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Game on |
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| Ensuring the 2010 Olympics goes smoothly has a lot to do with knowing what can go wrong |
| Written by Jennifer Brown, on Wed-April-2008 |
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Game on
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 Overseeing the development of security infrastructure at an Olympic site is familiar territory for Brian Phillips.
During the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics he was part of the RCMP’s Integrated Security Unit. In 2010, he will be looking at things from a slightly different vantage point in Vancouver as the director of public safety for Bell Security Solutions.
For Phillips, the task at hand is all about risk management and protecting core infrastructure.
In these days leading up to the Vancouver games, Phillips is
responsible for making sure those responsible for security can rely on
the communication system to deliver during a time when the global
spotlight will be on B.C. as it takes the world stage.
“This is the big game and there’s nothing simple and easy about putting
on the Olympics, but Canada has a stellar record in putting on big
events. We’ve hosted prior Olympics, whether it was Montreal or in
Calgary. We’ve done Papal visits so we certainly have the knowledge,
skills and abilities to do it,” he says.
The security budget for Vancouver 2010 was set at $175 million, but
many, including RCMP Assistant Commissioner Bud Mercer, the new top cop
in charge of security for the Olympics, say it is too low. With about
600 days to go, it’s likely that figure will come into question several
times as the final crunch period draws nearer.
“It’s a massive scope especially on the technology side, but the beauty
is, we do it everyday. It doesn’t matter if it’s helping out with
summit leaders at Montebello or an ice storm — this is right in our
swing zone,” says Phillips.
Right now, half of Phillips time is spent on Olympic-related work. Bell
has been working around the Olympic project for three years already,
laying the communication backbone and security for the event.
Security for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will be
organized and delivered by the federal and B.C. governments through the
Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit (V2010ISU). With the RCMP as
the lead agency, V2010ISU will include representatives from the
Vancouver Police Department, West Vancouver Police Department, the
Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Canadian Forces.
Bell is investing about $200 million in the Olympics. About half of that is in infrastructure for the games.
“In the command centre, it’s not about the flat screen televisions,
it’s not about the camera hanging on the wall in the athlete’s village
or the smart card credential — the real true asset is the information
and that has to be made available in next to real-time because it is
vital for the decision making of those security people,” says Phillips.
“We have to guarantee 99.999 (per cent) up time. Within seconds of that
athlete crossing that finish line the information is diffused around
the world through the broadcasters. So if you’re the Vancouver
Organizing Committee (VANOC) or if you’re the RCMP Integrated Security
Unit it is very important that information and that network is
resilient — we can’t have that going down,” he says.
While many see Bell as simply a vendor of technology and services,
Phillips says the reality is it has always been inextricably linked
with critical infrastructure protection in Canada.
“The interdependencies with the energy sector, the transportation
sector and others — the true asset is the information. When they have
access to information we can make their security posture a lot better
and it’s the same with the effectiveness of their people,” he says.
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