By Damian Martinez, journalist at G&M News.
In your opinion, what does the concept of “responsible gaming” involve?
Responsible Gaming is a fundamental model that allows us to bring the concept of fun back to the forefront. Playing while always staying within the right limits is essential. All risky products must have guidance and directions. Through the measures adopted, gaming allows precisely this activity: you play, you have fun, but without losing the right direction. For many companies, Responsible Gaming is an end. From my point of view, is the means to achieve a sustainable gaming model.
You recently took part in the event “Play it Safe, Innovate Responsibly”. Which were the main topics of the meeting?
“Play it Safe, Innovate Responsibly” was one of our Envisioning Days, internal event to spread awareness of strategic innovation macro-trends for Sisal and to create a moment of discussion and reflection on the practical applications of these trends within the company, bringing coworkers together to share knowledge and spark conversations about innovation and sustainability issues. The aim of this event was to involve colleagues in the sustainable transformation of our business model and to identify, with the help of external experts, trends and best practices that can enhance our approach to RG.
How would you assess your team’s performance and contribution to the company on RG issues over the last two years?
The main responsibility of my team is to create a culture of Responsible Gaming within the company. If the entire company thinks in terms of responsible gaming, everything built in favor of the consumer will remain in terms of responsible gaming. For my team and me, it is central to move from compliance to commitment, from respecting standards and best practices to raising the standards within the industry. We are committed to being the main promoters and working with the entire company to develop Responsible Gaming themes, directing all activities in respect of rules and responsible actions.
A few months ago, Sisal received recognition for its Responsible Gaming method. What technological advancements did the company implement to achieve this honor?
In 2023, we launched numerous initiatives, but I would like to highlight the use of artificial intelligence that we have implemented in our activities. We combined research concepts and behavioral analysis with artificial intelligence models. This allowed us to identify problematic players in three new clusters, based on gaming behaviors and psychological motivations, identifying risk indicators for timely and personalized interventions. We are convinced that the ethical use of artificial intelligence is the frontier of development. The ethical use of new technologies and artificial intelligence algorithms offers the opportunity to experiment with innovative and advanced solutions, which can be used to more accurately identify at-risk players, offer personalized interventions, and improve the effectiveness of prevention measures in general. In the early months of 2024, Sisal obtained certification from the Italian Patent and Trademark Office for its unique approach to Responsible Gaming in Italy. This patent recognizes the uniqueness of Sisal’s method, which is based on behavioral research and Artificial Intelligence for the automatic recognition and mitigation of risk behaviors related to gaming. Additionally, it certifies Sisal’s ability to offer a concrete solution to prevent problematic gaming, making us the first company in Italy to obtain such a patent in responsible gaming.
How could the gaming industry as a whole improve its actions regarding RG?
Companies can do a lot, but not enough to solve the problem alone. We believe that Responsible Gaming requires shared models and inclusive leadership. Sisal is committed to making its resources and expertise available to promote an integrated and systemic approach to preventing problematic gaming, contributing to the reflection of the entire sector. For this reason, at the beginning of the year, we launched the FAIR Foundation, the first Italian organization aimed at identifying a shared model of Responsible Gaming based on research and data-driven approach. FAIR welcomes external contributions and aims to involve industry stakeholders, collaborating with public and private organizations to definitively address the issue of safer gaming. The ambition is to no longer talk about Responsible Gaming as a problem to manage, but to prevent the problem at its source.