The Playsponsible Academy's motto is representative of the Group's social responsibility and spans all related topics. Our activities go far beyond the traditional understanding of responsible gaming and legal obligations.
Erwin van Lambaart, CEO of Casinos Austria and Austrian Lotteries, comments: "For us, gambling is first and foremost a question of responsibility, which we take very seriously. We also derive our claim to finding an answer to the challenges facing our industry from the word responsibility. An answer that we already provide on a daily basis in all areas of our work, but which we also want to be able to answer 100% in the future in line with our responsibility as a licensed gaming provider. It is in our own best interests to ensure that gambling remains a positive and entertaining experience. And for us, this means that professionalism in game handling and player protection have the highest priority. The Playsponsible Academy is therefore - in line with our responsibility towards Austria - part of our ongoing investments and innovations to optimise protection for all customers and guests."
The Academy's programme was correspondingly diverse, focusing on numerous different aspects of responsibility. The experts highlighted best practices from the field of responsible gaming and, thanks to their expertise, also presented parallels from similar industries in terms of understanding and dealing with responsibility.
Arno Nagelschmied, Managing Director Responsible Gaming in the group of companies and responsible for the Playsponsible Academy, added: "In our industry - especially when it comes to responsible gaming - we still often only talk about orienting ourselves to the legal framework. As the Casinos Austria & Austrian Lotteries Group, however, we want to focus on what is best for our customers and guests. That's why we promote responsible behaviour in all areas of the company - be it in the area of AI, for example in data processing, the company-wide focus on sustainability and, of course, player protection in particular."
At the start of the day, Sylvia Brenzel and Alfred Strigl, plenum sustainability consultants, once again explicitly outlined the comprehensive current challenges of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals in their presentation. 80% of these are already behind the necessary developments. They also pointed out that companies can only be successful in all these areas today if they first and foremost exemplify sustainability internally and not just act sustainably externally.
In the subsequent expert talk, Maris Catania (SG:certified), Rasmus Kjaergaard (Mindway AI), Alexander Rabas (win2day) and Savvas Illiopoulos (OPAP) presented the current uses and applications of AI. What opportunities and challenges will this present for player protection in the future? This was discussed, as was the generally responsible use of the technology, for example with regard to data protection.
Harald Lechner, an international football referee since 2010, then went beyond the gambling industry to talk about how to deal responsibly with split-second decisions, as his whistle can ultimately decide millions of euros. For him, the key to this is respectful decision-making and responsible use of his own powers.
Maris Catania started after the break with a presentation of international best practices from the gambling industry. She explained that for responsible providers, it is not only crucial which offers and services are not permitted or offered, but also the form in which information about the gaming offer can be found. She concluded that responsible gaming and responsible gaming operations are THE distinguishing feature in the gaming industry in order to be successful in the long term.
Oliver Scheibenbogen from the Institute for Social Aesthetics and Mental Health, Sigmund Freud Private University / Anton Proksch Institute, then presented the results of a prevalence study commissioned by Austrian Lotteries on gambling behaviour in lottery games in Austria. In the study of more than 3,000 respondents conducted by the gallup Institute, particular attention was paid to behavioural patterns such as "sensation seeking" and "magical thinking".
Katerina Giannakakou-Razelou, OPAP Legal Manager and Pavel Gernt, Player Protection Manager Saska and Arno Nagelschmied then spoke about the exchange within the Allwyn Group and the importance of cross-border and international dialogue on the topic of responsible gaming. This means that decisions and new strategies for player protection within the Group can always be compared with the findings from several markets and the needs of different target groups and adapted accordingly.
The Casinos Austria and Austrian Lotteries Group's Playsponsible Academy has thus been fulfilling two important functions simultaneously for 20 years. An opportunity for training and international exchange for all employees and as food for thought, not only to take on a pioneering role in the industry when it comes to responsible gaming, but also to be aware of our social responsibility as a company.