Digital Journal TV: Inside the Technology Powering the Olympic Games

When an athlete crosses the finish line, how do final lap times get published in less than one second? What goes on behind the scenes to keep the Games running smoothly? This is your look at 4,000-member team who doesn't compete in any sporting events. Digital Journal -- With the world's largest sporting event kicking off in Beijing, billions of people around the world will flock to China or their TV sets and the Internet to get updates on their country's Olympic medal count. But how often do you think about the technology needed to get stats out to a global audience in the same amount of time it takes you to blink? What about the IT infrastructure required to ensure the Games run without glitches? And who updates the Olympic website? Enter Atos Origin, an international IT services company that is the tech lifeline of the Olympic Games. Powered by a 4,000-strong IT team, Atos has been setting up for the last four years in anticipation of this year's Games in Beijing. They are responsible for ensuring competition results are delivered worldwide in less than 0.3 seconds, and they run the invisible system that powers the global demand for statistics measured in fractions of a second. In this episode of Digital Journal TV, we take you behind the scenes of this global sporting powerhouse to give you a glimpse of the tech backbone of the Games. Find out how many computers are needed to run the media and visitor centers in the country; how much testing is needed to make sure this meeting of the world goes off without a hitch; and details about the international company that you won't see competing on the track.