Leading sports charity, Podium Analytics, announces Trusted Research Environment for Global Sport, to revolutionise the approach to sports injury research

In the continued pursuit of excellence into academic research in sports injury and delivering more effective, safer use of player and athlete data, Podium Analytics has identified the need for an independent Trusted Research Environment (TRE) for Global Sport that can help accelerate research and science in sports injury.

Since its inception five years ago, charity Podium Analytics has continued to identify and develop new opportunities that can catalyse research progress through the collection, curation and secure access to sports injury-related data.

TREs are controlled digital environments used to store or analyse sensitive data securely, allowing researchers to undertake in-depth analysis on rich, joined-up datasets without them seeing any identifiable information. They provide an opportunity to impose higher standards in how commonly used datasets are stored and curated and have been proven to be incredibly successful in other areas of medical sciences over the past decade or so.

The TRE for Global Sport by Podium Analytics will deliver a coherent approach to data curation in a single, secure platform and will endeavour to have the same impact in sports injury research that has been achieved in cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and other areas of medical science. With everyone behind it, the TRE has the potential to start a movement that will accelerate sports injury research globally. 

International Federations (IF), National Governing Bodies (NGB) and Professional Leagues have been commissioning academic research into sports injury for many years, resulting in many steps forward in the field of sports injury and prevention, but they have also left many opportunities un-investigated or untapped due to the constraints of the approach, the economics of the sport or the diversity of academic institutions that are able to access data to undertake research on a specific issue. The specific nature of the research, the structure of the research agreements and the nature of consents obtained from players has usually meant that data is not available to other researchers within academic institutions on behalf of the same sport. The TRE looks to change that and create a one stop shop for all data, solving a major issue for all Sports Governing Bodies and Professional Leagues who put the advancement of player welfare at the top of their agenda.

Podium is delighted to announce that World Rugby is the inaugural global sport that will be joining the platform, showing a continued and shared commitment to creating a world of more sport and less injury.

Dr Éanna Falvey, Chief Medical Officer for World Rugby, commented on their commitment to being the first International Federation to sign up: “At World Rugby, it is advantageous to bring all our sports injury and research data into one place – a single solution. We had been having a number of conversations and when the team at Podium Analytics first presented the TRE to us, we could see how important this would be for the future of sport and, in particular, for us in rugby. It was instantly something we very much wanted to be part of and solved a very real issue that we were facing in research. We are excited to be part of shaping the future of our sport through this innovation into research.”

Andy Hunt, CEO at Podium Analytics, added: “We are delighted to have World Rugby as the inaugural sport’s governing body and we hope many other International Federations and NGBs will follow suit to help us seize the collective opportunity to advance research into key sports injuries.
At Podium, we are on a journey to reduce and manage injury in sport and we are absolutely committed to delivering opportunities that provide such a significant step forward in the world
of sports research.”

About Podium Analytics

Podium Analytics is an NGO, registered as a charity (England, Wales and Scotland) with a vision to create a world with more sport and less injury. Founded by Sir Ron Dennis CBE, its mission is to significantly reduce the incidence and impact of sports injury, with a focus on youth and grassroots sport. Podium’s team is made up of hand-picked specialists with proven expertise in business, academia, science, technology and sport, who share in a sense of responsibility for shaping a safer legacy for sport.

About World Rugby

World Rugby is an international federation and a global movement comprising more than 500 million fans and eight million players within 132 national member federations affiliated through six regional associations. Located in Dublin, Ireland, World Rugby’s purpose is to grow rugby by making it more relevant and accessible, with a vision of a global sport for all, true to its values.

About SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 

The SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit brings together around 1,500 leaders and key decision makers from over 120 International Federations (IFs), the International Olympic Committee, and organisations involved in the business of sport. 

The Summit provides an unrivalled platform enabling global business leaders and host cities to have access to all the International Federations and their stakeholders in one location over several days. 

This unique event is a combination of official sports meetings, networking gatherings, a themed conference programme, and exhibition space enabling International Federations, industry, cities and regions to showcase and advance their sport, services and facilities. 

About SPORTACCORD

SportAccord is a sports event organisation based in the Olympic Capital, Lausanne, Switzerland, and governed by stakeholders representing the Olympic and non-Olympic International Federations.  

It brings together International Federations and organisations involved in the business of sport with the aim to serve, promote and protect the common interests of its stakeholders, help them achieve their global objectives and facilitate knowledge-sharing.

SportAccord’s stakeholders include:

ASOIF (Association of Summer Olympic International Federations)

WOF (Winter Olympic Federations)

ARISF (Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations)

AIMS (Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport)

Visit SportAccord.sport for more information.

About Yutang Sports

As one of SportAccord's Principal Media Partners, Yutang Sports is a Chinese leading sports marketing and media platform, with an ultimate mission to connect China and world through sports. After years of growing, Yutang Sports, with a comprehensive media and marketing promotion system, is now dedicating to reporting sports business and marketing trends, providing sports business news, analysis, and exclusive data reports in both Chinese and English. Having been cooperated with top-level domestic and international sports summits, Yutang Sports is opening a window for Chinese sports industry to embrace the world.