Sport Innovation HUB Jyväskylä - Digiratkaisuilla kilpailuetua

Development of sports and physical activity technology is fast paced and there is a plethora of technological solutions for supporting physical and psychological performance enhancement as well as injury rehabilitation. The rapid development of technology provides opportunities for new solutions and innovation within the realm of technology. However, the utility of new innovations requires a deep understanding of technical parameters, measurable phenomena and their applications to different scenarios and populations. Solutions that are backed by research and contain commercial potential require strong research, development and innovation (RDI) knowledge and investment, which is often limited with small and medium sized enterprises (SME) businesses. Within the Central Finland region there is unique potential to enhance RDI processes within the sports and physical activity realm because the only high-performance sport RDI organisation (Finnish Institute of High Performance Sport KIHU), the only faculty of sport sciences (University of Jyväskylä), which conducts multidisciplinary research on physical activity and sport, and institute of rehabilitation (Jamk University of Applied Sciences), which focuses on multidisciplinary rehabilitation, are located in Jyväskylä.

The purpose of the Sport Innovation Hub Jyväskylä development project is to develop and model different RDI practices related to advanced technology and digital solutions within the physical activity and high-performance sport ecosystem and harness the underutilized RDI potential to support the growth of SMEs and to further the success of sport, physical activity, and wellness programs. The main goals of this project are to 1) enhance the systematic recognition of needs for innovations and their evaluation and practical execution 2) concurrently enhance the RDI capabilities of SMEs and 3) promote the wider implementation of innovative solutions within the context of sport, physical activity, and rehabilitation. The project strengthens the sport, physical activity, and rehabilitation ecosystem by making business and research, development, and education organisation network more agile.

The work packages within the project include 1) building the intelligent Sport Innovation Hub Jyväskylä experimentation environment for the needs of the business sector and Jyväskylä sports, physical activity and rehabilitation RDI, 2) building contemporary experimentation and modelling the developed solutions within the focus areas of competence centre (I Physical performance and rehabilitation processes, II Monitoring and management of physical stress and recovery, III Psychological coaching and wellness, IV Utilization of new technological solutions in sports, physical activity and rehabilitation) and support of product commercialization during the processes, 3) Communication and sharing of gained knowledge and promoting the scalability of the developed processes to expand the impact of operations and results.

The Sport Innovation Hub Jyväskylä project will connect the strong theoretical, scientific and practical expertise in Jyväskylä and facilitate its utilization in the business sector to enhance the region's vitality. Alongside the development project the project portfolio includes an investment project where an intelligent experimentation and development environment will be created in the competence centre in the Hippos area. This environment offers modern technology and knowledge from high-performance sport to enhance product development, service piloting and development of practical competence.

The project serves as a promoter for the vitality and wellness of the region by strengthening the RDIL (research, development, innovation, and learning) focus in the Hippos area. The project will support Central Finland region's targeted strategy of wellness enhancement by developing models for enhancing individuals' physical and psychological performance, health, and holistic wellness to be utilized to enhance the competitiveness and development of the region's businesses. The goals of the project are to increase the competitiveness of SMEs involved in the physical and wellness market by producing new technologies and digital service models based off their needs and taking advantage of the existing expertise in the field of sport and exercise. When these new technologies and digital models meet the exceptional standards of high-performance sport, they may also be applied for the benefit of businesses involved in physical activity, rehabilitation and worksite wellness.