Karen Sierra-Hughes: ´Our objective with SAGSE is to help´

What are the expectations for this year's show?

We are excited about this year’s show because technology is evolving rapidly in land-based and in online gaming. We expect to be quite busy answering questions from suppliers, operators, and regulators about online gaming in particular. Suppliers worldwide are looking at Latin America as a large potential market, and regulators are looking at jurisdictions worldwide for best practices. Colombia, for example, has done a very good job of gleaning best practices and then modifying those regulations to fit their particular jurisdiction. There is fantastic potential for online gaming, and we expect to have many good conversations between attendees and our experts at GLI.

What are the objectives for this edition of the event?

Our objective with SAGSE is to help. Whether attendees are suppliers, operators, or regulators, GLI will be able to help with global insights delivered with a local perspective.

How do you see the industry in Argentina and the current situation in the sector?

Regulators in Argentina have been making strong progress in many areas. For example, GLI recently became the first independent test laboratory to be accredited by LOTBA, and regulators there have updated certification and homologation processes. This means that labs are required to provide evidence of capabilities and technical competence to perform certifications for the jurisdiction. This is a good step forward for the jurisdiction, and further strengthens the overall regulatory structure.

What are the plans and expectations for this second half of the year that we are going through?

GLI is celebrating the 10^th Anniversary of our Argentina based Laboratory, GLI South America. Additionally, GLI has been working in LatAm for nearly 20 years, and for the remainder of 2018, we will be speaking to regulators, suppliers, and operators about vitally important issues, the most important of which may be cybersecurity. The reality of business today is every company must be absolutely vigilant in bolstering their cybersecurity plans and efforts. A data breach can be damaging to a company’s business and reputation and staying ahead of an attack is a much better strategy than recovering from one.