Tech Innovators Lead the Charge to Ensure Adoption of Digital Transformation in the Sports + Fitness Industry is a Success

Data Leaders from Upper Hand Inc., Indianapolis Colts, Indiana Pacers, IUPUI Sports Innovation Institute and Butler University’s Lacy School of Business Form Center of Excellence to Build a Community-Driven Data & Analytics Platform in Sports and Fitness.

Upper Hand, Inc., an Indianapolis-based corporation that builds data-driven artificial intelligence software solutions to automate business growth, announced the formation of a Center of Excellence to launch an open community data and analytics ecosystem to ensure the adoption of successful digital transformation in the sports and fitness industry.

In collaboration with Charlie Shin, Vice President of Data Strategy & Analytics at the Indianapolis Colts, Anthony Brock, Director of Business Analytics at the Indiana Pacers, Dr. David Pierce, Director and Professor at the IUPUI Sports Innovation Institute and Dr. Barry King, Professor at Butler University’s Lacy School of Business, the team will converge market expertise and artificial intelligence methodologies to provide the sports and fitness industry with a comprehensive library of research and data-related resources.

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“This Center of Excellence provides an opportunity for everyone in the industry to get involved and use the power of data and analytics to fight back from the pandemic,” said Kevin R. MacCauley, CEO of Upper Hand. “Any small business owner in sports and fitness, whether running a local gym or a global sports franchise, is facing incredible market disruption, with little financial means to invest in innovation for the business to survive. We hope this work helps to keep millions of people exercising, moving and training around the world.”

The effort will focus on delivering community access to three core areas related to data and analytics, including data in practice, events and competitions and jobs. Among those areas, topics will range from academic case studies, shared predictive analytics reports and models, academic challenges, data competitions, shared data to providing real world research and training, and access to candidates seeking jobs in data science. This will provide leaders a rare opportunity to learn directly from the challenges faced by peers in the sports and fitness industry.

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“The importance of data and analytics to a sports organization’s success continues to increase, and yet many are faced with similar challenges in developing data and analytics capabilities,” says Charlie Shin, Vice President of Data Strategy & Analytics at the Indianapolis Colts. “The industry needs to come together to learn from each other and I think this Center of Excellence will do exactly that. I’m excited to be part of the effort, and I look forward to collaborating with other sports leaders in this space.”

“The Sports Innovation Institute at IUPUI is excited to be a part of this Center of Excellence,” says Dr. David Pierce, Director of the Sports Innovation Institute at IUPUI. “We are invested in preparing the next generation of data analytics experts for the sports and fitness industry. This effort will provide our sports data analytics students with real world problems to solve in ways that add value to the students and the industry.”