Cape Town 2010 Congress Using More Internet Bandwidth than the World Cup
Unprecedented Internet usage causing
temporary technical difficulties
as The Third Lausanne Congress convenes on its second day.
CAPE
TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA, 18 October 2010 — Due to the high demand for bandwidth and
other Internet connectivity challenges, video from The Third Lausanne Congress
on World Evangelization was delayed on Monday — but should be available soon.
Technologists serving on the Congress staff have been working around the clock
to resolve the issue.
‘This is an unprecedented level of Internet usage for the country of South
Africa, even more than when the World Cup was here,’ explains Amy Donovan, Tech
Squad Manager for the Congress. ‘We’re taking video of every single session and
will be broadcasting it to the world as soon as our technical problems are
solved.’
Donovan added, ‘For this particular Congress, our connections are more than
double of any other conference they’ve held in the venue. But we have a strong
collaboration among our internal team and the Center itself. We’re trying to
give each group what they need, with an emphasis on providing support to the
broadcast team.’
It’s a slight road bump during what has become an historic moment. ‘It’s the
first time the entire world will be able to access the Congress through
technology, assuming we fix our problems—which we will,’ commented Doug
Birdsall, executive chair of The Lausanne Movement.
In addition to the 4,000 on-site participants from 197 countries, the Congress
extends to an anticipated 100,000 individuals at nearly 700 GlobaLink sites in
more than 95 countries worldwide. GlobaLink allows users to download videos
from the Congress — in a number of different formats and languages — along with
a synopsis and study questions, allowing them to hear voices from around the
globe challenging the Church in the 21st century.
