Delhi Sports a Hi-tech Look

Once upon a time, back in 1982, there were Asian Games. In those ages,
technology usage for games meant little more than walkie-talkies for police
personnel and TV broadcast in color. Fast forward to 2010, and our capital,
indeed our whole nation, is again standing on the threshold of another
international event.

Come October, and athletes from fifty-three countries shall descend over our
capital city. And this time, tech usage for games is much more than
walkie-talkies and TV broadcasting. Welcome to the era of complex IT
infrastructure, high definition picture quality, and seamless mobility.

Commonwealth Games 2010 on its face is all about gaming events, but its spine
is knitted together with a lot of IT. There is tech running in every vertebrae
of the gaming event that is spread over October 3-14, 2010.

Everything ranging from the transportation, security, healthcare has
technology in its throbbing veins, and an army of gadgets, mobile devices and
control centers as its underlying fabric. Even the Queens Baton, the torch for
Commonwealth Games is a mixture of symbology and technology.

For people who think this mixture as a bit queer, consider this. For the
significant part, the Queens Baton is 34 millimeters wide at the base and
weighs a mere 1,900 grams. This version of the Commonwealth Games has a baton
design which takes its inspiration from Gobek, a traditional Malay artifact,
generally displayed in Malay homes.

The Queens Baton Relay is one of the great traditions of the Commonwealth
Games, having been the curtain raiser to every games since the first at Cardiff
in 1958.

Technology is rather aesthetically built into this historic structure that
has an in-built location tracking system using the latest global positioning
system (GPS) and a camera capable of sending images to the Games website.
Embedded Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) change into the colors of the countrys
flag whilst in the country. This time the Baton has been coated with a diverse
range of colored soils collected from all corners of India. A precious jewelery
box is present inside the Queens Baton which contains the message to the
athletes that is read out before the start of the ceremony. This year a
miniature 18 carat gold leaf contains the Queens message. This gold leaf takes
its inspiration from the ancient Indian patras.

Well, in a way, the baton is a perfect epitome of the Games. It has history
and athletics on its surface, and technology at its core.

The Connecting Cord

In any event of a mammoth scale, connectivity is one of the first things to
be taken into consideration. Interaction between various links of the chain like
police, healthcare, fire department and transportation authorities is not only
crucial, but also indispensable for a holistic and minimal response time.

While this need part is something everybody wants to preach to the
government, not many people know that the government has actually found an
answer in technology. The Delhi Government is all set to establish the countrys
first exclusive Government Radio Network (GRN). This Terrestrial Trunked Radio
(TETRA) network will facilitate communication between eighteen government
agencies including Delhi Police, fire services, hospitals, Public Works
Department and the Delhi Transport Corporation during the Games, and even
beyond.

While this network is the backbone of the communication infrastructure, it is
also a very crucial bit of the security setup for the Games. According to
Savitur Prasad, secretary, information technology, Delhi Government, "The
deployment of the Government Radio Network based on TETRA will not only enhance
our communication infrastructure, but will also firmly place New Delhi amongst
the leading cities of the world. If the Asiad Games brought a shift from black
and white television to color television, the 2010 Games will see the advent of
TETRA which will open a new chapter of secure and efficient communication
between various government agencies."

TETRA is being deployed jointly by Motorola and HCLI. "Implementation of
communication network is coming from Motorola and the system integration is
coming from us", explains George Paul, EVP, marketing, HCL Infosystems.

The big differentiator of TETRA is that since it is not open to public
subscription, it eliminates dependency over any mass usage network in mission
critical operations. The network is wholly private owned, and access and control
points are strictly designed.

Subodh Vardhan, director, sales and country head, enterprise mobility
solutions, Motorola India explains that TETRA is the digital variant of
walkie-talkies and its key element is the fact that it is privately owned. TETRA
actually is the hottest thing in terms of networks right now. Many airports have
deployed it (Begaluru and Delhi being the Indian flag bearers), it is being used
by a lot of police forces like the Netherlands and the Shanghai police. It also
has precedents of being used in massive events like the Beijing Olympics.

Although care has been taken to import only the best of the breed, in many
ways, the Games infrastructure is a case study material in itself. In some
aspects, this project is proving to be unique, even to TETRA pros like Motorola.
For instance, for the Games, everything in the operation control center (OCC) is
being backed up at a different backup control center (BCC).

Over and above that, there are alternate connectivity paths that are going to
be at the disposal in case one link is disrupted. The system is also using
multiple media microwave, lease line and fiber channel to eliminate dependency
on any single point. "Since TETRA is designed for mission critical things, a lot
of redundancy is built into the system," says Vardhan.

Another interesting bit about this network is that it is going to help loop
all agencies onto one hangar. Earlier, given the budgetary challenges, Delhi
Police was the only one who had some sort of established inter-department
connectivity. However, this network that shall be used at least for the coming
seven years will give that advantage to all other agencies as well.

The network also has been provisioned in a way that the fire department
cannot eavesdrop into the conversation of the healthcare department. "We can
partition the system logically for all agencies," explains Vardhan.

The network that will be up and running by the end of June has all the data
capabilities to be integrated with the back-end systems and scale up. The
network is futuristic looking as it is capable of supporting the TEDS (TETRA
enhanced data services) technology, which is the next generation of TETRA and
hasnt reached the shelves as of now.

Hi-Tech Play-out

There are all sorts of things happening in order to ensure a quick travel
time to the Games venue. 115 km of roads are being built, another 50 odd km is
being expanded and close to 1,100 new buses are being made ready for the big
event. Metro is covering more miles and airport is being drastically upgraded.

However, all this fast lane act is supplemented by a lot of technology. All
the new buses are going to be equipped with GPS systems. To compliment that, the
transport authorities also have access to the TETRA network for better
co-ordination.

The metro airport link is also reeking of hi-end tech. It will be the first
line to boast of radio operations within the tunnel, and is being supplemented
by a sophisticated control room. The airport too is bathing in the tech
overhaul. From passenger assimilation to mobility of the security and health
personnel, everything is being upgraded. Transport authorities are also being
given a separate VPN for managing their operations during the Games.

Besides this, TagMaster, the radio frequency identification (RFID) vendor is
all set to provide access control systems for the Games. Indian distributor,
Pepperl+Fuchs will also assist in the implementation of this government
controlled installation.

For security purposes, the system will control the access of vehicles to and
from the arenas and other sites in the Delhi area related to the Commonwealth
Games 2010. The value of the order exceeds approximately $6,85,000 and will be
delivered during the first half of 2010.

Standard TagMaster long range readers and ID tags will be utilized to provide
hands free vehicle identification with high reliability, and control the
authenticity of buses and other vehicles passing in and out the event complex.

Once we calculate the approximate value of all these contracts combined,
there is one certainty that emerges which is that the government is spending big
time on technology for the Games. Wherever there was a window to leverage tech,
it has been deployed.

Even the power generation for Commonwealth Games is running on SAP module.
Another technology that is going to see some hefty usage during the event is
geographical information system (GIS). An Integrated Geospatial Security Plan (GSP),
according to experts, will go a long way in helping the agencies understand how
software applications can be utilized by security forces to respond to everyday
emergencies and incidents at the national, state and local levels.

Doordarshan, the host broadcaster for Commonwealth Games is undergoing a
digitization drive in order to be able to screen it in high definition TV.
Therefore, an international broadcasting center is being set up in Pragati
Maidan, Delhi, dedicated specifically to the Commonwealth Games. According to RR
Prasad, engineer-in-chief, DD, the main aim of DD is to move towards high
definition picture quality before the Games. For this purpose, DD is in the
process of setting up terrestrial HD transmitters in the four metros.

Its Green Too

Green tech hasnt been left out from the perimeters of the Commonwealth
Games. When almost everybody is talking about going green, the government has
decided to do its own bit. Thus, it has decided to come up with a complex that
is not only a matter of pride, but is sustainable in the long run as well.

The Games complex is going for Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment
(GRIHA) rating, our very own desi rating system. The village complex, that is
being built by Emaar MGF was destined to be green, literally. There was a
pre-conditional clause attached that the building has to be GRIHA complaint and
certified. Infact, the clause that GRIHA has of basic labor protection and
safety norms has helped the cause of construction workers greatly.

According to Siva Kishan, CEO, GRIHA, "In the Commonwealth Games, the labor
laws and protection are mostly because of TERI."

Other than the building part, the complex is also making big use of daylight,
recycling its water and waste, and also using softwares for energy consumption.

Industrial Boon

The Games event is revolutionizing several things for Delhi. Be it our
infrastructure, our IT usage or e-governanceevery area is set to witness a
spurt, thanks to the Games. But, there is another thing that this event has
thrown up in a big way and that is opportunity.

There are avenues that have opened up for vendors too and these are no narrow
gateways. There is huge money to be made in terms of equipment, expertise and
consultation. And IT is one sector that is completely adhering to the
mantramake hay while the sun shines.

There is no big nameright from Wipro to HCL, to Motorola, or even TCS and
SAPthat is not doing something or the other for the Games, even if not
directly. The best bit about it is that everyone has a role to playsoftware,
hardware and system integrators no bar.

There is another positive that the Games has brought forth, and that is of a
simpler buying process by the government. There has been no or little reverse
auctioning this time, and the government has mostly gone for the best of the
breed solutions.

Right from CCTV cameras to scanners to business intelligence, there is a
tremendous amount of purchase happening, and everyone is out to get a bite of
the fruit. And given that all this spending is coming just at the dusk of
slowdown, it is also being seen as a major economical uplift by some analysts.

However, there are still some glaring gaps that have not escaped the eye of
the people. Although, no one is disputing the fact that the Games are great news
both for security and infrastructure, there are a lot of questions about the
integration bit. In typical Indian fashion, there is a lot of chaos around
everything. And though there are efforts, they seem to be disjointed.

The need perhaps is to apply a unifying approach; how about the role of an
official games coordinatorany takers?

Mehak Chawla

mehakc@cybermedia.co.in