Tokyo 2020 Covid-19 Operational Readiness
Staging an Olympic Games is inherently complex, but the emergence of COVID-19 introduced unparalleled challenges. There was no precedent for conducting the Olympics during a pandemic, necessitating the creation of entirely new plans, processes, and information flows from scratch. Traditional contingency plans included pandemic scenarios, but the global impact of COVID-19 required a more current and comprehensive approach. Additionally, the absence of prior operational documentation for such a scenario meant that all strategies had to be innovated without the benefit of historical guidance.
Ikosaeder approached this challenge by analyzing the situation from a risk perspective and developing a series of pandemic-specific exercises. These included talk-throughs, walkthroughs, tabletops, and simulations designed to address known risk areas related to COVID-19 countermeasures. Key focus areas encompassed stakeholder journeys for both athlete and non-athlete groups, potential impacts on sports competitions, the implementation of new COVID-19-related Communication, Command, and Control (C3) structures, and the integration of these structures with existing technologies and public health authorities. Our flexible development process ensured alignment with ongoing planning efforts, and we played a pivotal role in integrating perspectives from medical, legal, sports, and C3 stakeholders to ensure cohesive operational planning.
Over the course of a four-year program, Ikosaeder delivered more than 85 exercises involving over 7,500 participants. Through coaching and collaboration, we empowered Tokyo 2020 to autonomously conduct over 150 readiness exercises, engaging more than 10,000 learners. Our robust post-exercise reporting mechanisms identified strengths and areas for development, accelerating pandemic planning efforts. Intangible benefits included increased confidence in the suitability of plans, processes, and information flows, ensuring seamless stakeholder integration for a safe Games delivery. The client also benefited from a wealth of previous Games expertise, which was adapted to the unique challenges posed by COVID-19, ensuring thorough preparation for both anticipated and unforeseen challenges.
