Atos, an international leader in digital services and the Worldwide IT Partner of the Olympic Games, today announced that the first Accreditations for the Rio 2016™ Olympic Games have been issued. Over the next three months, 300,000 Accreditations will be issued in total including to the media, athletes, sports officials and sponsors so they can access Olympic venues and are granted entry into Brazil. The accreditation system built and managed by Atos has the same high levels of security as systems used to process applications for passports and visas. 

The Accreditation represents a critical element in the security of the Games.  Bearing the name and photo of the individual, plus a security bar code, each Accreditation identifies the holder and defines their access rights.

“As the Worldwide IT Partner and lead integrator of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Atos leads the technology effort that brings together the complex systems of the Games flawlessly,” said Michèle Hyron, chief integrator at Atos for the Rio 2016 Games. “By working with the Rio 2016™ Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and Brazil’s Ministry of Home Affairs, we deliver the online system that enables the entire secure accreditation process, from identifying accredited participants, to managing registration, to assigning access privileges and by providing access control information.” 

How does one Accreditation vary from another? For example, a 100 meter sprinter would have access to the field of play and the Olympic Village, while a journalist would have access to the Main Press Centre and the media canteen.

“The Accreditation system allows the procedures to be secure and reliable,” said Francess Lusack, Accreditation General Manager of the Rio 2016™ Organising Committee. “The Accreditation system is integrated with the Brazilian Security systems to ensure the safety of the Games. All accredited foreign nationals can use their Accreditation as a visa waiver to enter Brazil.”

Atos has provided IT solutions to the Olympic Games since 1992, and Rio 2016 marks the first time that part of the IT system is hosted in the cloud, representing a breakthrough moment in the digital transformation of the Games.