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// PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL // May/June 2016
Bryndís Hrafnkelsdóttir Interview
…
continued from page 19
B. Hrafnkelsdóttir:
While our offer of
products continues to remain unchanged
and we are unable to use the Internet as
a distribution channel for our products,
I can’t imagine there will be any major
changes to the current mix. I’m most sat-
isfied, however, when we manage to show
an increase in the class lottery because
when I first started working at the UIL
in 2010 the attitude towards that product
was that it was slowly but surely fading
and that the Net would take over. Nei-
ther has happened. Once we get an op-
portunity to sell our products on the Net,
I expect the percentage of scratch cards in
particular will increase.
Do you think there are over-laps in the player-
ship of traditional lottery games and “other”
games like VLT’s?
B. Hrafnkelsdóttir:
We don’t keep
track of the customers who play VLT’s so
we can’t make any statements in that re-
gard, but we consider that the vast majority
of our class lottery customers who hold an
average of 2.1 tickets do not play VLT’s,
but on the other hand it is quite possible
that those who play VLT’s also own a num-
ber of class lottery tickets.
How challenging is it to combine a growth
agenda with UIL’s dedication to the princi-
ples of Responsible Gaming?
B. Hrafnkelsdóttir:
We do not think of
that as a trade-off. Our statutory role places
a great responsibility on our shoulders and
the UIL has always placed an emphasis on
credibility and responsible activities. My
predecessor, Brynjólfur Sigurðsson, took
the initiative to commission the Psychology
Department of the University of Iceland to
conduct research on gaming problems and
gambling addiction to increase our knowl-
edge and understanding of the issues. The
first study was conducted in 2004 and then
again later in 2007 and 2011. A new study
will be conducted in 2017. We have sup-
ported the National Centre of Addiction
Medicine (SÁÁ) both through funding
and prevention work. We are, among other
things, participants in a Scandinavian joint
forum on Responsible Gaming and in col-
laboration with two other Icelandic lotter-
ies, Íslandsspil and Íslensk Getspá, we run
a website to promote responsible playing.
Moreover, the UIL has been certified by the
European Lotteries association for Respon-
sible Gaming, first in 2012 and then re-
newed at the beginning of 2015. We have
also been certified by the World Lottery
Association in 2015. Responsible Gaming
will always be a top priority for the UIL.
But it can also be restrictive to run activi-
ties that are subject to licences. For example,
we are not able to work on our natural de-
velopment as much as we would like. But
we certainly have not remained idle and,
over the past quarters, we have been work-
ing on enhancements which are aimed at re-
vising and streamlining all our working pro-
cedures, in addition to making the necessary
adjustments to our IT systems. Our goal is
to boost the efficiency of our management,
enhance services and increase security, both
internally and externally, and enhance the
overall player experience. Slowly but surely,
this has produced cost-savings in our man-
agement so that now we are achieving better
results with a leaner staff. We are not by any
means finished and still see great opportuni-
ties that we are working on.
■
experiences. What lottery would not wel-
come this type of technology, which brings
lottery games to consumers and turns them
into players because it’s at just the right time,
in just the right place, and at just the mo-
ment when they are most likely to play?
What’s your message to lotteries struggling
to make sense of this new consumer world?
D. Harkin:
At IGT our first priority is to
listen to our customers and ensure that we
understand exactly what their issues are and
what they need from us. Everyone needs a
partner that understands today’s evolving
technology and develops solutions from an
operator and consumer perspective. IGT
is also an experienced Lottery operator it-
self in multiple jurisdictions, serving the
full spectrum of game content offerings
through solutions at the forefront of these
evolutions. So we recognise the challenges
and opportunities that lotteries face and are
able to ensure market readiness—whenever
that may be required.
Ultimately, the player stands at the cen-
tre of this change. Technology is meeting
the players’ expectations for a frictionless
experience where needs are anticipated
and every interaction is personalized. We’re
proud to say we’ve built Aurora with the
architecture to achieve this, enabling more
consumers to become players, whilst en-
suring retailers and lotteries can meet the
exciting and demanding needs of our new
consumer world. Now I am off to see what
my phone wants me to do next!
■
Declan Harkin Interview
…
continued from page 39
learned how to leverage their strong brands,
and the integrity, respect and security that
those brands have engendered as part of the
fabric of society over many, many years, and
in some cases over centuries, to the extent
that they have remained not only relevant
but dominant in the wider gaming space.
I believe the challenge that U.S. lotter-
ies will face in the future is the inevitable
move towards a more heterogeneous gam-
ing industry as has already happened in
Europe. As the situation evolves in the
U.S. and as regulations change, even if
it’s going to take a few years, there will
come a time when they will be able to
learn from their European counterparts,
particularly in the area of sports betting
and interactive gaming.
■
Kevin Anderson Interview
…
continued from page 47