February 22nd, 2007
CIO Sessions: Harnessing wireless wagering at the Kentucky Derby
In a CIO Sessions video, Jay Rollins, the CIO of Churchill Downs, talks about turning around the venerable race track with 21st century technology, such using wireless networks and mobile devices for wagering. He equates the technology requirements of horse racing for wagering elements and data collection and analysis to stock trading.
Security is also a major issue for the company. "We have 18 off track betting facilities around the country. And granted Churchill Downs, the racetrack itself, does not manage the wagering. But if Churchill Downs brand, if it ever got out that there was a security problem: public relations nightmare. So, we needed to shore up the security, we needed to get things manageable and under control, stop reacting and getting proactive. And the best way to do that, we saw, at least on the low-hanging fruit, was get a managed network in place, and update it and replace it."
Rollins also discusses his views on vendors relations, collaboration, Web 2.0 and dealing with a single day in the year in which 158,000 people show up at Churchill Downs to bet on the horses.
Dan Farber, editor-in-chief of CNET News.com, has more than 20 years of experience as an editor and journalist covering technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
