The International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board has released its 2020+5 agenda, with a focus on the organisations efforts to evolve its digital capabilities for the post-COVID-19 world.

The Olympic Agenda 2020+5 includes 15 recommendations in an effort to guide the work of the IOC and the Olympic Movement for the next five years, highlighted by the key trends of “the need for greater solidarity within and among societies”, “the growth in digitalisation”, “the urgency of achieving sustainable development”, “the growing demand for credibility”, and “the need to build resilience in the face of the financial and economic consequences that will result from the COVID-19 pandemic and which will influence priority-setting among governments and enterprises”.

Speaking on the release of the Olympic Agenda 2020+5, IOC president, Thomas Bach, said: “When we adopted Olympic Agenda 2020 in 2014, we did so under the adage of ‘change or be changed’.”

“This still holds true today.

“The world around us has continued to evolve.

“Nothing illustrates this better than the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences for society.

“As challenging as the circumstances may appear right now, if we draw the right conclusions, we can turn these into opportunities.

“To do so, we must address this future environment without delay.

“We need to carry forward Olympic Agenda 2020.

“This is why we have developed Olympic Agenda 2020+5 and its recommendations with the IOC executive board and based on the feedback we received from stakeholders following the Olympism and Corona messages,” Bach said.

Along with the new agenda, the IOC also released the Closing Report of Olympic Agenda 2020, which revealed 88% of the 40 recommendations have now been achieved.

The 15 recommendations in the Olympic Agenda 2020+5 are:

• Strengthen the uniqueness and the university of the Olympic Games
• Foster sustainable Olympic Games
• Reinforce athletes’ rights and responsibilities
• Continue to attract best athletes
• Further strengthen safe sport and the protection of clean athletes
• Enhance and promote the Road to the Olympic Games
• Coordinate the harmonisation of the sports calendar
• Grow digital engagement with people
• Encourage the development of virtual sports and further engage with video gaming communities
• Strengthen the role of sport as an important enabler for the UN Sustainable Development Goals
• Strengthen the support to refugees and populations affected by displacement
• Reach out beyond the Olympic community
• Continue to lead by example in corporate citizenship
• Strengthen the Olympic Movement through good governance
• Innovate revenue generation models