Kristof De Mey
Bridging the Gap Between the Sports, Health and Technology Sector
“The number of innovations in sport that can be helpful for coaches and trainers, athletes and clubs is impossible to keep up with,” Kristof De Mey wrote in the Belgian weekly Knack six years ago. “The number that is currently actually being used in Belgian sport can, on the other hand, be counted on one hand.” What is the state of play six years later? Are sports technology and data analytics being used more often to help athletes and teams win bigger, help prevent injuries and involve fans more closely with their clubs? Like in the US?
Kristof De Mey is innovation manager at Victoris, the Ghent University’s consortium dedicated to sports innovation, and program manager at SportUp, the Flemish accelerator for sports start-ups. He strongly believes in close collaboration between the sports, health and technology sectors, and hopes to get research institutes more involved in practice-oriented innovations. “To me, the future is not for those with the most money, but for those with the most relevant network,” he said.