Athens 2004 Olympic Games will count on the most advanced urban security system C4I to monitor each meter of the Greek city and its surroundings from a central switch that is to join communications systems with the armed forces, the Defense Department, the Police, the fire department, life guards, the Public Order Department, and all official bodies, with close-TV circuits in streets, stadiums, hotels, harbors, embassies, airports, and highways. The system is to become the IT control paradigm for urban security, after September 11 attacks in the USA, and those recently perpetrated in Madrid, Spain.

Convergencialatina was one of the two Latin American media to attend in Athens the presentation of the military philosophy-based system C4I (Command-Control-Communications-Computers-Intelligence), Siemens is jointly implementing with the US engineering holding SAIC, one of the main communications system builder for the armed forces and big telecom operators in the country.

In its new role as network integrator, Siemens leads the C4I project, and is the main infrastructure contractor for Athens 2004. The firm will provide the cable TV system for the Olympic village, the ultra-modern car tracking system in the city and that of the new two metro lines and the rail, from fiber-optics networks to contact centers from over 200 positions to de deployed by the Greek phone incumbent OTE. Of the € 6.5 billion to be invested by the Greek Government in total for these Olympics, € 700 million will go to security. And of them, € 250 million will be spent in the C4I, IT move closest to Orwell¿s fantasy Big Brother.

 

Urban Terrorism and C4I

According to the Military Review (magazine issued by the US Army), “knowledge will be the key to future urban combat operations”. These operations will request a greater level of knowledge than that rendered by current C4I systems. “Urban combat forces shall be capable of setting and keeping real-time visibility for all enemy positions, as well as for activities among positions”. The US report also adds “it is also essential to count on accurate and constantly updated info on physical structures within the city¿s perimeter,  and about significant migration of civilians”.

The C4I system to be implemented in Athens is to fulfill the said military utopia. As explained to Convergencialatina by the General Director for the Project Athens 2004 in  Siemens, Ionnis Spanudakis, the C41 is to integrate the sole control command of the 30  subsystems of assorted security and control forces with software that will unify answers from all networks. Among them, closed TV circuits including cameras on helicopters, balloons, and vessels to control the nearby Port of Piraeus –that will receive main tourist cruises- with new mobile networks TETRA (digital trunking) of the different security forces.

Any of the networks can detect an “incident” (ranging from car crashes on roads, traffic jams, or suspicious movements), and send the info to the central switch, so as to move resources to neutralize them. In case of car crashes, for instance, the system generates a deviation map for traffic, and sends the police and assistance to the spot. A car parked in security-sensitive places may immediately sound the alarm of the anti-terrorist forces.

 

The Olympics

This security model was firstly used in the Winter Games 2002 in Salt Lake City, first games held after the September 11 attacks. After the tragedy in Munich 1972, when 11 Israeli Athletes died in the shooting between the police and the Palestine group Black September that had kidnapped them in the Olympic village, certain fears emerge on occasion of international delegations going to games.

Besides, different from Salt Lake City, an isolated and calm Mormon location, Athens is a big metropolis with long-standing social conflicts of internal immigration and  traditional connections with the Arab world. US Government showed a serious concern of what may happen there, specially after the invasion to Iraq. During 2003, the Greek Socialist Government succeeded in dismantling leftist revolutionary organizations with several detentions –“17th November” and “Popular Revolutionary Struggle” (ELA)-, for instance, that emerged to combat the last military government, and were still active in the country.

With advice from seven countries with previous experience in Olympic games, and mainly from the USA, the Greek Minister for Public Order, Yorgos Floridis, teamed up with the Defense Department, devised a plan that involves 50,000 security men to control and protect athletes, diplomatic envoys, journalists, urban and inter-city traffic, planes and vessels from terrorist attacks. Several security officials will work together under a centralized command, that will need large information volumes to be timely and safely gathered and assessed.

 

System Integration As main contractor, the private network division of Siemens ICN will be in charge of the implementation of several security systems that include: five Main Command Centers, and 29 Regional Command Centers (in main Games venues); closed TV circuits (CCTV) in streets, roads, highways, avenues throughout Athens, the network of Car Traffic Management and Supervision, the CCTV network and thorough security in stadiums and locations, the CCTV networks, external security and access controls systems in the nine Olympic Ports along the Coast; LANs and WANs of the C4I system; the Digital Trunking Network for Olympic Security (OSDTRN) with 22,000 terminals; and the Automatic Car Tracking (AVL) system to cover a 4,000-bus fleet.   

The German firm is to hire and integrate other vendors. Motorola, for instance, will provide the radios TETRA (European digital trunking standard) to be used by Greek public security staff, including the police, the fire brigade, ambulances and life guards. The 22,000 terminals will be connected to Motorola¿s Dimetra System, an IP-based TETRA system. This system is to use the 3-level encryption security of Motorola, the biggest currently available, and will be fully operative in April.

Main Siemens¿ ally for C4I system network design is the US Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), that had already deployed the security network for Salt Lake City in the boreal winter of 2002. SAIC was founded in 1969, during the Cold War, by a small group of scientists, and has already become –with 42,000 employees- in the main research and engineering company in the USA. On average, it gets two military and national security contracts a month. The last has been for a feasibility report of the missile-defense system of the NATO. SAIC holds a joint-venture with Bechtel, famous contractor owned by the Vice-president Dick Cheney. Besides, it has built up the network of several US operators, such as BellSouth, Qwest, SBC, and Level 3. Its consulting unit Telcordia Technologies serves big telephony operators such as Telecom Argentina, Telmex, the Colombian ETB and the Porto Rican PRTC.

One of the outstanding cases of SAIC in Information Security has been the implementation of the backbone SIPRNet (Secret Internet Protocol Routed Network) from the Defense Information Systems Agency, main secret global network of the Defense Department in that country. The main job of SAIC in Athens will be to help 60 different State entities in Greece to train some 4,000 users of the C4I system. SAIC executives, leading this project, include the former Director of the US DEA, Donnie Marshall, and an ex FBI agent, David Tubbs.