The Executive Yuan launched the Sports and Technology Action Plan in 2022 with “sports everywhere” as the central vision. The plan’s four main strategies are to strengthen infrastructure, expand the capabilities of sports science, promote data governance, and build a new industrial ecosystem. This increases the competitiveness of top athletes, expands public sports culture and drives the development of Taiwan’s sports tech industry. The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) set up four main goals: to cultivate interdisciplinary talents, promote sustainable innovation and empower sports technology research and research cooperation. They also cooperated with National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) on a program to expand sports technology.

On the final day of the 2024 TaiSPO, NSTC and NTNU worked together with Bureau Français de Taipei to hold an international forum on sports technology, diversity and openness. The event was hosted by NSTC’s Department of Humanities’ and Social Science Director General Shuo-bin Su. The second half of the forum focused on start-ups and sports technology expansion, with La French Tech Taiwan’s Co-President of the Board Cerise Phiv, Decathlon’s Head of Footwear Innovation Damien Mourier, and Taiwanese Olympic athletes Chen Wen-huei and Wang Kuan-hung discussing the applications of new technologies.

Cooperation between government, industry and academia is the key to developing sports technology

Decathlon believes that innovation requires cooperation between academia, research centers and all sports science fields. To develop innovative products for any sport, it’s necessary to incorporate a large amount of data from athletes’ real experiences. This ensures that people who use these products not only enjoy sports, but also perform better.

Damien Mourier said Decathlon upholds the vision of “sports everywhere.” From materials to design, athlete testing to the production process, they pay attention to every detail. They hope to make innovative products that help everyone live a healthy and safe lifestyle.

For start-ups, innovation is not only about sports technology, but about paying attention to the pulse of society and what people need. Then they can design innovative products that suit current demands. Like many countries, France is dealing with an aging society, which makes holistic health and sports technology all the more important. According to statistics, companies in France’s sports technology industry have an average sales growth of 50%, and 200 of these companies have a revenue of one million euros and above.

Cerise Phiv said, “Many start-ups have cooperated with France’s national research centers like ENS, INRIA and CNRS. These interdisciplinary collaborations, as well as collaborations between universities, cultivate more tech talent, inspire new ideas and establish a stronger foundation for the country’s tech industry.”

Sport technology brings upgrades for athletes and games

As Decathlon expressed, athletes with practical experience best understand the benefits of developing new sports tech. Two top Taiwanese athletes preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Chen Wen-huei and Wang Kuan-hung, both expressed that imaging technology has the most significant applications among sports tech.

Chen Wen-huei, who won the bronze medal in the women’s 64kg weightlifting at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, pointed out that weightlifting competitions can be boring for the audience. But nowadays with improved imaging technology, LED screens can instantly replay clips captured by high-speed cameras, helping athletes, coaches, referees and the technical committee to clarify any disputes. This speeds up the competition and makes it more enjoyable for the audience.

Wang Kuan-hung, who won the silver medal in the 200m butterfly at the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Games, has a similar opinion. Using advanced imaging tech, swimmers can use their phones to immediately view training videos that have been uploaded to the cloud. This way they can quickly identify any issues with form and improve their next performance. 

Both athletes hope to apply their own expertise in cooperation with academia and sports tech professionals to design products that help athletes get better results and avoid injuries.

NSTC’s Shuo-bin Su has great hope for these two athletes and resonates with Cerise Phiv’s words. NSTC hopes to expand sports tech research at universities and relevant research centers, cultivating even more professional talents. Guided by technology and market opportunities, it promotes sports technology and integrates academic research to transform and upgrade the industry. The cooperation between government, industry and academia creates a positive cycle of talent cultivation, research and development and industry advancement. In the future, Taiwan’s sports technology industry will shine even brighter.