Safeguarding Our Children and the Vulnerable: Integration and a Platform for Prevention

The 2024 Olympic Games may be hailed as the greatest ever. But, though the Games business model may evolve, no new protections emerged for those at play. This paper explores the applicability of an integrative approach to publicly accessible data to increase the security of youth at play from all manner of abuse, including aggression, harassment and bullying. Although open source research (OSR) is a proven business intelligence strategy, it is not yet in our toolbox for safeguarding the vulnerable participants of amateur sports. In this paper, the author demonstrates the potential for an integrative prevention platform, with foundational databases, AI analytics and professional analysis to assure accountability, transparency and adherence to privacy regulations. An integrative platform can serve in better screening of hiring candidates, verifying identity and confirming credentials, monitoring sport management behaviours, educating about risks and threats and managing partnerships, all while supporting preventive action, measuring performance and reporting progress.