Delivering on the new strategy

The year has got off to a busy start, with the development of several new strategy initiatives under way. Working with our Regional Association partners, we are enhancing data collection for the eCompendium and expanding the scope of content to new areas.

New sections have been added to our publications website for Corporate Social Responsibility and Responsible Gaming, and Security and Risk Management, where visitors can find the relevant standards, related documents, and best practice guides for each. We expect to add more areas as the year progresses.

As we work to assist and promote our global member organizations in providing socially responsible offerings to generate funds for positive societal impact, we are strengthening our efforts to address key issues in our industry and create useful tools.

The Combatting Illegal Lotteries and Betting Committee joint project with the University of Lausanne to develop a standardized method for estimating the scale and scope of illegal gambling markets is moving ahead and on target for completion in one year.

Through our Betting Integrity on Sports & Horse Racing Committee work with international partners, including the Council of Europe (CoE), and the United Lotteries for Integrity in Sport (ULIS), WLA is helping to preserve the integrity of sport by leading the fight against match-fixing and illegal betting. We support events, such as the CoE Addressing Competitions' Manipulation Together (ACT) project, Macolin Community Conference, in Quebec, Canada, which fosters cooperation and the intelligence sharing by key players from across the lottery, sports and sports betting ecosystem.

The recent Security and Risk Management Committee webinar on the WLA Security Control Standard:2024 (WLA-SCS:2024) enabled our members from around the world to learn more about the changes to the standard and ask their questions in order to facilitate their certification to WLA-SCS:2024.

Our Corporate and Social Responsibility Committee is working with our regional association partners on Project RED (Responsible, Ethical, Dynamic) to address societal and environmental challenges (biodiversity, paper and plastic waste, carbon footprint), faced by WLA lottery and sports betting members. Our Responsible Gaming certification partner DigitalRG.com has provided a dedicated space on its platform, for the exchange of best practices among global lotteries.

We have had a busy first quarter of events in the Europe, Latin America and the US, comprising responsible gaming, marketing and the latest iteration of our security standard. Additionally, work has begun on the World Lottery Summit 2026 which will take place in the stunning city of Sydney, Australia. The WLA team, completed its first site visit in February, together with host lottery, The Lottery Corporation, covering the International Convention and Exhibition Centre venue for WLS 2026, as well as hotels and other locations for the social program.

We hope you enjoy this issue.