An update from IKL

Welcome to another edition of the IKL newsletter. We now know that no overseas spectators will be in Tokyo this summer for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. These Games will be different. The various IKL programmes will be cut back and reduced. But we are determined to make them happen and add as much value as possible in support of our IOC colleagues and our OCOG friends, despite the challenges. It’s also just over a year since we first went into lockdown in response to the pandemic and switched to remote working. It has been an amazing achievement to keep all our core activities moving along, to re-plan our priorities and adjust to the postponement. This has, of course, been helped along by all our stakeholders – truly a team effort.

I’ve been reflecting on the impact of the last year. Most people are afraid to fail. It is in our nature. And yet, if we all continued to do what we have always done, we would get nothing new; there would be no fresh approach. I feel the year has reinforced the importance of not fearing failure. The need for trial and error across so much uncertainty has revealed a lot of support for a more experimental mindset, which embodies the Olympic Agenda 2020 mantra of “change or be changed”. This shift in mindset will surely help make the Games adaptable and resilient in the face of many future changes and allow them to flourish.

In this edition, we focus on some words from the IOC’s new Chief Information Technology Officer , Ilario Corna, including a view on his priorities for IKL. We also provide an update on the main Tokyo activities related to Games Operations Data and Analytics. Chris Collison shares some details about the Knowledge and Planning Consortium we have been running over the last couple of years, with much success. From our OCOG colleagues, there are some interesting insights from Beijing into how they have worked on several learning initiatives; Paris tell us about the roll-out of their new document management system; and Milano Cortina explain the learning opportunities they experienced at the recent FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.

I’d like to end by acknowledging that it has also been an incredibly tough year, which has impacted many people in unimaginable ways. We take a moment in our thoughts to reflect on the hardships suffered by so many.

If you have any questions or comments about our priorities for the coming period, as we get ready for Tokyo, or want to share any of your own thoughts, please get in touch!

Kind regards,

Chris Payne

IKL Associate Director