One week to go ‘til THE SPOT 2023 – discover exciting “firsts”

It’s one week to go until THE SPOT 2023 takes off and everyone – from the organisers, volunteers and partners to the speakers, exhibitors and of course the several hundred delegates – is in the starting blocks for ThinkSport’s international sport and innovation event to take place on 8 and 9 May in Lausanne.

Under the overarching theme of “Innovation for sustainable futures”, sustainable business transformation and innovating with purpose  will take centre stage at this year’s edition to drive progress in sport. Thought provoking speakers will take the participants on a journey and set the tone for deeper discussions on the interconnected topics of mindset and future behaviour, human capital and the future success of sport and best practice in sustainability.

Click here to access the detailed programme.

Testing of Innovation Booster at the event

For the first time, THE SPOT will also provide a “lab atmosphere” and serve as a testing ground for the Innovation Booster on Data for Sustainability, led by THE SHIFT and powered by the Swiss Innovation Agency Innosuisse. This project has looked into developing means of proper sustainability impact assessments for sport events based on reliable data. At THE SPOT’s exhibition space, different cross-sector teams will test new solutions in front of the delegates, showcasing innovation in progress and sharing results on screens. The solutions to be tested will include a new data management tool that shows live data in an appealing way to engage spectators, athletes and other sport event stakeholders to adopt responsible consumption and behaviour; and guidelines that would inform the development of technological solutions with indicators directly mapped to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to provide a common framework for sport. Another team will work on a pilot sustainability event scorecard, which is simple, clear, and actionable to measure progress in quick succession, creating a performance and impact evaluation on environmental, social and economic targets.

This project forms part of The Innovation Booster – Sport & Physical Activity, which runs from 2021 to 2024 and is managed by ThinkSport as leading house in collaboration with EPFL and UNIL. Another thematic Innovation Booster “Living Labs for Decarbonisation” will also present its initiatives at THE SPOT. 

Other exciting “firsts” at this year’s edition will include the official announcements of new cross-sector partnerships during the event; project launches; a number of thematic side events and the opportunity for delegates to perform a one-minute sales pitch about the products or services of their company during the “Open Mic” sessions.

Got a ticket for THE SPOT 2023? Then get ready to share your experience by using #TheSpot2023!

Otherwise, a few tickets are still available and you can register here.