Will the Commonwealth Games 2010 be Technologically Superior!

There is enough chaos and drama over the last few months that surround Commonwealth Games 2010 to be held in New Delhi, India especially on whether the games would begin on time. Such negative speculations have been doing rounds due to several failed inspections and audits along with the involvement of the organizers in scam related activities.

Amongst all the hype of numerous monetary scandals and missed deadlines covered majorly by the media, one needs to wonder whether the Commonwealth Games 2010 is Tech ready or not (tech savvy or not)? This wonderment of the technological readiness of CWG would not seem too essential considering the fact that there are better and more important things to worry about. However, it needs to be noted that the necessity of world-class technology direction is as important as meeting deadlines and getting approvals over inspections for the Commonwealth Games. Ask the experts who manage big events and they shall definitely agree that technology plays one of the most vital roles in integrating an event plan and pulling it off successfully.

A large-scale IT firm such as Tech Mahindra was the technology partner of FIFA 2010 and the technological success is owed to this partnership. It is a strong recommendation that CWG 2010 and its organizers follow a similar path of not only adopting advanced technology but also come up with new innovative gaming technology. One such technological innovation that was existent during this year’s FIFA world cup event was the live 3D screening of matches.

Agreeing with the technology issue, Mike Fennell, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation said during one of his visits to India, “From the operational point of view, the technology for scoring, timing, etc. is not in place. This has to be monitored carefully, as it is integral to the conduct of many events. Some of the equipment has arrived; other things will only come after the Youth Olympics in Singapore. We have to be in a state of readiness where when the equipment arrives, all we have to do is plug it in.”

Honestly, the organizers do not need someone like the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation to advise them on technological implementation. They rather have the right technical details in place way before time and ideate on better technological novelties that could make CWG 2010 a big success. If operational excellence is all that the coordinators and organizers are looking at, then it is better they focus on technology too since logistics management and communications which are more relevant for multitasking through servers run on uninterrupted supply of electricity.

Commonwealth Games 2010 and its organizers have very little time and a long way to go in terms of readying a more relevant and superior technological platform for the Games to run smoothly and efficiently.