The AI tool that gets Tilburg moving

“How do we connect everyone in Tilburg with the local sports on offer?” That is what the Tilburgs Sportakkoord wanted to know. Sportservice Noord-Brabant (SSNB) supports the delivery of the agreement and went looking for the right partner for this question. Indicia put forward a proposal and it clicked straight away, says Janske van de Wal, strategic sports marketer at SSNB. Indicia looked into where the needs of the different parties lay and how less active residents in particular could be reached better. One of the solutions that came out of it: an AI knowledge assistant that takes residents by the hand with personal exercise advice.

Stichting Sportservice Noord-Brabant (SSNB) supports municipalities in various ways in encouraging sport and exercise, with expertise and in delivery. The organisation has also been helping municipalities write their sports agreement or carry it out. On top of that, SSNB coordinates progress on the goals of the Tilburgs Sportakkoord, together with a 'frontrunner group': a local partnership of sports organisations and clubs. Together they develop initiatives around four themes: young people, loneliness, financial security and vitality at work. More than twenty initiatives have been launched so far to get people in Tilburg moving and keep them moving.

Looking for sports on offer

Sportintilburg.nl brings the full range of sport and exercise in the city together in one place. Through Vind jouw Sport residents search for a sport that suits them nearby. Still, signals from residents, clubs and sports associations showed that not everyone found their way to the website. “Not even after several campaigns,” says Janske. That was mostly the case for the inactive people in Tilburg.

There was a need for a place where supply and demand came together even better. So Sportservice Noord-Brabant asked several agencies to think along about a Tilburg exercise platform. “Indicia came up with the best proposal. The question from TSA was broad, but they understood what we wanted and could turn it into concrete steps.”

Exercise advice that fits

Indicia looked into the needs around the exercise platform and mapped out what the various stakeholders wanted. A completely new platform turned out not to be the right answer. So TSA and Indicia focused on the question: how do you reach less active people in Tilburg who do want to move, but do not yet know what suits them?

Out of several sessions came the idea for an AI tool that helps them find exercise options that fit. Janske: “We knew Indicia had the knowledge for this and we were already working well together on TSA. So we decided to build the AI tool.”

More than up-to-date data

Indicia used the data from Vind jouw Sport as the basis and topped it up with information from other public sources. To keep the tool reliable and current, Indicia updates the information every month. But the right data on its own is not enough. Above all, the AI tool had to work differently from Vind jouw Sport. That filter tool works well if someone already knows what they are looking for, a hockey club in Tilburg West for example. Less active people in Tilburg often do not yet know what suits them. So the AI tool turns the process around: the tool asks the questions and guides residents step by step towards advice that fits.

AI takes the initiative

The tool gives you three options: quick exercise advice in three questions, more detailed advice in six questions, or a specific question. For example: ‘Where in Tilburg can girls aged 13 and over play football?’

If you go for exercise advice, the AI asks the questions itself. About how much someone already moves, for instance, what they want to achieve and whether there are any physical limitations. The tool then gives personal advice with activities and providers in Tilburg that fit. “You really have to take these people by the hand,” says Janske. “That way the AI tool works not just as a search engine, but above all as a personal exercise adviser.”

Getting under someone else's skin

To check whether that advice really does fit, residents, clubs and sports-focused companies tested the tool. Janske: “Each time they got under someone else's skin: one time a woman of 65, the next a child of 12.” They looked at whether different answers also led to fitting and distinctive advice. Indicia used the results to refine the tool further.

Enthusiastic responses

The AI tool is finished and is now live on the Tilburgs Sportakkoord website. “But it has not been actively promoted yet. So it is too early to say anything about use and results,” says Janske.

The first responses from the test phase are positive. “One tester said that for the first time there is a tool that sits across from you like a professional, asks follow-up questions and gets to advice quickly, without you having to search yourself.” Clubs were enthusiastic too when their activities actually came up as advice for relevant questions.

Getting the tool to the people of Tilburg

“We are very happy with the tool. Now the next challenge: how do you make sure the less active people in Tilburg are the ones who find it? Otherwise you end up with the same story as with Vind jouw Sport”, says Janske. Running a campaign alone turns out not to be enough. The people around the target group are the ones who can help draw attention to the tool. Think of GPs and care workers.

The Tilburgs Sportakkoord ends soon, after which the city of Tilburg and Indicia will take the rollout of the AI tool further. Janske: “A new challenge, but I am confident it will work out”.