ICE Barcelona adds Hall 7 technology space with advisory board

ICE Barcelona is creating Hall 7, a new space at Fira Barcelona for technology, innovation and practical solutions for operators. The space is intended to add to ICE's commercial role a place to examine how companies innovate and to discuss player-protection tools.

Cristina Turbatu, a technology executive with 14 years of leadership experience in iGaming, including roles as CTO of Casumo and BeyondPlay and head of Playtech's Innovation Lab, said an advisory board was set up to help define the content and format of activities in the new area. She said the board identified audience types, discussed the structure of each session and assessed the practical value participants would take from the meetings.

Turbatu said the presence of representatives from both the B2B and B2C markets on the advisory board was a fundamental element in ensuring the project meets operators' actual needs. She said Hall 7 would feature technology demonstrations, case studies and direct exchanges between developers, operators and innovation managers, and that this approach would offer more value than traditional round tables.

On player protection, Turbatu said regulated online operators have always treated user protection as essential, and that available technology now allows a more timely and preventive approach. She said behaviours are monitored continuously and risk patterns identified as they develop, rather than through a monthly report, with alerts reaching those who can act while the player is still in session. She said this timeliness also matters for regulators, who can see the system in operation rather than only receive assurances that it exists.

Turbatu said many operators already know what a technology can do but have not seen it working under the constraints of compliance, audits and system availability, and that without such a demonstration innovation risks remaining on the list of possibilities to assess for another year. She said Hall 7 would also host discussion of the actual costs of technology migrations, organisational difficulties and team management during digital transformation, and that bringing technology leaders together creates an environment to learn and apply new ideas.

The new area will host technology companies and digital and financial services operators, with AWS, PayPal, Mastercard and Aircash announced as participants. The stated aim is for Hall 7 to become a reference point for exchanging expertise and testing solutions applicable to the gambling sector, with attention to operational innovation, security and player protection.