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THE DATA SLALOM
(FORTUNE Magazine) – Little Lillehammer, Norway (pop. 22,000; 25 square miles), has laid its own stretch of information superhighway. With the help of Andersen Consulting, the town has installed a computer-based nerve center to keep the 1994 Winter Olympics running slick as ice. Using an updated version of software it originally developed for the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, France, Andersen has created an on-line service to provide event schedules, results, weather forecasts, bios of the athletes, and statistics from past games for the 40,000 accredited visitors, athletes, coaches, judges, and journalists descending on Lillehammer. Guests will be able to punch up the information on some 2,000 PCs located at the various sites. Security is a special concern after attacks on tennis star Monica Seles last spring and figure skater Nancy Kerrigan in January. Andersen has devised a system that will map any incidents electronically and pinpoint the locations of patrol units should they be needed to quell disturbances. Says Arne Huuse, Olympic police commissioner: ''It's the most sophisticated police command system in the world. We feel very comfortable.'' But just in case, there will be a low-tech fallback: roughly 3,000 Olympic police, up from Lillehammer's usual brigade of 85. |
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