The days of volunteer-organised entertainment events are long gone. Today, event management is a major business activity which uses complex digital technologies that require highly skilled teams of technicians and engineers.

Changes in technology have not only affected the way events are conducted but also the business itself. CMC's integrated event-management solutions use hand-held devices and desktop computers that 'talk' to central servers, thus speeding up and improving communication between event managers and helping them to manage large events with ease and precision.

A large-scale international sporting event is a complex activity, and needs facilities to record and disseminate voluminous amounts of information. During the event, the information needs of the organising committees, press and administration are enormous. This data is required in the shortest possible time frame, so it is practically impossible to manage and disseminate it manually. A computer-based, integrated games information management system has become an essential part of any international sports meet.

	Accreditation
	Games results management
	Information dissemination
	Facilities management

Accreditation
The accreditation module provides registration for all individuals to be accredited, including athletes, organising officials, media, support and security staff, volunteers, etc. The module can effectively utilise specified qualification criteria for different categories. It also supports re-accreditation, uploads the data to the access control systems and does management reporting.

Results management
Different sub-modules of the results management module cater to the conduct of the games, based on international federation rules. The module automates the various stages involved like draws schedules, result capture, ranking, medals, etc.

It also interfaces with scoring systems or timing systems, wherever applicable. For example, the system interfaces with photo-finish systems in athletics and touch-pad based timing systems in swimming, to capture the timings and merge them with the participant data, to get automated results.

The module also supports production of 'end of event' reports and 'post-games' reports (summary reports and detailed reports) for all the events conducted during the sports meet.

The best feature of the results management module is that it supports multiple games formats and has the flexibility to adapt to support new games with a little customisation.

Information dissemination
The results obtained are distributed to different media:

	Displaying the results on web pages
	Commentator information system
	Scoreboard interface
	Television interface
	SMS interface
	WAP interface
	Interface with an e-mail system

Facility management
It comprises the following sub modules:

	Games village management: Availability of accommodation
	Transportation: Information regarding vehicles deployed
	Human resources: Information regarding the skills of persons available
	VIP protocol
	Inventory control of the equipment deployed at the games
	Arrival and departure of the athletes

Technical architecture, hardware and software platforms

Schematic deployment setup for games management system

Click on image for enlarged view

PDC: Primary Domain Controller
BDC: Backup Domain Controller
IDC: Intruder Detection Service
DNS: Domain Name Service

The current version of the games management system is available in a three-tier architecture under Microsoft technologies. It is scalable to handle large deployments.

The first version of the games management system, built in 1987, was a mainframe-based application on the NCR Unix platform and used the Ingress RDBMS. Later, during the All Africa Games, the database platform was changed to Informix, though the application was still in mainframe and GUI-based. This version was used until the 29th National Games (India) at Bangalore, in 1996.

In 1999, the software design was completely revamped and is currently available on a mix of client-server as well as web-based architecture, for effective deployment.

Experience
The games management system has been deployed to support various international as well as national games meets. CMC has a dedicated team working for enhancement of this product on regular basis.

Indicative client list

	Xth Mediterranean Games, Syria, 1987
	South Asian Federation Games (SAF), Kolkata, India, 1989
	Vth All Africa Games at Cairo, Egypt, 1991
	VIth All Africa Games at Harare, Zimbabwe, 1995
	VIIth South Asian Federation Games (SAF), Madras, India, 1995
	29th National Games, Bangalore, India, 1996
	20th SEA Games, Brunei Darussalam, 1999
	50th National Basketball Championships, New Delhi, India, 1999
	15th Asian Basketball Championships for junior women, New Delhi, India, 2000
	1st Asian Athletics Grand Prix, Hyderabad, India, 2002
	32nd National Games, Hyderabad, India, 2002
	Asian Youth Boy's Volleyball Championship, Visakhapatnam, India, 2003
	2nd Asian Athletics Grand Prix, Hyderabad, India, 2003

Contact
Head - GMS
CMC Limited, CMC Centre,
Research and Development
Gachibowli, Hyderabad – 500 032
Tel: 91-40-23000401
Fax: 91-40-23000509
Email: gems@cmcltd.com