PLAYSPONSIBLE ACADEMY 2024

Our annual conference on our responsibility in gambling

More than 250 employees and managers attended this year's Playsponsible Academy live at Casino Baden. There were exciting presentations and discussions about responsible gaming and related topics.

The programme of this year's Playsponsible Academy brought all aspects of "Playsponsible - Living Responsibility Together" to the podium with presentations and discussion panels. 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.

General Director Erwin van Lambaart on the Academy 2024:
'For us, gambling is first and foremost a question of responsibility, which we take very seriously. We also derive our aspiration to find 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 continuous investment and innovation in the context of optimising protection for all customers and guests.

Arno Nagelschmied, Managing Director Responsible Gaming in the group of companies and responsible for the Playsponsible Academy:
In our industry, there is still often only talk - especially when it comes to responsible gaming - of orienting ourselves to the legal framework. 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.

The Playsponsible Academy has been fulfilling two important functions at the same time for 20 years. An opportunity for training and an 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.

The speakers and topics of the Academy 2024:

Sylvia Brenzel and Alfred Strigl, plenum sustainability consultants, explicitly outlined the comprehensive current challenges of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals in their presentation. In an 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. 

Harald Lechner, an international football referee since 2010, showed how to handle split-second decisions responsibly. His whistles can go on to decide millions of euros. Oliver Scheibenbogen from the Institute for Social Aesthetics and Mental Health, Sigmund Freud Private University / Anton Proksch Institute, presented the results of a prevalence study commissioned by Austrian Lotteries on gambling behaviour in lottery games in Austria.

Katerina Giannakakou-Razelou, OPAP Legal Manager and Pavel Gernt, Player Protection Manager Saska and Arno Nagelschmied spoke about the cross-border exchange within the Allwyn Group on the topic of responsible gaming.