Digi-Sporting. A new step towards digital transformation through sports science Erasmus Project

Project Title

Digi-Sporting. A new step towards digital transformation through sports science

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

It is a fact that does not require further explanation that the 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 from this reality.
In this way, there is currently 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, without following a needs study, a common work pattern or planning guidelines, or an implementation plan and clear objectives. In this way, it is wasted much of the potential and possibilities offered by the aforementioned digital transformation to this important field of activity.

One of the consequences of this lack of vision (or perhaps one of its causes) is that the profile of professionals hired to develop these functions in sport academies and clubs is very difficult to define and even more to find in the labor market, which is a big obstacle to take full advantage of all these opportunities and, therefore, exploiting the potential and benefits that these technologies can bring to the world of sports today.

In this context, “A new step towards digital transformation through sports science” (Digi-Sporting hereafter) is an innovative project aimed to create, develop and transfer the professional profile of technologist-analyst (postgraduate training – higher degree) in the field of sports sciences with the aim that sport academies and clubs can fully explore the opportunities offered by digital transformation.
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.

Specific objectives of Digi-Sporting:

– 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.

The main results of the project will be the following:

* 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 european level and their real needs through a in-depth research at a European level.
* Identification of the professional profiles that are currently developing these works related to digital transformation in sport academies and clubs in order to detect their shortcomings, competences required, qualifications…
*The curriculum for postgraduate training of technologist-analyst in the field of sports science (output 2) will serve at improving a range of digital competences based on the results of the research previously conducted, tackling skills gaps and mismatches for professional profiles that enables exploiting the potential and benefits that technologies can bring to the world of sports today.
*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 in their day to day, as well as informing them about strategic and tools for covering these shortcomings.
* 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 in their daily management and the professional qualification of their workers as means of taking advantage of the full potential for an effective digital transformation.
*Disseminating project outputs at a large scale.
Regarding the results of the project for partners organizations, we have to highlight that they will make up a strategic association that will continue collaborating in developing and recognizing skills in sports science through new projects, exchanging experiences, etc. This strategic association will be open to add new organisations interested in the addressed field.

Project Website

https://digi-sporting.eu/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 319742 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSIDAD DE CASTILLA – LA MANCHA & Country: ES

Project Partners

• UNIVERSIDADE DE TRAS-OS-MONTES E ALTO DOURO
• FONDAZIONE GARAGERASMUS
• EUROPEAN NETWORK OF ACADEMIC SPORTS SERVICES, ENAS COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE
• ONECO CONSULTING SL
• ICSS INSIGHT
• WIENER SPORT-CLUB
• UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS