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Open for business Legend announces the industry’s first open leisure management platform for all 2,000 of its clients
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oftware business Legend Club Management Systems has launched the industry’s first leisure management system, with open data functionality already enabled, at no additional cost for all clients. The announcement follows an industry-first initiative, launched in November 2018, that saw ukactive, Sport England and the Open Data Institute working with OpenActive and Legend to enable deeper collaboration and data-sharing. COMMITMENT TO SECTOR Legend’s commitment to supporting the industry is demonstrated again through its support of OpenActive, the sector-wide open data initiative which is stewarded by the Open Data Institute (ODI) in partnership with Sport England. Sean Maguire, MD of Legend says: “The success of OpenActive is fundamental to our progress as an industry. "The term ‘open data’ should not be misunderstood," he explains. "It’s actually about making information that's already available on the web easier to access." "OpenActive has two phases," he continues. "The first is the 'opportunity feed', which opens up opportunities for new business, while the second phase – the 'bookings standard' – enables people to book across platforms. "Here at Legend, we immediately identified OpenActive as a vital initiative that helps the sector. It is also an opportunity for our industry to demonstrate to stakeholders, including government, that it's technically advanced, and capable of cooperating on data standards to support innovation," he concluded. PROGRESSIVE COLLABORATION "The new OpenActive standards have benefitted from a progressive industry collaboration between operators, innovators, vendors, Sport England, the ODI, and OpenActive," says Maguire. "It's
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“ We immediately identified OpenActive as a vital initiative that helps the sector and an opportunity for our industry to demonstrate it's capable of collaborating on data standards to support innovation Sean Maguire, MD, Legend Club Management Systems a collaboration to be proud of and early adopters have shown it has powerful benefits, such as opening up new channels to market unbooked time slots and introducing people in new market segments to clubs and leisure centres."
SECTOR ON SHOW "In addition to being an outstanding example of industry collaboration, the success of the OpenActive initiative is inherently positive for wider industry stakeholders," says Maguire: "For Public Health England’s Change4Life campaign, OpenActive has the potential to add a leisure sector multiplier to every pound invested (Change4Life already has five million downloads of its app). The same applies to Sport England’s This Girl Can initiative. "The initiative is something we should celebrate as a sector and proudly talk about," he says. "The sector has a new chance to shine, as it addresses increasing concerns over physical inactivity," he continues. "The availability of open opportunity data and booking APIs will accelerate innovation in our sector by allowing smaller innovators to deliver fresh and exciting access to health and leisure facilities and activities. "Open data provides greater opportunities for innovation which we must embrace, or we will get left behind as a sector," he concludes. WHY COMMIT TO OPEN DATA? "OpenActive lays the foundation to help more people get active and get more
Sean Maguire with the team from OpenActive and Sport England during the OpenActive Booking Finalisation Workshop.
healthclubmanagement.co.uk May 2019 ©Cybertrek 2018