UK Large business & public sector
It’s rare that people have the opportunity to take part in something as big as the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
So to have been part of the team responsible for bringing the most connected Games ever to the world has been one of my proudest achievements, and has equipped me with dinner party stories for decades to come. [Read more...]
By Emer Timmons, President BT Global Services UK & executive sponsor of London 2012
This morning I was delighted to join a group of opinion leaders at the top of the BT Tower to discuss the findings from a major new study into the business legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Looking out across the London skyline it was easy to remember the sense of pride felt around the UK during the Games last summer. But what we really wanted to find out was how that sense of momentum has carried through for the many businesses who worked hard to prepare for the opportunities presented by the Games. Did their preparations pay off? [Read more...]
At our Istanbul CXO Summit, business and technology leaders heard first hand about the learning from the “most connected Olympic Games ever”. And they shared their own perspectives on what the demands of social media could mean for their organisations and their network infrastructure.
London 2012 has been described as “the social media Games”. As BT’s Stuart Hill explained, personal device internet connectivity meant that “everybody watching the Games could be a journalist or a photographer”. [Read more...]
I don’t know about you but my Christmas list has been gathering dust on the fridge for a month or so now; and it looks like it’s being strategically ignored by the people it’s aimed at.
Around this time of year I always forget my entrenched lack of organisation and start bullet pointing. I suppose it’s the time of year to be planning ahead and that’s why I do it; planning what I want for Christmas; planning what needs to be done before the big day; and thinking about what needs to be done at work in the New Year. [Read more...]
In 2008, Roel Louwhoff learned that he would lead one of the world’s biggest peacetime telecommunication projects yet, the 2012 London Olympic Games. Not only were the games destined to become the most connected games ever, it was also the first time that a single telecommunications provider was given responsibility for the entire project. We asked Roel, who is CEO of BT Operate, to look back on BT’s biggest project yet.
How did you feel back in 2008, looking at the task ahead?
We knew we were tackling a totally unique challenge. Obviously we could learn a great deal from the previous Olympic games in Beijing and Vancouver but the scale of the London games, from a telecommunications perspective, would be something entirely different. To illustrate, we assumed that we would have to carry approximately seven times as much data traffic as in Beijing.
The summer of 2012 was an incredible achievement, so let’s celebrate a little longer, and hear from the people who helped to make it happen.
The flame of pride lit in the nation’s consciousness will burn for the foreseeable future. Joy, triumph, pride and satisfaction in having pushed boundaries, built relationships and achieved something so memorable are all here. [Read more...]
I was asked to go along to the Inclusion Summit at Lancaster house in my capacity as Head of Inclusion and Age and Disability Research Programmes at BT. The work we do helps answer the questions posed by people with severe physical impairments, giving them access the technology and services that the rest of us take for granted; in that respect it was extremely interesting to be invited to the Inclusion Summit and get a chance to see what other people from other industries have been doing to help build a more inclusive society.
There’s been a lot of press given to the idea that as a nation we’re now more accepting and inclusive of people that maybe 10 or 20 years ago were marginalised to an extent, and thanks to the awareness created by the Paralympic Games — which I was lucky enough to have been a Torchbearer for — it’s allowed people to have a conversation about disability. [Read more...]
It’s come to an end (deep sigh). The athletes have gone home, gold post boxes are in place and the bunting’s on sale. The success-failure review process for London 2012 is well underway.
Apart from a treasure-haul of medals, has Great Britain — have we — delivered on our promises?
It’s a little controversial, but some believe the Games weren’t actually about the sport at all. Shaun McCarthy, Chair of the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, said: “I have always seen London 2012 as a sustainable regeneration project interrupted by a few weeks of sport.” [Read more...]
