Zhou Min, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at Beijing Normal University (BNU), gives a speech at the first session of the 2021 sci-tech communication salon held online on August 16.
Zhou Min, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at Beijing Normal University (BNU), talked about the interaction between technological communication and the Olympic Games at the first session of the 2021 sci-tech communication salon on August 16.
The event was held online by the National Communication Center for Science and Technology affiliated to the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University.
According to Zhou, the research of technological communication mainly focuses on a nation's overall infrastructural building for technological communication, its capacity building, the communicative ability of sporting and technological events, and basic environment for technological communication.
The scope of technological communication in the Olympic Games includes the broadcasting of sporting events in stadiums, professional exchanges, technological education, the popularization and promotion of modern technologies, and the publishing, coordination, reporting and translation of technological topics. Its importance lies in promoting the popularization of knowledge and technologies, boosting the innovative efficiency of social knowledge and facilitating the application of technological achievements in social and economic affairs.
Zhou said the concept of a "high-tech Olympics" was first proposed in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich and became one of the four Olympics logos in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing during the biding stage in 2000. To fulfill their promise, the organizing committee of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games formulated overall plans concerning the application of advanced science and technology and the building of relevant infrastructure.
For instance, technological communication can be felt by people in multiple aspects such as transportation, telecommunication, green energy and design.
The success of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games demonstrated China's achievements in science and technology since it launched opening-up and reform in 1978.
Japan also made strategic outlines on the utilization of technological communication in the broadcasting of the 2022 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and differences in cultural expectation, the Tokyo 2022 Olympic Games failed to achieve anticipated results in terms of its technological communication.
Zhou stressed the positive interaction between technological communication and the Olympic Games.
The Olympic Games has become a new engine to promote technological development and communication. Technological progress has fundamentally strengthened athletic training and helped athletes achieve better performance in terms of facilities, technical and medical support. Chinese sprinter Su Bingtian, who set an Asian record of 9.83 seconds at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, is an exemplar in the utilization of high-tech training facilities. Meanwhile, the technological world will respond to the special needs of the Olympic Games by accelerating its development. The remarkable development of telecommunication, audio and visual, transportation and other sectors is closely related to the Olympic Games.
Technological communication will make the Olympic Games and host countries more approachable. The Olympics have played an important role in further enhancing public enthusiasm for sporting events, consolidating host nations' soft power in modern technologies, providing technological applications with new scenarios and fostering new technological industries. In addition, technological communication will provide people from other countries with more opportunities to understand the host states and their technological image.
Zhou introduced several proposals concerning the application of modern technologies in the broadcasting of the upcoming 2022 Olympic Winter Games. More efforts should be done to strengthen top-level design for aligning the broadcasting of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games with national development strategies, follow a people-centered philosophy, ensure that the public enjoys the benefits brought by relevant products, prevent the occurrence of a post-Olympic economic downturn through the cultivation of new consumption points and the expansion of industrial chains, make an innovative development in technological communication, demonstrate the image of a peaceful rise, and provide technical support for the online opening of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
