The Invictus Games has tapped Atos to deliver IT services for the upcoming tournament in Canada next February. This partnership will leverage Atos’s extensive experience with international sporting events, like the Olympics and the UEFA European Championship. Nacho Moros, who leads major events at Atos, describes their approach as “adaptive and intimate,” focusing on processing and sharing results data efficiently.
The Invictus Games showcases the talents of wounded, injured, and sick servicemen and women, including active military members and veterans. The inaugural event took place in London back in 2014. Now, the games head to Vancouver and Whistler, marking the second time Atos has served as the official technology partner for this important event.
Around 550 competitors from up to 25 countries will participate across 11 adaptive sports. Atos recently wrapped up similar roles at the Paris Olympic Games and the Euros. For the Invictus Games, they will handle all technology related to tournament data, IT equipment, and systems management. This includes project management, event timing and scoring systems, on-site results systems, and data distribution through Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud technology.
Atos is sending a dedicated team of 50 IT specialists from Europe, alongside another 10 from Spain, to support the event. Moros shared with Computer Weekly that they find the event captivating and are eager to demonstrate their flexibility in managing both large and smaller-scale events. While 90% of the team also worked on the Paris Olympics, they recognize that the scale and complexity of the Invictus Games offer a different set of challenges.
They’re in the final stages of prepping essential software for the tournament. Setting up the temporary IT infrastructure has been a race against the clock, given the variability of the venues. Moros mentioned that the setup is about 90% done, and they are actively working on integrating the central results system with AWS.
This central system will process data from all sports and distribute it globally in real time. Atos aims to complete all preparations by the end of the year, with staff beginning to travel to Canada in January 2025 for on-site installations of timing systems, scoring equipment, and cameras.
The games will feature a variety of sports, including alpine skiing, snowboarding, Nordic cross-country, biathlon, skeleton, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, sitting volleyball, curling, swimming, and indoor rowing. Scott Moore, CEO of Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025, emphasized that this collaboration will significantly enhance the experience for competitors, their families, and audiences worldwide.