal information, the system must be adequately protected by technological and organization measures to safeguard this information, and protect it from inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure.
Other Obstacles for Tech Implementation and What Lawyers Can Do To Help
A sometimes overlooked risk associated with accepting a contract for the provision of tech services for an event like the Games is the public relations (PR) gamble taken by the service providers. Providing a high-speed, reliable and secure system within a relatively short period of time is a very expensive undertaking for which the service provider typically receives minimal public acknowledgment for its successes. On the other hand, however, a relatively small failure of the system can result in a massive PR backlash that might find these service providers being lambasted on the front page of newspapers around the globe.
Lawyers can assist in curbing certain contractual liabilities, but arguably the bigger risk to the companies involved is the reputational damage that can result from the system failing to operate as intended. Standard tech contracts may not always be adequate for providing sufficient contractual protection to all parties involved.
Lawyers should ensure the contractual provisions for tech services provide clear and explicit expectations for all of the parties involved. The contract should include provisions for risk management as well as project management, and should include defined deliverables with realistic and unambiguous timelines.
Further, the parties must understand that failure to provide the deliverables in accordance with the expectations of the parties is not an option. For instance, although failing to meet a timeline may result in certain contractual liability, the larger issue, as explained above, is the difficult to measure reputational damage that can result from even a minor failure to provide the services within a certain time frame or to an adequate service level.
Lawyers must be diligent in advising their clients and drafting clear, comprehensive and unambiguous contractual provisions to ensure all contracting parties have their interests protected as much as possible, and also to establish clear expectations so that events like the Games go the distance without stumbling.
About the Authors
James Kosa is a partner with Deeth Williams Wall LLP, where he practises information technology and intellectual property law with an emphasis on IT licensing and patents.
Michael J. A. House is a student-at-Law at Deeth Williams Wall LLP in Toronto.
This article was originally published by the OBA Information, Technology and Intellectual Law Property Section.