Lausanne, Oct 31, 2014: As the quiet shores of Lake Geneva prepare to bid goodbye to the pleasant autumn of 2014, SportAccord marks the season of change with the annual SportAccord IF Forum, which hopes to usher in a new wave of change in the global sports industry.
To be held at the Beau-Rivage Palace, in the lakeside district of Lausanne, the IF Forum will bring together over 300 participants from the public and private sports industry on the same platform to engage on the topic of ‘Innovation and Technology’.
“November has become the traditional month where our International Federations’ family gets the opportunity to come together to strengthen our relationships, and address the issues that concern us most. Our organisations are all stronger and more successful as a result of this opportunity to gain regular inputs from others within the sporting family,” said SportAccord President, Marius L. Vizer.
With multiple sessions and breakaway workshops focusing on the entire gamut of technology vis-à-vis the global sports movement, over 50 international sports federations are expected to participate in this year’s IF Forum, along with healthy participation from the private industry, as well.
This year’s keynote address would be delivered by Olympic legend, Nadia Comaneci, whose ‘perfect 10’ at the 1976 Olympics forced an innovation in television scoreboards so that they could accommodate ‘10.00’ at subsequent games instead of ‘1.00’ that was used to depict her historic feat, just because the technology to display 2 digits before decimal points did not exist till that point.
“I am looking forward to attending the IF Forum which has become one of the most important sports gatherings in the world. Plus, I am excited to learn more about the innovations that are continuing to evolve in the world of sports,” said Comaneci, on the eve of her participation in the event this year.
Such innovation has been guiding the sports world for decades now, and continues to do so. With each global event, every sport is getting the opportunity to innovate and establish best practices that serve as an inspiration to others and provide valuable lessons.
Also key in this element of innovation is the meshing together of the entertainment quotient, which is essential to keep the fans invested and sport dynamic. Paul Hawkins, the founder of Hawk-Eye Innovations, a company that provides line-call technology to tennis and Hawk-Eye services to cricket knows all about engagement through entertaining innovation.
“The great thing about innovation is that you don’t know what it is until after it has happened. The IF Forum brings people with challenges and people with solutions together, and takes everyone outside of their everyday routine. As such, an innovative, creative environment is formed,” said Hawkins, who will be addressing the IF Forum on ‘Making Technology the Winner’.
Digital media has come to be the next big focus for sport proliferation to the consuming public. This and many other topics would be addressed during the IF Forum, the 3 days of which promise to define fresh paths for multiple sports and refresh the approaches of their respective sports managers, who are keeping the wheels of global sport in dynamic motion. —- SportAccord
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