(From left): Dr Shaun McCarthy (Director for Research and Knowledge Gathering at the ICSS), Marcela Escobari (Executive Director, Center for International Development at Harvard University), Professor Ricardo Hausmann (Director at the Center for International Development at Harvard University) and Mohammed Hanzab (President of the ICSS) at the signing of sponsored research programme agreement in Boston, USA.
By Our Correspondent /Cambridge (Massachusetts)
The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) has announced a major research collaboration with the Center for International Development (CID) at Harvard University.
As part of the ICSS’s mission to contribute and enhance research and knowledge in sport safety, security and integrity, the collaboration will see the two organisations undertake a major research project that will contribute to the further development of knowledge that can assist cities and countries to assess their economic capabilities and identify the steps to be taken in order to build a sustainable and robust sports sector.
The project, which will utilise The Atlas online - a powerful interactive tool that enables users to visualise a country’s total trade, track how these dynamics change over time and explore growth opportunities for more than a hundred countries, will be overseen by leading economist Professor Ricardo Hausmann (Director at the Center for International Development at Harvard University) and Professor Matt Andrews (Associate Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School).
Speaking about the agreement, Mohammed Hanzab, President of the ICSS, said: “This agreement with the Center for International Development at Harvard University is another important milestone for the ICSS’s work in sport safety, security and integrity.
“This research project will forge a key working relationship with one of the world’s leading economic experts, who will work with the ICSS to build the right foundations for an analytical framework that will assist countries and cities develop robust and sustainable sport industries.”
Professor Ricardo Hausmann, Director at the Center for International Development at Harvard University, said: “I am delighted about the ICSS’ two-year commitment to collaborate with CID, which will enable us to broaden our insights into sport at the city and country levels using the Product Space.
“Through this collaboration, we will begin to understand the economic complexities that govern the development of sport as an industry. This is significant work as it will make a valuable contribution to the public body of knowledge and will also help us to further identify why some cities and countries are more successful than others in developing robust and sustainable industries around sport.”
