IGSA confirms new Board of Directors amid new iGaming, sports betting strategy for the year

The International Gaming Standards Association (IGSA) announced on Tuesday its new Board of Directors. The organization’s President, Peter De Raedt, confirmed the 2022 IGSA Board of Directors, which will be chaired by John English (Managing Director at Maxxsure) and has Earle G. Hall (President & CEO at AXES.ai) as Vice Chairman.

"The 2022 Board of Directors leadership aligns perfectly with our online gaming and sports betting strategy for the coming year," stated DeRaedt. "Moreover, we are very excited about the election of John English as our new chairman. John has been instrumental in developing regulations for the legalization of sports betting and online gaming throughout his career.”

According to the association’s President, English’s expertise and commitment to the evolution of online gaming sports betting, as well as cyber risk management, “are timely as IGSA accelerates and deepens” its focus on these areas, which the gaming industry will require “new and more evolved standards for.”

Members of the new Board of Directors for the technical standards development organization include Syed Hussain, Chief Information Officer at the Oregon Lottery; Bela Kuthyar, VP of Software Engineering at Light and Wonder (former Scientific Games); Martin Pedak, Director of Technical Compliance at Playtech; and Nimish Purohit, Global Vice President of Quality – Gaming at Aristocrat Gaming.

"I am honored to join IGSA at such a pivotal moment in the evolution of the global gaming industry," stated John English, Chairman, IGSA. "Our industry is evolving rapidly with sports betting and online gaming legalization and legislation. The support, guidance and leadership to adapt to the ever-changing environment has been the hallmark of IGSA.”

English, who currently is the managing director of cyber-risk management solutions company Maxxsure, showed confidence that the IGSA Board of Directors “will provide the necessary leadership” to create, evolve and enhance standards in an effort to make the gaming industry “safer and more adaptable” to an ever-increasing rate of change.

The new Chairman announcement comes as the outgoing one, Roman Czubak of NOVOMATIC, steps down from the role. Czubak was re-elected Chairman in 2020, a year in which the association, formerly known as GSA, changed its name to International Gaming Standards Association (IGSA) to better reflect its “membership, reach, and scope.”

"On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to sincerely thank our outgoing Chairman Roman Czubak for his unwavering leadership and strategic direction during his tenure," said Earle G. Hall, new Vice Chairman. "His guidance and leadership were paramount to IGSA's successful navigation through the pandemic, and he has left a tremendous legacy for us to build upon."

The International Gaming Standards Association describes itself as the largest technical standards development organization dedicated to the creation and evolution of standards and protocols to betterment of the global gaming industry.

“Through the creation and evolution of intellectual property, exclusively available to its distinguished membership in 20 countries, and with the input of regulators, operators and suppliers from over 30 countries, the IGSA ensures its members enjoy a unique strategic advantage,” a press release explains.

The association aims to work as a “catalyst” between jurisdictional regulatory bodies and operators, both for the online and land-based sectors. This ensures its members “a cross-sectorial visibility and reach,” as well as a facility to access commercialization channels through the IGSA standardized protocols and standards, the organization further adds.