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The Paris Olympics 2024 is here.  Roughly 15-16 million fans are expected to travel to Paris for sporting events during the Olympics and up to 2-3 million from abroad. The event expects to host between 300,000 and 600,000 spectators for the opening ceremonies, and approximately 10,500 athletes from around the world. 

Whether entertainment or politically motivated, large events put pressure on government entities and crisis management teams to respond effectively to a range of potential events such as medical emergencies, increased crime, potential terrorist threats, and safeguard staff, participants, event-goers and VIP individuals alike. The Paris 2024 Olympic event has already experienced its first serious security incident; an arson attack against its rail system that caused an outage during the inaugural events. 

In this article we will provide a brief overview of crisis management, and list some critical elements of a crisis management strategy, and review some facts about the special security implemented for Paris 2024.  Finally, we will list some open-source software for crisis management during large events.

What is Crisis Management?

Crisis management is the process and strategy for handling security-related events that occur during large events. This includes activities seeking to identify and respond to security incidents that happen during an event and pose a threat to the health and safety of an event's participants, or pose a risk to disrupt the proceedings of the event itself.

This of course can include cybersecurity incidents such as DoS attacks, and other IT compromise for financial gain such as stealing payment card data, but crisis management focuses primarily on natural disasters, medical emergencies, security threats, and other unforeseen incidents. Effective crisis management ensures the safety of attendees, protects property, and maintains the reputation of the event and its organizers. The goal is to both minimize the potential for negative security incidents to happen during the event, and also to reduce the impact of incidents that do occur through preparedness, swift response, and efficient recovery.

Critical Components of Event Risk Management

Comprehensive risk management strategies are essential to ensure the safety and success of large events. Implementing a comprehensive plan depends on some unique elements:

• Pre-event Planning Risk Assessment: Conduct thorough risk assessments well in advance of the event to identify vulnerabilities. Meet with stakeholders, event planners, and operational managers to identify potential risks related to the event, including environmental, logistical, and security concerns. Consult with those experienced in planning similar events to assess the likelihood and impact of various risks and develop a set of prioritized mitigation efforts. Make contingency plans to address potential issues, including backup power, alternative routes, and emergency communication systems.

• Legal and Compliance: Ensure all legal and regulatory requirements are being taken into consideration and met. This includes obtaining necessary permits, ensuring health and safety compliance, and being prepared for any legal issues that may arise.

• Developing Bespoke Risk Intelligence: Create tailored risk intelligence reports that cater specifically to the event’s unique characteristics, location, and audience. Utilize data from previous events, current threat assessments, cultural context, and expert analysis to inform the intelligence report.

• Special Event Medical Staffing: Ensure the presence of adequate medical staff and facilities to handle medical emergencies. This includes having on-site paramedics, first aid stations, and clear access routes for ambulances. It's also important to consider a wide range of potential medical conditions and provide the event attendees in advance with relevant information about how the event may impact their specific conditions.  

• Implement A Centralized Command Center: Implement a centralized command center to oversee security operations and coordinate quick responses to any incidents. The command center should be able to monitor IT infrastructure and on premises physical security. Utilize networked video surveillance technologies to monitor the event in real-time. 

• Implementing Real-Time Intelligence Reporting Tools: Use advanced technology to monitor real-time data and provide instant updates on potential risks. Tools such as geospatial analysis, social media monitoring, and automated alerts can help in early detection of emerging threats.

• Developing Real-Time Response Plans: Establish protocols for immediate response to various types of crises. These plans should include communication strategies, roles and responsibilities, evacuation procedures, and coordination with local emergency services. Plan both IT and physical response operations and conduct table-top and technical exercises in advance if possible to ensure all respondents understand the processes in place and their duties.

• Secure and Safe Transportation: Plan and manage transportation logistics to ensure the safe movement of attendees and VIPs to and from the event. This includes coordinating with local authorities for traffic management, securing transport routes, and providing safe parking areas.

• Special Security For VIPs: Implement additional security measures for high-profile guests and VIPs. This may include personal security details, secure transportation, and exclusive access routes and areas.

• Crowd Management and Control: Plan and execute effective crowd management strategies to prevent overcrowding and ensure the safety of all attendees. This includes designated entry and exit points, crowd barriers, and trained personnel to manage large groups.

• Communication Plans: Develop clear communication plans to keep all stakeholders informed before, during, and after the event. This includes internal communications among staff and external communications with attendees, media, and emergency services.

Cybersecurity For Paris 2024

The cybersecurity planning for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris is a comprehensive and multi-faceted effort aimed at ensuring the safety of athletes, spectators, and residents. Here are some key points from the official documents and plans:

• Security Perimeters and Access Control: The French government has established security perimeters around competition venues to manage access and ensure safety. These perimeters will regulate traffic and pedestrian flow, and designated zones will be set up for different levels of access.

• Special Security Deployment: On average, 30,000 police officers will be mobilized daily, with up to 45,000 on peak days. This reportedly includes canceling police vacations and postponing other events requiring police presence during the Olympics​. The opening ceremony will also involve extensive use of additional security boats​. Hundreds of private security entities will also be enlisted to deploy VIP security and crisis management in support of France's national and municipal forces. 

• Advanced Technologies and Threat Mitigation: Leading up to the Olympics, the French government reported unusually high levels of cyber attacks against its infrastructure. The plan includes measures to counter potential threats such as terrorism and drone attacks. The use of concentric security rings around venues will help manage risks and ensure thorough screening protocols. 

• Coordination and Information Sharing: Effective information sharing among public officials and private security stakeholders is emphasized to address potential threats. This includes establishing relationships with local law enforcement, venue managers, and even frontline staff to ensure a comprehensive security network​ 

5 Open-Source Tools For Crisis Management

When planning large events, it's critical to understand what open-source software (OSS) tools are already available which can be adapted and deployed to aid in crisis management efforts during large events. Here is a summary of some key OSS tools that can be used for strategic implementation of crisis management during large events. 

• OSEM (Open Source Event Manager): OSEM (Open Source Event Manager) is an open-source software solution maintained by the openSUSE community designed to streamline the planning and management of events, conferences, and gatherings. It offers a comprehensive set of features including participant registration, scheduling, call for papers (for academic events such as conferences), and ticketing capabilities.

• Sahana Eden: Sahana Eden is an open-source disaster management system that can be used for managing large events including global humanitarian crises. It provides functionalities for managing people, organizations, assets, and incidents. It is a web-based collaboration tool designed to tackle common coordination challenges during disasters, such as locating missing persons, managing aid and volunteers, and effectively tracking camps. This tool facilitates seamless communication and coordination between government agencies, NGOs, and the victims themselves. The most recent version of Sahana Eden is available as push-button Linux instances on Amazon AWS - compiled in January 2023. 

• Ushahidi: Ushahidi is an open-source platform for crowdsourcing crisis information. It allows for the collection, visualization, and interactive mapping of information, which can be crucial during large events for situational awareness and crowd management. The tool offers features such as crowdsourcing data collection, interactive mapping, data visualization, and mobile application support.

• SafeCity: The SafeCity App is a Android mobile application for reporting crime and security incidents, and its partner the safecity-analytics back-end platform. The mobile app is developed using Kotlin and Jetpack Compose, enabling users to report local crimes and incidents to authorities. The app retrieves the user's location to display the nearest police stations and crime hotspots. It also offers visualized statistics and crime insights, along with crime prevention tips and a list of emergency contacts for urgent situations. Reports are stored in a Firebase database, accessible by local authorities, and users receive SMS notifications upon submission. Additionally, admins can access a PDF of reported incidents.

• OpenStreetMap and Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT): OpenStreetMap (and tools for Android) is a collaborative mapping project that provides freely accessible geographical data. It can be used for planning and operational purposes during large events. HOT uses OpenStreetMap data to aid disaster response, preparedness, and planning for large events.

Conclusion

This article provides an overview of crisis management, essential elements of event risk management, and insights into the specific security measures implemented for Paris 2024. Similar to all large events, the Paris Olympics 2024 presents unique security challenges and necessitates effective crisis management strategies.

Large-scale events face heightened risk of medical emergencies, crime, potential terrorist threats, and the safety of both attendees and VIPs. All of these requirements require special planning and implementation of large-scale coordinated security monitoring, assessment, communication, and response efforts. Additionally, several open-source software tools can be adapted and deployed to aid in crisis management efforts during large events.