The president of the Global Sports Innovation Center (GSIC) powered by Microsoft and director of Microsoft Sports, Sebastian Lancestremere, the GSIC’s general manager, Iris Córdoba, and the Presidency, Economy and Business Minister of Govern d’Andorra, and president of Actua, Jordi Gallardo, signed a telematic agreement to position Andorra internationally, as a reference in the ecosystem of startups, innovation and digital transformation of winter sports, mountain and cycling.
The agreement includes the implementation of a programme of online and face-to-face activities for companies and startups in Andorra and around the world that want to bring their innovations to the Principality. In this regard, the Presidency, Economy and Business Minister stressed “the aim is to work together with Andorra on global challenges focused on mountain sports and cycling that will generate new projects for the country”.
Gallardo informed that “GSIC will work, together with Andorran professionals, on a programme of activities and advisory and mentoring services. Andorra will benefit from an international network of GSIC’s collaborators and ambassadors, to strengthen the innovative ecosystem of the industry of winter sports and cycling “.
GSIC powered by Microsoft will also collaborate with the innovation space “Casa de la Muntanya” and with other key players of the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in the field of sports in Andorra.
In this regard, the Honorary President of the GSIC and General Business Director of Microsoft’s Sports Industry, Sebastià Lancestremère, expressed his gratitude for the Government of Andorra’s willingness to sign the agreement and emphasized the “great importance of generating a meeting point to promote innovation and value in winter sports and cycling, which brings together the most important players in the sector. This agreement reinforces our commitment to continue promoting the digital transformation in sports”.
The GSIC’s General Manager, Iris Córdoba, highlighted “it will be a great opportunity not only for GSIC partners, but also for technology companies from all over the world who want to showcase and implement their solutions to ski resorts and slopes, cycle routes, mountain areas and sports related to these environments. Through open innovation processes, we will certainly drive the digital transformation of these segments of sports and take it them to the next level.
The agreement guarantees Andorra relevant GSIC advisory services that will help the country becoming a reference in innovation and digital transformation of winter sports, mountain sports and cycling. Among the actions planned, we note:
- The organization of an international start-ups competition with innovative projects and solutions related to mountain sports and cycling. It will be held annually. It will be held annually.
- An event focused on innovation in winter sports and cycling with the participation of investors and startups, aiming at funding investment agreements for several projects.
- A mentoring programme for selected Andorran startups that will receive two one-hour sessions per month, during three months, given by GSIC experts, the general manager of Microsoft Sport and the CEO of SPSG Consulting, among others.
- At the same time, Andorran content will be generated and displayed in the GSIC exhibition area in Madrid and various web seminars will be held.
GSIC by Microsoft
The Global Sports Innovation Center (GSIC) promoted by Microsoft is based in Madrid in association with Microsoft Sport Team since May 2015. Its main objective is to create an international meeting point for innovation applied to the sports industry and the construction of a global ecosystem of companies and institutions linked to sport and technology. In these five years of GSIC’s history, it has collaborated with more than 370 organizations from 38 countries and has one of the strongest networks in the sports technology ecosystem with more than 1500 emerging companies, 16 ambassadors in 13 countries and direct contacts with 3,000 industry professionals.
GSIC partners include companies such as Atos, Mediapro, LG, Porsche, Venue Next, Prosegur, Live Arena, Panasonic, Microsoft, Adidas, and sports organizations such as La Liga, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Atlético Nacional de Medellín, LigaPro Equador , ABC, United States Sports Association, among others, and dozens of the most innovative startups in the sector.
GSIC is focused on supporting the entrepreneurial sector and helping sports entities in their digital transformation processes. In this regard, it boosts different projects on a global scale to create business opportunities for technology-based companies and encourages open innovation projects with the most relevant organisations in the sector.
More information: http://sport-gsic.com/
