"The continued evolution of technology has had a massive impact on the gaming industry"

Can we have your year-end assessment for BMM, including key offerings/services, networking, events, projects, etc.? Could you provide some examples that reflect key progress, performance, achievements, setbacks, and pending goals throughout 2019? 

In North America, expressly, BMM was granted its license to test for the state of Illinois, ending its run as the last U.S. state to restrict ongoing competition among independent test labs that certify gaming equipment. This movement was a triumphant win for manufacturers and the gaming industry alike, as it ended an unnecessary monopoly amongst test labs within the state. Gaming manufacturers deserve a choice of labs in all jurisdictions, and we’re looking forward to expanding our services within the Illinois market. 

Globally, BMM has substantially grown its iGaming, cybersecurity, and sports betting certification teams to meet the increasing demand for our services. Our newly established Romanian test lab has grown into the leading lab within the region and was selected as the top lab for 2018 and 2019. We’ve continued to invest in our people, processes, and operations worldwide, and we’ve seen record-breaking growth both financially and operationally in 2019. With the recent addition of a new office in Poland, our global expansion initiatives continue to impact key gaming markets such as North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. We expect our growth trend to continue into 2020 and beyond.

What are your goals, expectations, and new challenges for 2020, both in the established and the emerging markets? What do you think will be the topics that will drive the agenda, from your gaming laboratory's perspective?

For 2020, we will continue to focus on land-based gaming testing and certifications and advance our position within the growing segments of sports betting, interactive gaming, cybersecurity, online gaming, and mobile gaming. BMM is committed to continually seek out new ways to innovate and bring our standard of excellence to every client, every day. We’ve heavily invested in our people, and we will continue to set the bar on testing excellence and customer-centric service worldwide. 

What will be your approach to emerging technologies and applications involving IA, machine learning, blockchain? Could you describe particular examples where you addressed issues related to those tech trends? How are your strategies evolving in that sense?

Both blockchain technology and AI are becoming disruptive technologies within the heavily regulated gaming industry. Distributed ledger technology, which is, essentially, what blockchain represents, has become a significant means for transforming the entire range of financial transactions, including payment clearing, settlement processes, how funds are being transferred across borders, and how securities, commodities and derivatives are cleared and settled.

Advancements in AI, in all its various forms, are having an increased impact on how the gaming industry is being managed and operated. For example, in the sports betting industry, the scope of data across all professional sports, and the value of big data in analyzing and predicting outcomes to offer better odds are already well known.

BMM offers nearly 40 years of expertise and industry experience and takes a proactive approach to keep ahead of industry trends, technology solutions, and challenges within the market. We are committed to providing the highest-quality, reliable testing services across all market segments no matter what new technological advancements emerge.  

What is BMM Testlabs looking forward to in 2020?

Reflecting on the last decade, the continued evolution of technology has had a massive impact on the gaming industry. These advancements show no signs of slowing, and we expect this trend to continue. We look forward to leading the global testing laboratory sector in 2020 with our dedicated team of experts who are ready and able to help manufacturers, operators, and regulators navigate through these incredible advancements.

We distinguish ourselves amongst our competitors through our high-quality testing services that deliver exceptional value to our clients. We’ve built our foundation around providing a client-centric testing experience with a focus on partnership and going above and beyond just delivering certification reports. Our mission is to exceed what is required of us, do the right thing and lead the way in quality testing services, and responsible and ethical business practices. We remain dedicated to setting the global standard for testing excellence across the industry.