IITM to hold conclave discussing sports-tech startups & tech support for 2036 Olympics
CHENNAI: Amid India’s aggressive bid for hosting 2036 Olympics, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras’ (IITM) Sports Science center plans to host a conclave that aims to discuss technology support for hosting Olympics, improving athletes performance. It will also focus on promotion of sports-tech startups and showcasing home-grown technology.
The Sports-Tech Startup Conclave will be held by Center of Excellence in Sports Science and Analytics (CESSA) in Delhi on July 12 and 13.
The conclave will pave the way for creating supporting structures to support the initiatives of the union government and various sports bodies towards hosting the Olympics 2036 with active technology support from IIT Madras CESSA. The institute also provides technology support for sports federations and athletes to improve performance, it adds.
The conclave will discuss how athlete’s performance metrics in games could be improved with technology, including games like kho kho and Kabaddi, Ramesh Kumar, chief executive of CESSA told TOI. The union government is pushing for inclusion of Yoga, kho kho and Kabaddi in the Olympics.
The conclave will showcase IITM’s patented technologies in deep-technology products including bio mechanical sensors and computer-vision based products, he said.
The Center of Excellence in Sports Science and Analytics has already announced a funding and incubation program for deep-tech startups in Sports and aims to develop plans for sports-tech startups in the country.
The deep-tech program has received more than 150 eligible applications. An expert panel will evaluate and short-list the applications in this conclave. Under this program, the center will provide Rs 10 lakh – Rs 15 lakh for startups with a total outlay of Rs 5 crore, supported by the Department of Science and Technology. It aims to support deep-tech startups working on building sensors, networks, actuators, controllers and artificial intelligence. The center also plans to support around 200 broad-based sports-tech startups working in other areas and aims to come up with actionable plans for them.
