Ahead of a live online masterclass on the opportunity for sport in integrating blockchain technology on Wednesday, 24 November, Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) director, Dr Martin Schlegel, spoke with Ministry of Sport.
The masterclass, which is presented by Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) in partnership with RMIT University, will feature key speakers from both ASTN and RMIT, as well as members of ASTN’s Pre-Accelerator program.
The focus for the presentation will be on how blockchain technologies are being used across other industries and to explore how the sports industry could benefit from blockchain technology integration.
Discussing the partnership with RMIT and the delivery of the event, Dr Schlegel said: “ASTN and RMIT have a long-standing partnership dating back to 2013 when the ASTN supported the sports business and innovation curriculum as part of RMIT’s Master of International Sports Technology degree program.”
“Following the conclusion of that program in 2017, RMIT and ASTN continued to collaborate by supporting the RMIT Activator university incubation initiative which saw several university start-ups transition into ASTN programs.
“To date, many students, researchers and practitioners from RMIT have participated in ASTN’s early-stage (pre-accelerator) or growth-stage (accelerator) mentoring and commercialisation programs including trade mission run by the ASTN.
“The ASTN Masterclass intends to introduce the topic of blockchain and initiate a knowledge diffusion from other sectors into sport.
“With RMIT’s Blockchain Innovation Hub recently being listed no.2 in the global Coinbase listing, teaming up with RMIT to bring this topic to the sports tech community was a logical next step for ASTN,” he said.
Explaining the potential for blockchain technology in sport, and the role the ASTN and RMIT hope to play, Dr Schlegel said it is important for sporting organisations to understand the technologies and their potential.
“There are several technologies in this field, from cryptocurrencies to the use of non-fungible tokens (NFT) currently being hyped and enjoying a peak of expectations,” Dr Schlegel said.
“The ASTN and RMIT are looking to provide thought leadership across some of the applications of blockchain technology and its impact on the business of sport ranging from smart contracts, applications of blockchain in combination with the Internet of Things (IoT) as well as rules and regulations around new technologies.
“When looking beyond on-the-field sports performance, sports tech extends to the off-the-field business of sport, such as media broadcasting, stadium & venue tech and participation.
“Based on the idea that sport can be viewed as an application intersecting with health & medtech, fintech and other sectors, any technology applications that are being implemented, need to fulfil a business or organisational benefit.
“Similar to other industries, sporting organisations need to identify ways to improve current offerings, automate existing processes, or create new offerings using technologies,” he said.
The blockchain in sports masterclass will take place from 2pm-4pm AEDT online via Web Platform, featuring guest speakers from the RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub and the ASTN pre-accelerator program.