Pennell served four years working in a similar role as chief information officer at London 2012, where he was responsible for the design, procurement and operation of the technology programme before and during the Games.

He was awarded an Olympic Order as well as the Order of the British Empire (OBE) following those Games.

The Briton, who was also director of technology at the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games, spent the last three years as IT director at the University of Manchester before taking up his new role.

His main objectives at the IOC will involve "modernising digital infrastructure, especially with regard to cyber security".

This was the centre of a presentation he gave at last week's IOC Executive Board meeting in Lausanne.

Sporting bodies have become increasingly concerned about the dangers of cyber attacks in recent months after the leaking of confidential World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) information about athlete medical records.

This was obtained via a hack from the Russian-linked Fancy Bears' group.

It is thought they used an IOC password to gain access to the WADA Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS) system.

Other sporting bodies to have suffered hacks include the United States Anti-Doping Agency and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport.