Presentation with Berta Cerezuela & Chris Kennett given at the 5th International Sport Business Symposium held in London on 7 August 2012 and exploring how information and knowledge management can contribute to

1. The value of Olympic knowledge legacy for host cities
Berta Cerezuela & Chris Kennett
5th International Sport Business Symposium
London, 7 August 2012

2. Objectives
 What turned Barcelona into an Olympic city and
keeps it as an Olympic city 20 years later?
 What has been the long term impact of hosting the
games in the city sport event policy?
 How has knowledge contributed to its develop and
success?
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3. The Olympic city as a learning city
BID → PLANNING → STAGING → CLOSURE → POST-GAMES
• Diverse sources of learning
• Wide range of issues to learn about
• Organisational aspects to consider:
• Knowledge life cycle vs. Event management cycle
• One-time organisations (Getz 2007)
• Pulsating organisations (Toffler 1990)
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4. Olympic information and knowledge
DATA / • Increasing volume
INFORMATION What? (5000 documents in June 2000 for the Sydney Games
(Rizakos 2001)
• Diverse typology
(administrative documentation, technical reports,
maps, results systems, journals…)
• End-users and restrictions
• Functional areas or themes
KNOWLEDGE
How?
Why?
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5. IOC Information and knowledge strategy
Information and documentation actions:
•Guidelines and tools for documents management
•Ensuring official archive preservation
•Preservation of key materials at the IOC Olympic Studies Centre
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6. IOC Information and knowledge strategy
Capture of knowledge
Recommendation 16 of the 2000 Commission
“provide assistance to future Organising Committees and offer them
general information and examples of the practices required to be able to
develop and implement the best solution for its environment” (Felli 2003,
125).
•Guides and manuals
•Visual TOK operations image database
•Network of international experts
•Seminars and workshops
•Observer programme
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7. Knowledge for Olympic cities?
Retain and preserve the intellectual capital resulting from the event as a
return for the investment made by hosting the event.
Why?
•Cities are key stakeholders for the event.
•Events in the city marketing strategy (Berg 2000)
•Development of the city event and sport strategy?
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8. Barcelona case study
• Olympics were a watershed in the city’s history (Moragas & Botella 1995 &
2002)
• Sport events are a key element in the city sports policy
• Barcelona’92 sources of knowledge and information:
 Official archive of the games documenting OCOGs functions
(information)
 Official report (information/knowledge)
 Research on the staging and impact of the games (knowledge)
 Games makers (knowledge)
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9. Conclusions
• Each event should involve a learning process to stating and delivering the
event and to generate added value.
• Knowledge is a valuable source to give event organisers competitive
advantage.
• Evaluation should be seen as a knowledge creation process for:
• Accountability
• Improvement
• And learning
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10. Conclusions
"knowledge is a resource too valuable to leave to chance. It’s not what we
know but how we share and use [it].”
(Halbwirth 2009)
•for the event franchiser and stakeholders
•for the organising committee
•for the city event policy definition
•for the city sport industry
•for academic and research purposes
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