DIGI-SPORTING Newsletter No.1

A new step towards digital transformation through sports science

What is DIGI-SPORTING about?

It is a fact that does not require further explanation that digital transformation is affecting quickly and deeply all areas of society and economy and, in this sense, the worlds of education and sports are not apart of this reality.

Currently there is a wide range of technologies and equipments aimed at improving and optimizing the development of sports activities and training, both in high competition (professional level) and in grassroots sports. However, the way in which sport academies and clubs apply these advances at European level is very varied and erratic.

Therefore, Digi-Sporting project is a Strategic Partnership, with a marked educational character, designed to support sports organizations which want to give further steps towards digital transformation, by providing them with a new specialized and cross-cutting professional profile that currently does not exist at a European level, as well as giving them keys and guidelines to implement a change in the management model through the use of new technologies.

First international meeting of the DiGi-Sporting project in Toledo, Spain.

What are DIGI-SPORTING's specific objectives?

Address the need to break the barriers of fear of technology and the change that the introduction of new IT tools may imply.
Expand the training offer in technological skills in the world of sports, for personal and professional performance, tackling skills gaps and mismatches to avoid wasting much of the potential and possibilities offered by the digital transformation.
Create educational contents by promoting interdisciplinary cooperation in technology and sports science, that can be adapted to different job positions, so that everyone learns what their professional profiles need, in order to foster employability.

What will be DIGI-SPORTING's results, impact & long-term benefits?

Better knowledge of the level of development and application of new technologies (methods, practical applications, etc.) in the daily work of sport academies and clubs at EU level and their real needs through a in-depth research at a European level.
Better knowledge of the level of development and application of new technologies.
Identification of the professional profiles that are currently developing these works related to digital transformation.
The curriculum for postgraduate training of technologist-analyst in the field of sports science.
Design of a self-diagnosis ICT tool that will provide sport academies and clubs with concrete information on their specific needs in terms of application of new technologies.
Development of a Certificate or Quality Seal that will allow to recognize sport academies, clubs and other kind of public or private entities active in the sports field for their adoption of new technologies.
Disseminating project outputs at a large scale.

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What are the main partners of DIGI-SPORTING?

Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), Spain. Project coordinator.
University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), Portugal
garagErasmus Foundation (gE), Italy
European Network of Academic Sport Services (ENAS), Ireland
ONECO, Spain
ICSS INSIGHT, United Kingdom
Wiener Sport-Club (WSC), Austria
University of Cyprus (UCY)
Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI)

Statu Quo

So far partners have had two international meetings: the first one took place in Toledo (5-6 November 2019) and the second one was held virtually due to COVID-19 lockdown on 7 May 2020.

Despite all the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 lockdown, so far the project is under its first Intellectual output (IO-1, Analysis on the state-of-the-art. Guidelines on the application of new technologies, professional profiles and needs for the digital transformation of sports organizations), with the following inputs that are being developed:

A dissemination Plan, which is currently being implemented through social media channels, newsletters and the up-to date website of the project, launched in May 2020.
Individual report for each participating country, including the results of the questionnaire that partner sent to 50 professionals in each of the partner countries.
A complete guide of technological areas for clubs and a sectorial study of the current use and importance of each one of them, based on the feedback of 569 responses from coaches, physical trainers, analysts and coordinators in sports clubs, academies and fitness centres
A brief report is being prepared and translated into the 6 official languages of the project (English, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, Spanish, German).

On the other hand, the working group and the general framework for the development of IO-2 (a curriculum for postgraduate training for the technologist-analyst in the field of sports science profile) have been defined, destined for a training course for technologists in sports clubs. This phase will include a pilot course that will be announced throughout Europe during the coming months.

UPDATES OF THE PROJECT

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme under the registration number 2019-1-ES01-KA203-065505. This newsletter reflects only the author’s view and the Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.