The Tour de France stages in Yorkshire in July 2014 were a great success and a credit to all involved in the organisation of the event. Gaist Solutions are proud to have such a major part of it.

 

In February 2014, following a software demonstration to TdFHub2014 Ltd, Gaist Solutions were invited to assist at Exercise Crossbar, a multi-agency table The Tour de France stages in Yorkshire in July 2014 were a great success and a credit to all involved in the organisation of the event. Gaist Solutions are proud to have been part of it.

 

In February 2014, following a software demonstration to TdFHub2014 Ltd, Gaist Solutions were invited to assist at Exercise Crossbar, a multi-agency table top exercise aimed at testing plans made in advance of Le Grand Depart.

 

In April , Leeds City Council, acting on behalf of their local authority delivery partners and with the support of TdFHUB2014 Ltd, invited tenders for a web based browser driven operational logging system to enable a consistent approach to sharing and maintaining operational event information across stages 1 and 2 of the Tour de France Grand Depart to be held in Yorkshire in July 2014.

 

Gaist Solutions were awarded the contract on May 6th 2014. This left just seven weeks to establish requirements, design, build, test and deploy the system and also design training materials and deliver training.

 

The finished system comprised of three elements, Mapping, Logging and Tasks. The mapping was provided via the existing tried and tested GRP2 Silverlight system integrated with the other elements provided via a new HTML5 based Logging and Task Recording system.

 

Tasks were divided into three clear categories and were derived from TdFHub’s predefined lists. The system allowed users to indicate on the system that an individual task had been completed.

 

The logging element allowed users to submit logs throughout the event using a pre-defined template for the purpose of information and initiating appropriate action.

 

The Operational Logging System was deployed at the following locations during both stages of the event:

• Gold Command (WYP HQ, Wakefield)

• Silver Command (WYP HQ, Wakefield)

• Race Central Operations Room (WYP Training Centre, Wakefield)

• Leeds

• Bradford

• Craven (Skipton)

• Richmondshire (Richmond)

• Harrogate

• York

• Calderdale (Halifax) – Rochdale also operated from here

• Kirklees (Huddersfield)

• Derbyshire (Ripley)

• Sheffield – (Barnsley also operated from here)

 

During the event weekend a total of 177 users were registered on the system.

Most of the mapping data was created by participating Local Authorities via TdFHub staff while other data was provided by Gaist, West Yorkshire Police and Network Rail.

 

Challenges that had been anticipated was that of Local Authorities IT network configurations and internal policies. Issues such as installation of Silverlight, associated network conflicts and installation of more suitable alternative browsers had to be overcome. Despite the short time frame, these issues were addressed.

Train the Trainer sessions were held on June 2nd, 3rd and 4th at Leeds, Harrogate and Sheffield with the objective of training a small number of Trainers from Local Authorities to cascade the input down to those who would be using the system. The sessions were run jointly by Gaist Solutions and TdFHub2014.

 

www.gaistknowledgehub.com was set up as a guide for users in advance of Train the Trainer Sessions. As well as providing links to the main system and the Gaist TdF Route Survey Video, it also features password protected sections containing relevant event and logging system documentation and instructional videos provided by both Gaist Solutions.

 

Fifteen instructional videos were created using Adobe Captivate 7. These are all hosted on Youtube

 

The training sessions went well with only minor local issues with IT networks and availability of up to date browsers experienced. A Command Point Exercise (CPX) was held on June 10th which was the first time the Operational Logging System had been used in a realistic setting by multiple users simultaneously.

 

The system performed well under pressure but the lack of previous testing meant that a number of functionality issues presented themselves at the CPX. These were all addressed and implemented prior to system go-live in June 23rd.