Elucidating the vision of Sports Authority of India (SAI) and how it is all set to leverage technology to benefit sports, Mr. Sandeep Pradhan, Former Director General, took the audience on a trip down memory lane and reminisced his days at IIT-Kanpur while pursuing his bachelor’s in computer science (1985-89). Pradhan, who was earlier at the helm of the Sports Authority of Gujarat (2013-17), the convener of the Sports Ministry’s Olympics Task Force (2016) and also served as the CEO of Khelo India, fondly recalled his professors with profound gratitude and spoke at length about how the premier technology institution gave him a head start from the word go. “One of the most significant contributions of IIT professors is their ability to instill a profound sense of self-belief in their students. They ensure that each student believes in their potential and strives to be the best in the country,” he said.
SAI Is Game For Leveraging Technology To Benefit Sports In India
IIT-M’s stellar work in the field of sports science, along with a plethora of indigenously developed products by the start-ups, will show the way forward.
He shared an anecdote on how the collaboration between SAI and IIT Madras began. “My friend’s son, who lives in Canada, called me around three or maybe four years back to ask if I could meet his friend Ishan, who was keen to see the SAI office. The young man who came to meet me was from IIT Madras, and he informed me about the sports vertical at IIT-M and the work they were doing in the sports field. I found it very interesting. He connected me to his professor, and I brought in a techno-bureaucrat, Dr Naik, to take the conversation forward. Our shared background in IIT helped, and that’s how it all started,” he reminisced.
Calling it just the beginning, he noted, there is a lot of scope for leveraging technology in sports. “IIT-M has taken up many projects, and we would like to partner and support them through these endeavors. We would like to strengthen and take it 100x,” he announced.
He had a word of encouragement for the entrepreneurs and appreciated their efforts. “We are interested in supporting the startups one way or the other. Once you have a product you think should be consumed by the government authorities, we will happily integrate it into our system. We are keen to support research and product development,” he said, thanking IIT Madras for taking the lead in sports science.