Technology to dominate Olympics

Jan 28 2010 by Iain Laing, The Journal

THIS year, 2010, marks the beginning of the countdown. For those folks down in London who celebrated with such jubilation on that day back in 2005 when we beat Paris to carry the Olympic torch in 2012 the world must seem a different place five years on.

Which indeed it is, in more ways than one.

For the next Olympics are likely to be different to all those that have preceded it. These Olympics are likely to be more dominated by technology than any others before them.

Technological breakthroughs are being made on a more and more regular basis that are helping athletes run faster, jump higher or train for longer.

One Spanish research centre has developed new sensing technology that it hopes to integrate into new sportswear and accessories giving athletes the capability to monitor their heart rates, their speed or the impact they make. This technology promises to play a significant role in 2012.

Another recent breakthrough has enabled scientists to make cotton and polyester fabrics into batteries by dipping them into a special ‘ink’.

So called smart materials (materials that change in response to external factors such as temperature, moisture or electricity) are developing all the time.

Printable electronics uses common printing techniques to print electronic circuits onto flat surfaces. With the capability of printing electronic circuits onto extremely thin, flexible and cheap materials, the potential of this new technology is mind-boggling.

You could soon be reading a magazine with a little animated screen built in, or else looking at an animated ad board in the street while wearing a shirt that lights up. And these are just a very few rather obvious examples of where this technology could be used; it has huge implications and potential in a whole range of sectors.

In County Durham we have the national flagship centre for this technology, the Printable Electronic Technology Centre (PETEC). Based on NETPark in Sedgefield the centre is set to capitalise on the explosion of this new technology.

Jumping forward just two short years to the Olympics, we could already be looking to a place we don’t yet understand. Technology is sure to play a massive part in the Games and offer huge opportunities to companies based right across the country. As yet we don’t know the full impact or scope of this technology. But it’ll certainly be fun finding out

Stewart Watkins is managing director of the County Durham Development Company