Information Systems for Large-Scale Event Management : A Case Study

Information systems (IS) have considerable use in supporting large-scale communication and coordination. This is especially important in contexts such as major event and crisis management which have complex requirements on people and technology. IS facilitate the dissemination of real-time information and coordination among decision makers, and thereby the management of the entire event. This paper describes a case of management and deployment of IS for a large-scale event as an exemplar in this area. Singapore won the bid to host a major international event, the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, collectively known as S2006. However, there were complex requirements and daunting challenges to be overcome in managing such a high-profile and large-scale event. The paper describes how the Committee in charge delivered the IT infrastructure and systems for this large-scale event with 23,700 participants from 184 countries. It suggests several lessons for IT executives in charge of managing large-scale events, mainly for planned (e.g., sports events) and to some extent for unplanned (e.g., Japan tsunami or BP oil spill crisis) events. Particularly, it highlights the need for advance preparedness, use of IS for situation awareness, cultivating relationships for communication and coordination, and the importance of vendor management and project management skills. These lessons are valuable for IS deployment for large-scale communication and coordination for future mega-events and to some degree for preparedness for unfore-