With over 100 attendees participating from 40 countries, the three-day event was opened by Sarah Taylor, Executive Director at the Hoosier Lottery, and WLA CSR Committee Chair, who noted:
"Responsible Gaming is a top priority and essential part of lottery CSR activities to ensure player safety, instil confidence in our industry, allow us to grow sales positively, and contribute to even more good causes."
Day 1 theme: Risk evaluation in game and loyalty program design
Dr Paul Sacco, Associate Professor, Maryland University discussed results of lottery specific research that looked at the purchases of loyalty players and whether certain types of ticket purchases were associated with enhanced problem gaming risk.
How lotteries address responsible gaming
Several WLA lottery members discussed the different tools they use, as well as RG measures they have put in place to ensure safe player environments.
Sandra Conde Gómez de Freitas, General Manager at La Banca de Quinielas de Montevideo, Uruguay, underscored that La Banca’s game design policy ensures RG requirements throughout the entire game design process, involves RG training for employees who design games, and includes internal and external compliance audits.
Kirsten Read, Head of Brand for the Lotto, Jackpots and Daily Games portfolios, at The Lottery Corporation, discussed how Gamgard is used to assesses games based on 10 structural and situational characteristics or ‘risk factors’ that have been observed to influence player behavior and potentially increase risk of gambling harm. She also highlighted that using Gamgard across all games has helped build a uniform process which is included when making submissions for game changes to regulators.
Eeva Rissanen, Development Manager on Corporate Sustainability and Responsible Gambling, and Stefano Nucci, Game Expert, Online Casino, Betting and iCasino at Veikkaus, emphasized that a safe gaming environment and a strong culture of doing the right thing are the foundation of everything that is done at Veikkaus, before providing a live demo of Gamgard, which is used to assess the risk games may pose to players.
Rissanen also explained that Making risk assessment for the games is part of the Veikkaus Ethical Game Development Principles. Echoing the Australian example, the assessment results are included in game rules applications to authorities.
Day 2 theme: Demystifying WLA RG certification
Lotteries that successfully achieve WLA RG certification demonstrate their adherence to global industry best practices which allow them to deliver responsible, safe player environments.
The second day examined and clarified what is expected from WLA members when they apply to renew their certification.
Anne Pattberg, Chair of the WLA Independent Assessment Panel for RG Certification presented tips and useful insights into RG certification and recertification.
Useful tips:
- WLA RG certification is designed for ongoing improvement - meaning to deepen practices on the various program elements.
- When deciding the level base the decision on operational readiness.
“Sometimes staying at the same level is the right choice and allows time to embed and reinforce RG measures.”
- Show meaningful advancements
- Provide useful examples, ie before / after changes made; lessons learned; data & KPIs
- Be transparent about challenges
When deciding to stay or move up a level:
- Review previous IAP assessment
- Identify risks, gaps, strong progress
- Consider strategic priorities and resources
Sarah Taylor asked the question: How do you make improvements at same level?
Anne Pattberg answered with the example of employee training.
Work out how to keep training attractive and fresh. What happens with those who have already done training? How do you make it enticing to those who will do it each year? How do you do induction trainings? What about people with specific roles, such as contact centre and marketing people? Do they need more targeted training?
Developing new training programs demonstrates an improvement.
Global perspectives of the certification journey
North America – Level 2
Sacha Pakes, Marketing Specialist in charge of special program sat the Wisconsin Lottery discussed the lottery’s RG certification experience, noting:
“The foundation of a good responsible gaming program is to find individuals who are dedicated to the collective goal of growing and improving the initiative.”
She highlighted some of the benefits of the process which:
- Brought organization to the program
- Helped to set goals
- Created relationships with other Lotteries
- Learned more about responsible gaming and problem gambling education
- Opened doors to more resources
Speaking about the certification process Pakes noted:
“Don’t be afraid to connect with other lotteries who are going through the same process. It helped to learn from others and make a stronger program.”
Asia Pacific – Level 3
Aamelia Termizi, the VP ESG and CSR at the Magnum Corporation, Malaysia, talked about the decision to recertify to the Level 3, which was achieved in 2021, and the process undertaken.
It was important to understand how to meet the requirement for continuous improvement when recertifying at the same level.
This involved reviewing the current RG framework, and the previous IAP report to see what should be improved, what worked, and what if any gaps existed, such as generational or cultural since the last certification.
It took 12 to 18 months and in recertifying Magnum worked to embed the RG culture across the company, through RG week and stakeholder engagement activities. As a country of diverse cultures, RG needs to be part of them, with positive, respectful messages. Termizi also noted the importance of having management’s commitment to company-wide responsible gaming.
Key insights:
- Continuously review RG program
- Understand stakeholder behavior
- Learn from other WLA members
- Learn about the entire process by using DigitalRG.com
Asia Pacific – Level 4
Some of the questions posed by Singapore Pools when they began their Level 4 recertification process included:
- Have we done enough to show continuous improvement?
- How different will the process be from the previous report format and how does the DigitalRG.com platform work?
Jacyn Tan, a Manager in the Responsible Gaming and Social Safeguards team which is part of the Risk and Compliance at Singapore Pools noted that when it came to conducting RG audits, there was a lack of expertise in Singapore for this niche specialisation however, consultation within the DigitalRG.com platform was helpful and she advised that they should start the process earlier to allow more time to search for the required expert.
