Former ESPN vice president Ramesh Kumar will head the Centre of Excellence in Sports Science and Analytics (CESSA) at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras.
Mr. Kumar, who was also the head of ESPN (India and South Asia) and global head of ESPNcricinfo, is an alumnus of the 1992 batch of B Tech (Mechanical Engineering) and will be CESSA’s chief executive officer.
CESSA will create and deliver products and solutions across media platforms and work with sporting federations and bodies to increase fan engagement. The centre will establish an incubator ecosystem for sport tech start-ups that will be supported by interdisciplinary faculties in the field of modelling, data science, IoT, AI and wearables and biomechanics. Apart from offering sports science and education courses and sports coaching products, the CESSA will conduct research in sports science and analytics.
Mr. Kumar said he would leverage the deep tech knowledge and domain strengths in the fields of AI, ML, data science, IoT sensors, computer vision technology and biomechanical analysis to “envision solutions and products for sportspersons, general athletes, media platforms, sports fans, sporting federations and players in the sports education domain.” The CESSA was set up with support from the Central government’s Institute of Eminence initiative.
