Cristina Turbatu, who has spent 14 years in iGaming technology leadership roles, has praised ICE Barcelona decision to create an Advisory Board to help shape the new Hall 7 at Fira Barcelona. Turbatu has held roles including CTO of Casumo and BeyondPlay, as well as Head of Playtech’s Innovation Lab.

“The idea of getting technologists in a room to advise on what content and format would actually bring value to Hall 7 attendees is a real change in how this industry runs events,” she said.

The Advisory Board has discussed audience needs and the format of each session, she added, focusing on the practical value attendees should take away. Turbatu said Hall 7 would give technology a more prominent place at ICE.

“ICE has historically been a commercial place to gather. What Hall 7 adds is somewhere you can see how companies are innovating, what broke along the way and how they fixed it, get advice on a problem that you’re stuck on, and meet technical peers and technology partners from outside gambling.”

She said it was important that the Advisory Board included both B2B and B2C perspectives, because those are the people who need the event. Turbatu said technology has always been central to player protection at regulated online gambling operators. What has changed, she said, is the ability to identify risks and respond more quickly.

“We track behavior continuously, the patterns are detected as they form rather than in a monthly report, and the alert reaches someone who can act on it while the player is still in the session,” she said.

“It’s very hard to argue that gambling is safe entertainment if your controls only catch up with someone after the damage is done. That speed is also what regulators respond to, because they can see the system working rather than being told that it exists.”

Turbatu said Hall 7’s hands-on approach would set it apart.

“Practical discussions, examples and case studies will bring more value than hours of panels that can only touch the surface of a topic,” she said.

Panels can remain general because speakers may not be able to discuss their own companies in detail, she added. By contrast, seeing a system in action and speaking with the person who built it can offer a more practical level of insight.

“Most operators already know what the technology can do. What they haven’t seen is it running with the compliance, the audit trail and the uptime expectations attached, and without that it sits on the maybe list for another year. Seeing it work somewhere comparable is usually what moves it into implementation.”

Turbatu said Hall 7 would give transformation managers the chance to attend sessions, meet vendors and discuss migration costs with peers.

“Success isn’t about choosing the technology, it’s about the sequencing, uptime, and team motivation which is shared by word of mouth at events such as ICE Barcelona.”

For information about exhibiting alongside brands including AWS, PayPal, Mastercard and Aircash, contact Margaret.dunn@worldgamingbusiness.com.