Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/958047
maltatoday SUNDAY 25 MARCH 2018 IV Gaming How GDPR will a ect the online gambling industry Internationality, content and innovation at ENADA Spring NetRefer named 'National Winner' in prestigious European competition WITH General Data Protec- tion Regulation (GDPR) just around the corner, gambling companies will need to comply with new guidelines and regu- lations. GDPR is a new set of rules designed to give citi- zens more control over their data. Although GDPR does not come into effect until 25 May, gambling operators have already started preparing. Data is a key component to competitive success within the gambling industry. This means gambling operators will be heavily affected by GDPR. There are important decisions to be made as to how personal data should be collected and stored. Outlined below, are three key changes introduced by GDPR which will affect the gambling industry. Internal governance and responsibility Under GDPR, there will be an increased emphasis on being able to demonstrate compliance. This consists of maintaining a record of data processing activities and asso- ciated policies and procedures. Security breaches In the event of a personal data breach, GDPR will in- troduce a notification regime system alerting data handlers. They will be required to report personal data breaches no later than 72 hours after becoming aware of such breach. Gam- bling operators will need to ensure they are in a position to identify and react to security breaches in a manner which complies with the require- ments of the GDPR. Data portability Under existing data protection laws, consumers have the right to receive a copy of any personal data that is held about them. The data portability right may apply where personal data has been collected based on the data subject's consent, but will not apply where personal data has been processed based on the legitimate interest ground for processing personal data. By not adhering to the new GDPR regulation, your organisa- tion risks being hit financially with penalties, damaging your reputation. THE 30th edition of the ENADA Spring, international Amusement and Gaming Show, leader in South- ern Europe and organised by Italian Exhibition Group in collaboration with SAPAR and the support of the European Gaming and Amusement Federation took place last month in Rimini, Italy. A special edition that celebrated a prestige organisation goal, in an at- mosphere of hope that in 2018 there will be a turning point for a sector that produces revenue, employment and considerable income for the treasury. Numerous contents were faced by the market leaders, with the complete participation of the indus- try's leaders and key enterprises. A world that in Italy produces takings of over €100 billion, employs at least 300,000 staff and ensures the Gov- ernment revenue of approximately €10 billion. At the show, the sector was represented by a high techno- logical innovation profile, as well as numerous announcements by the leading brands who chose ENADA Spring to launch new projects and investments. ENADA Spring, inaugurated on Wednesday by the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Rimini and Forlì – Cesena Fabrizio Moretti, SAPAR chairman Raffaele Curcio and IEG president, Lorenzo Cagnoni, ended after being attended by 25,000 national and international buyers. Precisely foreign participation was important and on the rise, thanks to the new matching platform organised by Italian Exhibition Group, which ensured exhibiting enterprises international relations with delegations from Romania, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Georgia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Spain and Tunisia. The area attended by the buyers, was set up at the show, and hosted numerous productive business meetings. The international profile rose by 10% compared to the previ- ous edition. The new feature re- wards the initiative of IEG, in its role of business facilitator, fundamental in this period of stagnant domestic demand. There was an excellent debut for the new section, Rimini Amuse- ment Show, dedicated to the world of games without cash prizes and promoting Italian creativity and products at home and abroad. Attention and participation for the appointments of the ACAD- EMY program dedicated to training and information with the analysis of the current gaming industry situation, with a focus on the need for laws that are fairer and closer to reality, to avoid penalising the sector further, as well as attention on the upcoming events, first of all the public notice for online gaming permits; NEXT, which spotlighted the technological innovation of the new gaming platforms; CONTEST, with the Spring Pinball Tournament international competitive pinball tournament under the aegis of IFPA Italia, which is responsible for the ranking of Italian players, the Table football doubles Tournament organ- ized by Biliardino Italia on FRIM SPORT tables, the areas dedicated to the growing phenomenon of darts (soft darts), updated to the latest variation, which benefits from the support of electronics. ENADA Spring was also chosen for the debut of Federesport, the sports federation that is a member of the CONI and promotes playing with videogames, awaiting recogni- tion as an Olympic discipline with the debut foreseen in Paris 2024. E-Games are an extraordinarily growing phenomenon and, with 24 million players in Italy, everything seems set for a boom in the coming months. NETREFER has been named 'National Winner' in the 2017- 18 European Business Awards, Europe's largest business com- petition, sponsored by RSM. NetRefer was chosen from 2,898 businesses previously identified as 'Ones to Watch' in a list of business excellence published in December and se- lected as a National Winner by a panel of independent judges including senior business lead- ers, politicians and academics as the best business in Malta in the Awards' category 'Innova- tion' will now go on to repre- sent Malta in the final stage of the competition. NetRefer is the industry leader in the provision of Uni- fied Performance Marketing, powering the most success- ful and high-volume partner programs through a central- ised and scalable platform of products. NetRefer's Unified Performance Marketing Eco- system of products and services enables companies to drive ef- fective engagement, conversion and retention of stakeholders. Timothy Buttigieg, COO at NetRefer said: "The whole team is delighted to be chosen as one of the top businesses in Europe for our innovative practices. We find this award to be a major honour for ourselves and our country. We look forward to the upcoming final stage of the competition." Adrian Tripp, CEO of the Eu- ropean Business Awards said: "This is an amazing achieve- ment and NetRefer is clearly a stand out leader in their field. To be a National Win- ner means you represent our core values of success, ethics and innovation and are one of the best in Europe. We wish you the best of luck in the final round." NetRefer will head to Warsaw on 22 and 23 May to complete a final round of judging and at- tend both a Summit to engage in business issues and the Gala Ceremony where the overall category winners for 2017/18 European Business Awards sponsored by RSM will be an- nounced. The European Business Awards is now in its 11th year and its primary purpose is to support the development of a stronger and more suc- cessful business community throughout Europe. This year it considered over 110,000 businesses from 34 countries. Sponsors and partners include RSM, ELITE, Germany Trade & Invest, PR Newswire, Bureau Van Dijk and SDL Managed Translation.