News – Letter from the President
IGSA Has a New Look!
In late February, IGSA launched our new website. It’s been updated with a new look and feel, with the aim of providing better access to services for our Members! It also allows easier access to our latest Standards. In the coming months, we’ll be expanding our Committee services for even more functionality!
Visit our new website at https://igsa.org/.
Board of Directors Election Results
In early February, IGSA conducted an election for our new Board of Directors. After the election, the new Board met to select its Chair and Vice Chair. The members are as follows:
Chair: Nimish Pirohit, Aristocrat
Vice Chair: Martin Pedak, Playtech
Board Member: Spencer Peterson, Konami Gaming
Board Member: Syed Hussain, Oregon Lottery
Board Member: John McCafferty, Umpqua Indian Development Corporation
The Board also welcomed back Paul Burns, a longtime Board member (retired/Atlantic Lottery Corporation) as an ex-officio officer and Treasurer for the organization.
Africa Gaming Expo and GSA Africa
I was once again very grateful to the CEO of the Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority for inviting me to attend and speak at the second ever AGE in Lagos, Nigeria. The Expo was once again a resounding success, thanks to Dr. Charles Ekundayo and his team at AGE Ltd., who did an outstanding job. I was honored to once again be recognized and greeted by the Honorable Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State. I spoke about a very important topic to our industry: Illegal Gaming and the technologies and methodologies that may help address that challenge.
I also had an opportunity to meet with our future Managing Director of GSA Africa, Mr. F.K. Fayad, who gave me a tour of the incredible office space set aside for when GSA Africa is launched. While we hoped to be able to do that during this year’s AGE, we ran into a minor setback related to the type of Voluntary Organization for which we sought approval. We now expect to announce the official opening later this year.
COMMITTEE UPDATES
ETHICAL AI
The Ethical AI committee last met on January 28, and continued to review the Regulatory Committee’s input on the Best Practices created. The resulting review and modifications have been almost completed, and the committee will seek approval from the Board to share their work after next month’s meeting. The committee will meet again on Thursday, March 13.
CYBER RESILIENCY
The Cyber Resiliency committee met on January 27, and reviewed the current status of their Best Practices project. The committee will meet again on March 25.
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
After hearing so much about Emerging Technologies at GSATS 2024, the decision has been made to hold the first meeting of this new committee on Monday, March 10.
PAYMENTS
The Payments Committee held two work group meetings in February, with future meetings of both the committee and working group open only to IGSA Members. We have had significant interest from companies wishing to join IGSA in order to continue their participation, and we look forward to an amazing March meeting. We are still contacting non-members to discuss membership options.
If you wish to join or have questions, please contact Michelle Olesiejuk at [email protected].
RESPONSIBLE GAMING
While the Responsible Gaming committee has been on hiatus, we have been working on making sure that when we relaunch this committee, we will be able to do significant good and not simply replicate what is already being done by other associations and organizations working on Responsible / Safer / Sustainable Gaming. We have been reaching out to a select group of those organizations to see if we can collaborate within the IGSA RG committee, with each organization still focusing on their specific area of expertise, but looking to work in concert and speak with one voice in pursuit of the same goals. Please stay tuned for very exciting announcements coming soon!
Eligible Members wishing to participate in committees should send a request to [email protected].
UPCOMING IGSA & INDUSTRY EVENTS
- Ethical AI Committee Meeting – March 13
- Cyber Resiliency Committee Meeting – March 25
- Payments Committee Meeting – March TBD
- Emerging Technologies Committee – March 10th
- Board of Directors Meeting – March 11
- CGS Brasilia* – March 25-26
- IGA San Diego* – March 31 – April 3
Non-IGSA events with an * indicate IGSA personnel will be attending / speaking at the event
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