Helping Greece Secure the 2004 Summer Olympics
Summer 2003
When SAIC helped secure the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, it faced a huge challenge developing and integrating the systems that allowed federal, state, and local officials from 60 security agencies to communicate and share information and act in a coordinated manner.
Occurring just a few months after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the 17-day Winter Games came off without a major hitch for the 2,400 athletes and 1.6 million spectators. They were protected by more than 12,000 security personnel who, among other things, successfully responded to nearly 600 reports of suspicious packages, several bomb scares, and one anthrax threat, which turned out to be a false alarm.
Today, SAIC faces even greater challenges as it leads an international team working closely with the Greek government to help secure the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens. In addition to heightened terrorism concerns, the Summer Games are more than three times bigger than the Winter Games and will involve nearly 70,000 security personnel. And, unlike Salt Lake City, which is relatively isolated, the Greek government must protect nine seaports, including Athens' main harbor of Piraeus, where cruise ships housing visitors will be docked.
But the single biggest challenge is the time constraint. SAIC has about one year to deliver all of its systems and subsystems, and help the Greek government agencies conduct the necessary training for more than 9,000 users of the systems.
What SAIC Is Doing
SAIC is putting together a C4I system to give the Greek government the tools they need to manage the security. Greek public safety and military forces will provide the actual security and respond to specific calls.
In addition to providing capabilities in C4I (command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence), SAIC also brings strong expertise in port security, telecommunications, engineering, and training. SAIC support includes overseeing wireless communications systems, overseeing port security systems, and providing engineers and other subject matter experts.
SAIC's team of U.S. and international firms is highly impressive, including Siemens, E Team, and Greek companies ALTEC, Diekat, and Pouliadis Group.
During the 2002 Winter Olympics, SAIC successfully integrated many of the same systems that will be used in the 2004 Summer Games.
Our C4I system is composed of 29 subsystems that will allow Greek authorities to collect, analyze, and disseminate information. These include a command and decision support system, a communication and information system, a digital trunked radio system, a port security system, and fixed and mobile command centers for the Greek police and firefighters, the coast guard, the Athens Olympic Committee Security Division, and the Ministry of Defense.
An Electronic Fence around the Games
In addition to infrared and high-resolution cameras, other camera systems will track vehicles, and an airship will float silently overhead acting as an airborne surveillance center. Unlike helicopters, which will also be used, airships can carry more sensitive equipment and stay in position for up to 24 hours.
A Winning Combination
While SAIC's previous Olympics experience and its broad technical expertise were key discriminators in winning the heavily competed security contract from the Greek government, SAIC's first-hand knowledge of law enforcement issues was also an important factor.
For example, David Tubbs, who played a key role in helping SAIC win the contract, spent 24 years with the FBI and oversaw security for the 2002 Winter Olympics as executive director of the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command before joining SAIC, where he manages our Justice Information Systems Group.
Extensive law enforcement experience helped the SAIC team to better understand the needs and concerns of the customer, which is the Hellenic Ministry of Public Order (the Greek police).
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