MAGAZINE OF THE EUROPEAN LOTTERIES, 2011, SEPTEMBER ...

LOTTERY & TECHNOLOGY
WILL FUTURE
TECHNOLOGIES HELP
STATE LOTTERIES?
Our Lotteries are, like any other corporation, subjected
to the technological landscape that keeps changing at
breathtaking speed, affecting business operations and
people’s preferences along the way. The Internet, with its
online applications, has radically transformed the lottery
games operations. Driven by newer, accessible and more
global technologies and a liberalization of online gambling
in many countries, Internet gambling is becoming
one of Europe’s fastest growing industries, according to the
European Commission’s Green Paper. Novelties keep surfacing,
with the latest craze being mobile gambling and
social media networks. Europe is now the largest Facebook
continent with 205 million users, ahead of North America
with 203 million, according to the site socialbakers.com.
These trends have opened up a whole new market segment
with online players of all ages (as a matter of fact the age
SVENSKA SPEL:
AN OPEN GAMING SYSTEM
Svenska Spel in Sweden is working at transforming the
interactive gaming experience for its players by offering
solutions that respond to the demand for innovation and
constant access. Mobility is an overall trend, which influences
consumer behaviour. One major challenge that this
technology has presented to Svenska Spel is the ability to
provide its players with a seamless gaming experience regardless
of the place, time and device being used, because
customers want to reach the Lottery through many different
devices.
MOBILE STRATEGY
With the high number of Smartphones in Sweden, Svenska
Spel is developing native apps for iPhone, allowing
players to follow their bets, games, goals services and
more. The Lottery is also working on a mobile web solution
to optimise the betting experience on Smartphones,
tablets or other mobile devices. In order to be efficient,
this new technology needs to present flexible solutions
to quickly respond to customers’ needs, regardless of the
distribution channel. For Svenska Spel, there is no doubt
that mobile services will play a key role in providing products
and services; as a matter of fact, this is already a requirement
in order to retain existing players and reach a
new and younger segment of customers.
There are many challenges ahead in finding a way to
provide the best gaming experience: the Lottery’s strategic
agenda targets a short timeline (3-4 years), the chosen
mobile technology must be flexible and a true open
gaming platform to help Svenska Spel quickly deliver its
full line of products in a safe and secure online environment
must be developed. With a constant presence and
LOTTERY & TECHNOLOGY
group of people over 50 is one of the fastest growing Facebook
sectors).
As explained by many Lottery executives, organisations are
still in a learning curve when it comes to the latest technological
trends, be it mobile devices such as cell phones and
tablets, or social media networks. In this issue of EL NEWS,
we have asked our Premium Partners as well as some Lotteries
to give an overview of their newest experimentation
with technology and what the future holds for them. These
articles highlight the technological impact on the development
of a better relationship with retailers and players, the
question of ensuring security in the age of social gambling
and the question of propelling Lotteries to modern style organisations.
top quality products and services at retail stores, on the
Internet or mobile devices, Svenska Spel will remain the
top operator of games in Sweden.
10 NEWS 37 SEPTEMBER 2011