There is a great emphasis on digital and data in the sport sector at the moment and we are bombarded at the Sports Think Tank by people and companies claiming to have the 'solution' to all of our problems. So what is going on?

We are big fans of sport and all things techy at the Sports Think Tank. Part of our role is to watch outside the sector for trends in technology and society that will impact us in the future so we can ready ourselves. Technology is moving so fast that is almost impossible for us who aren't digital natives to keep up. But we must.

We were delighted to be at the London Sport 2.0 Digital event last week to hear the latest from Peter Fitzboyden the CEO of London Sport who is trying to push this agenda and trying his hardest to get the sector to think outside its own limited space and learn form the best examples in other industries and sectors. The line up of speakers helped us get to grips with what is happening now and where the potential lays. We realise that our own limited social media strategy is missing out on millennials unless we understand the dark social media of whatsapp, instagram, facebeook messenger for example.

This move towards digitising the sector has led to calls for the solution being 'Open Data'. London sport have worked with IMIN and the ODi for the last couple of years on this agenda and now it being seriously picked up by Sport England and promoted as the next big thing. Generally we agree, opening up the data so that the sector can be more easily accessed and facilities booked is part of the solution to some of the problems. As I have repeated often is takes me 3.5 mins and 11 screens to book my local badminton court and I know where it is and when I want it. Thats simply not good enough compared to other sectors! So we have been supportive of this agenda. However, one of our favorite disruptors Sam Parton from OpenPlay has written a powerful piece this week arguing that perhaps open data in itself is not the panacea. The growing pains of a start-up trying to monetise this part of the sector should make us at least listen. Thats our role here at the Think Tank - to debate and open up critical thinking. Group thinking and managing innovation badly got us into the mess around SPOGO in the first place. So is Sam right. There are a few others in the sector who tell us Open data is not necessarily the answer. We need to at least listen to these dissenting voices to make sure we don't get this wrong.

But the issue is wider. When we talk about digital, data and tech in sport I get the real sense it means so many different things to different people. There are a great series of companies and tech innovations across our sector and we use the terms interchangeably all too often. For managers who came into sport because they love sport this can be confusing and bewildering. We need a safe space where the non-techy sports managers and administrators can learn and understand how technology can help and assist our sector,

It is great to see places like UKActive, London Sport and the Mayor backing innovation through support for the disruptors and start-Ups with their tech hubs and mentoring.

But as we have seen from this research from Ampere the millennials are not watching or turning onto sport in the same numbers as before. There is a ticking timebomb waiting int he wings to rock our current models f delivery and engagement. We need to learn fast as e-sports are now growing faster than 'our' traditional sports.

Over the next few months we will be working and partnering with more tech companies, start-up and major players in the sector to help understand what they offer and what we as sport can learn from them to engage with our current consumers and how more importantly we can engage with those currently not active of connected with sport. It is a massive agenda but one we can't ignore any longer.