Edwin - Deputy Venue IT Manager

I'm the Deputy Venue IT Manager here in Torino at the Stadium for short track skating and figure skating, one of the most popular spectator venues of the Winter Olympic Games.

Getting the venue up and running is all about the things no-one ever sees - the management and operations systems, liasing with telecoms companies to get all the cabling done and lines up and running, working with energy companies to guarantee power sources and an ongoing combination of site and event management. It demands a lot of good multi-tasking!

I'm also responsible for the information systems here. We won't activate the core one until the actual opening. It's the results system taking judges' scores and times and displaying them in real time to spectators and via global television. These are also fed to commentators and broadcasters and then onto the written press for the big news stories, the winners, the losers, the world records.

More and more people are arriving everyday. NBC are coming from the USA tomorrow (the biggest network) and I'll be meeting them and reassuring them that we can deliver what they need. Volunteers are also pouring in and I'll need to ensure their accreditation and that they know where they need to be and what they need to do. Official training also starts on January 30th which is a soft opening and we get the athletes on the ice and need to see if they are happy with the facilities. We are working with the most outstanding skaters in the world - who's going to get the golds?

There are 25 Atos Origin interns here and I live with 5 of them - we have become good friends and socialise when we can but in this run-up phase things are getting very busy as you can imagine. I know I'll keep in touch with them when the project's over and with this kind of unique and high profile experience on our resumes, companies will certainly sit up and take notice!

Actually, I am going to Amsterdam right after the Games to do my graduation project. After then, who knows...

Sylvain - Deputy Venue IT Manager

I started as an intern on 1st December last year and I can honestly say these have been the quickest two months of my life - and certainly the most amazing. Having the opportunity to work on what is the biggest project of its kind in the world is a huge honour and a great challenge.

Think about the €3 billion cost, 2500 athletes competing, Olympic Games Committees from countries all over the world, 10,000 media and broadcast people, 21.000 volunteers and 1.5 million live spectators as well as the billions of people who will watch around the world. It takes your breath away and reminds you of the responsibility we all have to get it right.

I'm responsible for IT equipment in the four main Olympic hotels, the congress centre where members of the IOC, and international Federations are based, and the main accreditation centre. We've just moved to a new HQ in Lingotto south of Turin close to one of the three Olympic Games Villages. The systems handle all the sports results, athlete information, accreditation; medical reports and even VIP protocol that will help the Games run smoothly.

As deputy IT manager, I mainly take care of IT devices and related supporting activities. The most important part of my work is following deliveries, implementations, liaising with power, telecom, infrastructure and site managers to make sure that everything will be ready when we need it.

It has been a huge leap from studying for my Masters in Computer Science to this kind of hands-on role. There's a cultural learning curve, getting to know the other nationalities on the team, how they think, how they work and the different languages. There's the technical side too. You need to get up and go from day one and get involved. It's testing what I know and how I do things but we listen and learn from each other.

I've worked harder than I ever have before but the results are right there in front of you in the success of the Games. We are at the heart of all that making sure that after four years of preparation it all comes together perfectly for just two short action-packed weeks. It's an immovable deadline. It's coming up to zero hour. It's going to be an incredible moment.