While athletes the world over prepare for the performance of a lifetime, in London, one race has already begun. For the past three years, a small army of strategists and technicians has been hard at work, putting the network infrastructure technology in place for what aims to be one of the biggest and most connected events the world has ever seen.
The organisational challenges alone are immense. The London 2012 Games will need to support a working population the size of Guildford across almost a hundred locations. Security, offline and on, is paramount. The amount of data involved – from live high definition images to multiple event scheduling – is staggering. And that's before the 10 million or so spectators turn up.

Cisco is the Official Network Infrastructure Supporter for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Cisco's network infrastructure will underpin the delivery of the voice, video and data traffic used by fellow technology partners to connect the thousands of people running, reporting, competing in or enjoying the Games.

Cisco Launches STEM Challenge 10 to Get Students Inspired by London 2012 Cisco Teams Up With STEMNET to Challenge School Children to Emulate the Olympic and Paralympic Committee by Becoming Events Organisers Themselves  
Original Post :  Cisco launches stem challenge 10 to get students inspired by london 

 LONDON, Feb 29, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- School children across the United Kingdom are being challenged to create a plan for an Olympic or Paralympic-scale event in their home town as part of the latest STEM Challenge managed by STEMNET (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network) in partnership with Cisco CSCO -0.60%   , the Official Network Infrastructure Provider of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

 Cisco and STEMNET are inviting 11-16 year old school children across the UK to get in the spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic Games by delivering plans for an Olympic or Paralympic-scale event in their home town. Students will need to take into consideration all aspects of the event starting with the technical design of the stadium and facilities, all the way to the opening and closing ceremonies. 

 The challenge forms part of the Cisco Out of the Blocks series -- an initiative to use London 2012 as a catalyst to help build a brilliant future in the UK. The scheme, which launched in January, saw nearly 4,000 UK secondary schools receive a set of free Key Stage 4 activity books inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and aims to encourage students to further their learning in maths and science. The resources are also held on the website along with other video content to inspire children to further their learning in Maths and Science and be more aware of future careers that can be derived from a good base in STEM skills. 

 Launching this week and running until 15th May 2012, students will work in teams to complete the task in a bid to win prizes that include a "gold medal" of GBP 2,500 for the school's STEM club, "silver medal" of GBP 1,000 and "bronze" of GBP 500. All winning teams will win eight tickets to one of the London 2012 events and merchandise. 

Cisco Support, a free website powered by Terapad.com (http://www.terapad.com/) was launched today featuring online shopping, forums, image gallery, event calendar, blog, and more.

Cisco Support can be accessed at https://ciscosupport.terapad.com/.