Participating in the Beijing Olympics

Emeritus Prof Don Schauder, Chair of CCNR, and Dr Sanxing Cao, our research collaborator in the Communication University of China. This shot was taken during the latter's visit to Monash Caulfield in July 2005. During Dr Cao's visit, he also gave a seminar on the Olympics portal project to colleagues in the Faculty.

What scope is there for community input to the Beijing Olympics? Researchers from the Centre for Community Networking and Research (CCNR), in the Faculty of Information Technology, are grappling with this question. CCNR is researching the establishment of a portal to allow sporting participants, volunteers and spectators of the Beijing Olympics in 2008 to upload self-directed video clips and relevant advertisements associated with the event. Access is facilitated through a web-based interface, and the portal is open to all, including local and international volunteers, spectators and business sponsors. A prototype of this portal is being developed at present and is currently being optimised for streaming media content delivery. Such willingness for community input has not been common in recent times.

The official title is the ‘Metis Global Network Portal’. CCNR researchers have been working in collaboration with researchers from the Communication University of China, a prestigious university which is actively engaged in education relating to mass media (radio and television broadcasting, filmmaking, Internet communication, and traditional publishing). Before CCNR’s involvement, the Metis Global Network Portal (MGNP) was commissioned by the Humanistic Olympics Studies Centre for the Olympics, supported by the China State Administration of Radio, Film, and TV (SARFT) and a member of METIS Global Network (www.metis-global.org).

The Beijing portal provides a space for communities of volunteers, spectators and participants to collaborate, share resources, create memory and communicate more effectively. The main feature of the portal lies in resource-sharing by the community as it cultivates shared memories of the event. At the same time, advertising videos are shared by the business stakeholders, facilitating another form identification with the event.

CCNR undertook a large-scale consultancy for the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2001. It is now working with Monash South Africa on a project for the World Cup in 2010. The Beijing portal will provide a novel service to the many parties participating in the international event, to the Olympic commitment to internationalising sport venues, and to community growth on a global level.

Notes by Nick McPhee  and Graeme Johanson, CaSIT, 14 April 2007