As The World Games 2022 begins in Birmingham this week, UAB IT has had a behind-the-scenes effort to help get athletes and officials connected while on campus.
UAB, a foundation partner for The World Games 2022, will host several games, including lacrosse, tug of war, racquetball, and squash. In addition, the campus residence halls have been transformed into the Athletes Village.
“We are going to be nimble, adaptive and alert to help The World Games accomplish their goals."
UAB IT has allowed The World Games access to network infrastructure and fiber; collaborated with residence hall WiFi provider Apogee to provide a seamless WiFi experience for athletes on campus; and has created a backup internet connection in case The World Games’ network at its local headquarters at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center goes down.
UAB IT also has staff available to assist The World Games officials if they need it.
“We are going to be nimble, adaptive and alert to help The World Games accomplish their goals,” said Christian Cummings, network architect for UAB IT’s telecommunication services.
UAB IT and Apogee have collaborated to create one campus WiFi network for athletes.
“Athletes will have the same experience whether they are on campus or in the residence halls so they can communicate with family and friends,” Cummings said.
Collaboration with The World Games and other partners has been crucial to the success of the project.
“UAB IT has been an excellent partner, collaborating with us and other vendors to ensure that our athletes and staff have a seamless technology experience while on campus at UAB,” said Justin Watson, chief technology officer for The World Games 2022. "They have also offered backup internet capability for our operation, which will mitigate problems if we experience issues with our primary network.”
Connectivity for The World Games has been set up with security in mind, Cummings said, so that UAB IT’s network is separate from that of the TWG 2022 athletes and officials, keeping them as well as UAB students and staff safe.
In addition to the network connections, UAB IT has helped provision a number of laptops for The World Games officials, and has assisted UAB Physical Security with getting athletes access to the residence halls.