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29 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 I. Hughes: I don’t know if anyone thought COVID19 would last as long as it has, and of course we are still dealing with it. The short-term need was for contactless transac- tions and guidelines and tools to enable players and operators to continue to interact in social environments. GLI was tasked with figuring out how to create the testing tools and systems that will keep players and staff safe while engaging in recreational gaming. The business of sanitizing everything on a regular basis would seem to be rather low-tech. Technical solutions, though, can help to flag the frequency of machine play or when a player leaves a specific game and the timing for when the equipment should be cleaned. Digital wallets, ePayments and other digital tools enable us to get away from the unsanitary currency of cash. Many of these trends were in place already. But what may have taken three or four years to reach mass-market acceptance is now getting there in three or four months. Fintech (Financial Technology) has burst onto the scene as a whole new sector poised for radical innova- tion and rapid penetration of the market for financial management and transactions. This rapid adoption of new technology and tools does create a pressing need for testing to ensure all systems are performing as desired and intended. GLI is investing heavily in the business of testing these new products and helping everyone understand how to integrate them into existing IT and gaming infra- structures. We are also helping regulators understand the implications of innovation in Fintech for anti-money-laundering and Responsible Gaming objectives. Further to that, GLI is assisting the community of commercial manufacturers and suppliers in their quest to develop the products and services that prevent fraud and criminality, and protect the players from harmful behav- iours. We are advising gaming operators in the building of process and internal control procedures that support the implementation of the new technology tools that address these next generation issues. And in addition to testing new products and solutions, GLI functions as an information hub to support the entire industry and accelerate develop- ment of technological solutions. The industry was perplexed last March about how much should be invested in solutions that address what we hoped would be a short-term problem. Now, while we do not know how priorities might change when the concern over the pandemic is mitigated, we expect much of these changes to be seen for what they are – improvements and enhance- ments that will stay in place and contribute to the long-term sustainable growth of the gaming industry. You point out that much of the technologi- cal solutions brought to bear over the last ten months were already in the pipeline and ready to launch. But wasn’t there a bottle-neck when it came to the testing and vetting of these next gen’ products and solutions? I. Hughes: GLI works with manufactur- ers and regulators on an ongoing basis, typically in the development phase and definitely in the beta stages of readying a product for the market. It’s true that the work-load has been more intense over the last year, but it’s not as if we were starting from ground zero. iGaming, iLottery, sports betting, mobile-centric gaming and initiatives that appear to be new have been on the front-burner for years now. So while we did not predict anything like the COVID19, we were ready. Along with manufacturers and commercial technology providers, GLI responded quickly to deliver solutions that met the short-term needs caused by the pandemic. And many of those solutions are making us better as an industry. NAVIGATING THE FUTURE OF GAMING While having long been the standard-bearer of the gaming industry’s testing and certification services, Gaming Laboratories International (GLI ® ) offers a comprehensive range of services and IT tools for regulators, suppliers and operators, including … Q Forensics: Precise forensics to protect the operator, regulator, and the player. Q Responsible Gaming: RG initiatives are essential to maintaining public trust and the cornerstone to the continued success of the gaming industry. Q GLI University: Helping regulators keep as up-to- date as possible in new technologies. Q iGaming: Pioneers in interactive gaming testing and consultancy. Q Professional Services: Your global resource for complete and thorough business solutions. Q Field Inspection: Identify threats and reduce risk before it's too late. Q Consulting: Services for existing and emerging jurisdictions worldwide. Q Research & Development: Helping you identify opportunities for growth and enhanced quality. Visit gaminglabs.com The willingness and ability of the consumer to experiment with other brands will make the cost of new player acquisition go down. But it will also make it more challenging than ever to retain repeat player-ship. Continued on page 49