Given the arrival of 1.5 million visitors, in a country of 3 million inhabitants, security is one of the priorities of the organizers of Qatar 2022. That is why they have developed a control center from which they will monitor the eight stadiums of the tournament using of 15,000 cameras and artificial intelligence.
For the first time in the history of the World Cup, most stadiums are located within a radius of just 70 kilometers away, in the city of Doha, where all fans attending the event will also gather.
For example, the government of Qatar decided to design the ‘Aspire Command and Control Centre’, a modern control room where, thanks to thorough measurements, it will simultaneously and remotely manage all World Cup venues, both indoors and outdoors. of each parameter and a digitization system that generates a virtual replica of the infrastructure.
Command and Control Center director Hamad Ahmed al-Mohannadi explained to EFE that it is “the first time” that a system traditionally used “in security centers or related to military activities” has been applied to a sporting event . .
UNIQUE PLATFORM.
The different systems installed are united on the same platform that manages and displays all the information they receive in real time on gigantic screens that are analyzed by more than 80 employees “24 hours a day, seven days a week”.
Specifically, regarding the work team, Ahmed al-Mohannadi noted that they have received specialized training for almost three years to manage all variables under stressful situations.
Incident reports come in to the control center when some parameters such as temperature, pressure or space go outside the values they have configured as “proper operation”. For example, they put in place the necessary procedures to solve the problems if it is a minor incident or, if it is a larger incident, they are connected to the emergency services so that immediate action can be taken; Qatar’s security forces and organs will be supported on the ground by their counterparts from countries such as Turkey, the United Kingdom, Italy or Pakistan.
From there, for example, they will monitor the crowds at the entrances, as they have measured the number of people that must enter through each door of the stadium at all times, and with the security cameras and the statistics, they will know whether the spectators have already passed or how many must still do it.
THE HAYA CARD.
In this sense, the head of operations of the Al Janoub stadium, William Morales, emphasized that the resolution level of the cameras will be very high, which will make it possible to clearly recognize the faces of the fans from a long distance, as well as the areas of infrastructure.
Morales warned that it will be necessary to turn on the “bluetooth” on the mobile device to show the Hayya card, the essential fan documentation to access and move around the country, as it is only granted to those who have accommodation and tickets to a match.
On this point, on the borderline between security and respect for individual privacy, the command and control center’s chief of technology, Niyas Abdulrahiman, assured that the development and application of technology are “critical” to its operations, but the goal is that everything “works correctly without interfering with the fans.”
Finally, given the possibility of receiving cyber-attacks that change the operation of the system, Abdulrahiman was calm with the protocol devised for this, from his point of view, they have “correctly” chosen the right tools, systems and people to create an expert team to complete in the field. “We want to try and mitigate the risks against these threats.”
Source: El heraldo
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
