UNLV’s Feldman named to new responsible gaming committee

An international organization has formed a committee that will provide resources to gaming industry operators and regulators in support of responsible gaming.

The International Gaming Standards Association’s board of directors on Tuesday said the UNLV International Gaming Institute’s Alan Feldman would be a part of the committee, which will offer regulators and operators a path from discovery to a quantifiable and predictable responsible gaming model.

The committee will establish a dashboard of key performance indicators generated from quantitative data. The organization said the final and ultimate level will be to embrace the power of prediction and preventive detection.

“The time has come to create a global standard, process and path for predictive responsible gaming,” Earle Hall, chairman of the IGSA, said in a release.

“Regulators have done an incredible job of creating their individual approaches,” he said. “It is now time to pull the best practices together into a journey from discovery to quantitative management. Moreover, it is time to shift the paradigm to a data-driven predictability model to remove the tremendous burden on regulators and operators. We are excited by the overwhelming response by our members, affiliates and partners to be a part of this movement.”

The IGSA’s members and affiliates include many of the world’s top casino game producers: Aristocrat Leisure, IGT, Light & Wonder, Ainsworth Game Technology and Konami Gaming.

Feldman, a distinguished fellow at the UNLV International Gaming Institute and chair emeritus of the International Center for Responsible Gaming, said Tuesday he is anxious for the committee to start.

In an interview, Feldman said the rapid growth of technology in the gaming industry is a part of why the committee’s work is important.

“Because of the growth of technology and the applications that are being used now, I think this is a perfect opportunity to consider how those technologies are utilized,” he said. “Trying to understand that will be a critical part of the work we do.”

Feldman said the committee will start with an open slate.

“The thing that I like the most is that no hard fast rules were put in place before we start. Obviously, we’ll take some initial direction from the board, but I think our work after that is up to us.”

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.