Program Highlights

Program Dates

May 25 – June 22, 2024

Faculty Directors

Adam Kiefer, Department of Exercise and Sport Science

Program Highlights

This is a hybrid program that integrates two courses via a focus on smart and connected systems at two different scales: city (ROML) and team (EXSS). While the term “smart city” generally designates an urban infrastructure that incorporates information and communication technologies to enhance the quality and performance of services, the connected piece is much more nuanced and requires an understanding and appreciation of cultural values and societal innovation. Thus, this program takes an immersive approach to understanding global cultural values and the complex decision-making, entrepreneurship and social mission that goes into the evolution to a city of Innovation since Roman times. After a week in Madrid, the program will shift to Barcelona where the Barcelona Innovation Hub model, and Futbol Club Barcelona, more broadly, will serve as an anchor point for the course. Here, students will intermix their time with cultural experiences of the Catalan Autonomy to compare and contrast with their experiences in Madrid, in combination with smart and connected teams as they are exposed to and explore technologies, methodologies, and analytic approaches that connect data, people, and systems to enhance athlete health and performance. These experiences will scale from the well-contained and organized scale of a sports team – through a partnership with FC Barcelona’s Team Sports area – to the dynamic urban ecosystem.