Unsung heroes of the Commonwealth Games

By Optus Business

When the opening ceremony announces the start of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games on 4 April, one very important race will already have been run.

Although no medals will be handed out, there’s no shortage of star performers. And while this race isn’t a spectator sport, the drama and excitement that unfolds over the following 11 days would be impossible without it.

This is the race being run by the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC) and Optus to build the Games network – a digital backbone that underpins every aspect of this sporting extravaganza.

Glen Viney is GOLDOC’s Manager Technology Infrastructure Services. As the title suggests, he’s responsible for all of the network connectivity, computers, printers and support services across all venues. Whenever athletes, officials, media or Games staff are using technology, Viney’s team are the unsung heroes in the background making sure everything works.

There’s a lot to do in a short period of time and, unlike most other large technology projects, the deadline is completely non-negotiable. But you get a sense that Viney thrives on these high-pressured working conditions.

“It’s very fast-paced but everybody is going in the same direction to deliver a great Commonwealth Games,” he says. “We all have the same goal and you don’t always get that in a corporate environment.”

A project of this size and complexity requires a lot of specialist skills. For example, as more and more people flooded into GOLDOC headquarters, it was decided to move some office staff out to venues ahead of the original schedule to free up more space. This meant Viney and his team only had a couple of weeks’ notice to move about 100 people out to Carrara Stadium.

“We had to provision parts of the network early using whatever infrastructure was available at the time to make it happen,” he says. “That meant working closely with Optus to get the stadium and other venue teams up and running as quickly as possible.”

Optus Program Director, Greg McWilliams, runs a team that’s responsible for the design, build, test and deployment of the digital backbone, the Broadcast enabling network and the ICT elements.  In addition services such as WiFi, unified communications, mobile telephony and information security are also deployed.  Once built and deployed to every venue, the full solution is then managed at both the Commonwealth Games Technical Operations Centre and supported by the greater Optus capability.  He spends much of his time in meetings to stay across venue deployment, technology build, service support and all other aspects of keeping the project moving.

Failure is not an option

So what excites him about working on a project like this? “First and foremost it’s a project that must succeed. The technology needs to be ready when the cameras start rolling at the opening ceremony,” he says.

“It’s also an incredible opportunity for different areas of our business to work together. Optus Business is working closely with Networks , Consumer, SMB and Retail and towards a common goal. It’s difficult to think of another project with the breadth and width of what we’re doing here.”

McWilliams says he and Rob Glover are effectively joined at the hip. In his role as Senior Manager of Networks, Glover leads the Optus team responsible for making sure spectators have a fantastic experience while using mobile devices during the Games. There are few things more frustrating than being unable to share that memorable moment at a major sporting event because the mobile network is overrun.

For example, Glover and his team have put a huge amount of work into Carrara Stadium from a mobile capacity perspective. They’ve even ensured there’s good coverage across the track and field so that athletes and officials are able to make calls, send messages and share photos during the opening ceremony. It’s been modelled on the network Optus built at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

“We did some testing during the AFL Grand Final last year, with 100,000 people in the MCG, and the analytics showed that the peak load of data was at the final whistle,” he says. “Even at that moment, there was enough throughput for people to share that special moment with friends and family on social media.”

Rising to the challenge

All of our unsung heroes are quick to talk about time when asked about the greatest challenges of working on a project like this. Where a large corporate project might change once a week, or even once a month, McWilliams and his team have several changes in play at once and others coming over the horizon. They must meet those changing needs without compromising the integrity of the build that’s already been put in place. 

So how do you cope with the combined stresses of fast change and complexity? For Viney, it’s all about putting the right people and structures in place.

“You need to surround yourself with good people, good partners, and delegate effectively to get the job done,” he says. “You need to have trust in everybody that you’re relying on and it’s vital that you’re able to talk to them without emotion. You can’t do that unless you have a good relationship.

“You also need to maintain good governance and check in regularly so you pick issues up early and can deal with them. It’s about clear and frequent communications. You need to be honest with each other.”

When the Games begin

McWilliams played competitive tennis as a young bloke but he’s most excited about the cycling at this year’s Games, where the Aussies will fancy their chances of beating a hugely successful British team.

“I’m looking forward to the velodrome, partly because I saw the venue being built,” he says. “The angle of the track is incredible and seeing it on TV doesn’t do it justice. It’s going to be a really close battle.” 

Glover is looking forward to the Rugby Sevens, which promises to be a real highlight of the Games with tickets long sold out. He’s also tipping Australian boxer Skye Nicolson to have a big impact.

“I was lucky enough to meet her and you’d never guess she was a boxer,” he says. “But she’s highly ranked at her weight so she’s got to have a great chance of winning a medal.”

Like many Australians, Viney is looking forward to the cycling and swimming. But he’s not sure how much action he’ll get to see from the Technology Operations Centre.

“To be honest you tune out a little bit from the sport,” he says. “You tend not to watch too much because your head’s in a different space but I’m sure Sally Pearson will take the roof off Carrara Stadium if she gets up and wins the hurdles.”