March 17, 2014
Cambridge, Massachusetts - The Center for International Development at Harvard University has launched a collaborative research project with the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS).
By applying the theories of CID's Growth Lab and Building State Capability programs, researchers will examine the factors that influence the development of a robust and sustainable sports sector and create indicators that will help evaluate the potential development of the sports sector in a particular location.
"I am delighted by the ICSS’s two-year commitment to collaborate with CID and enable us to broaden our insights into sport at the city and country levels using the Product Space methodology. Through this collaboration, we will begin to understand the economic complexities that affect the development of sport as an industry. This is significant work as it will make a contribution to the public body of knowledge. It will help us to further identify why some cities and countries are more successful than others in developing robust and sustainable industries around sport," said Ricardo Hausmann, Director of the Center for International Development and Professor of the Practice of Economic Development at Harvard University.
Mohammed Hanzab, President of the ICSS, and his team visited CID on Harvard’s Kennedy School campus last week. Hanzab said the agreement is another important milestone in the ICSS strategy of forging key working relationships with the world’s leading experts to work with the ICSS in building the right foundations for an analytical framework to assist countries and cities to develop robust and sustainable sport industries.
Dr. Shaun McCarthy, the Director for Research and Knowledge Gathering at the ICSS, leads the ICSS Index – a project designed to assist client countries and cities to increase the economic and social contribution from their sports sectors.
"This research will produce key insights and understanding of how various sports related services and manufacturing industries play a role in economies. There are a number of important components required to create an integrated approach. The ICSS Index will combine these components to improve our ability to examine the private sector activities and governance structures that influence a city’s ability to develop sustainable sports sectors. Harvard CID’s research will provide insights and intellectual rigour that the ICSS Index can build upon. We are excited about working with the Center and its faculty members," said McCarthy.
Matt Andrews, Associate Professor, Harvard Kennedy School, will lead the research related to the Building State Capability theory. The scope of the project will initially include the soccer industry in Europe and the World Cup in Germany and South Africa.
In addition, the ICSS was named a Founding Member of CID's The Atlas online. The Atlas online, website of the published The Atlas of Economic Complexity: Mapping Paths to Prosperity (2013) enables users to visualize a country's total trade, track how these dynamics change over time and explore growth opportunities for more than a hundred countries worldwide.