Art Paikowsky has served as President of the International Center for Responsible Gaming (ICRG) since October 2021. During this time, he has helped more than double the level of resources secured by the organization, resulting in more than 25 studies currently underway. At ICE 2024 the ICRG was one of the two safest gambling organizations to share in the £41.000 prize pool raised by brands including Light and Wonder, Flutter, Betsson Group, IGT, Novomatic, Neccton and Playtech.
What are your overall impressions of ICE and how much are you looking forward to its move to Barcelona?
AP: “ICE itself is an incredible seamless exercise, so extraordinarily well planned it's almost unbelievable. By continually updating content, I believe Clarion strives to improve and I have experienced this every year. Barcelona is one of my favorite European cities, the convention center is in an excellent location and the food is exceptional. I can only expect the move to take an already extraordinary event to another level.”
Have you decided how you will use the £20.500 – is there a specific project or research it will fund/help fund?
AP: “We were surprised and elated to receive the award and are very grateful to Clarion for all they have done on behalf of ICRG. One method of funding research is for researchers from around the world to apply for grants from our unrestricted funds. These requests are independently reviewed by the Scientific Advisory Board and are awarded multiple times throughout the year. These funds represent a significant allocation to our grant pool.”
How important is it for a large b2b gambling event to have a show feature dedicated to safer gambling?
AP: “Even as recently as a couple of years ago, at the conferences I attended, it was difficult to find anything that advocated safer gambling. Not only did ICE present this important topic, but the content was of such value that it was difficult to get a seat at the sessions! Thanks go to Clarion for his leadership in this field."
From a safer gambling perspective, what were the main talking points at ICE 2024?
AP: “The UK Government White Paper was very present and there was a big focus on how technology could impact safer gambling. Our research has identified emerging adults as an at-risk market and the accessibility of phone gambling options needs to be examined more closely – we have several studies underway to find out more. Sports betting, regulation and advertising were all top of mind.”
2024 marks the 25th anniversary: how great was it to celebrate this milestone at ICE?
AP: “One of the things I noticed when I started working at the ICRG two and a half years ago was that the organization had done tremendous work, but was generally going unnoticed. Kicking off our 25th anniversary at ICE with the exposure we received and recognition as Charity of the Year was hugely valuable. This will help organize both our 25th anniversary golf tournament in May in Las Vegas and our educational conference scheduled for October.”
