Tokyo 2020 ramps up to host the GEP

Over the past year, the Tokyo 2020 Games Experience Programme (GEP) team, including IKL, Tokyo IKM and WAoS staff, has been working hard to review and adapt the GEP activities in order to incorporate the latest COVID-19 countermeasures as outlined in the Olympic and Paralympic Family Playbooks. With the aim of preserving and maximising the learning value for all participants, the GEP team is confident that these minor but necessary changes to the overall programme will ensure a safe and successful experience for all in Tokyo.

Choji Nakamura, Director of the Tokyo 2020 IKM GEP team, expressed his confidence in the ongoing developments: “Tokyo 2020/Tokyo IKM has worked hard with the government to establish COVID-19 countermeasures, and is ready to welcome everyone well prepared.”

Adjusting the scale

The GEP in Tokyo, with observation at its heart, will focus on addressing the respective learning needs of each future host OCOG based on where they are in their lifecycle. It embraces co-construction, the incorporation of New Norm principles and concepts from past Paralympics. Naturally, given the reductions in scale across the entire Games, the GEP has also been adjusted accordingly. For instance, to aid in ensuring social distancing, the future host OCOGs from Beijing 2022, Paris 2024, Milano Cortina 2026 and Los Angeles 2028 will send smaller delegations while having staff participate virtually in sessions that were previously held only at the GEP Campus. The latter will serve as the onsite base for the GEP. Located at the premises of Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo, the Campus will serve as a meeting space as well as the main briefing area for GEP participants to increase the exchange of experiences in a safe setting.

Activities

Nearly all GEP activities which were set to be delivered at a venue or site will continue in this manner while fully respecting COVID-19 countermeasures and the Playbooks. They range from sessions on innovations and specific operational topics, venue visits and stakeholder experience visits (“a day in the life of…”) to observations of a particular operation of a relevant function.

The GEP participants will be provided with a number of tools to facilitate reflection on key learnings. Of note, the GEP Connect tool will be used for the dissemination of information related to the programme, and for the management of registrations for activities. Available via a desktop browser and as a mobile app, GEP Connect can also support the dissemination of learnings to new staff.