Post-summit blues – SiGMA Asia Digital summit round-up
The SiGMA Squad hopes you enjoyed the experience as much as we did, and, as post-summit blues set in, we wanted to leave you with the best moments and highlights from the three days of non-stop discussion and debate!
During these three days at the SiGMA Digital summit, we had over 100 speakers, taking part in more than 40 panel discussions or speeches, and spread over both SiGMA Asia Focus and SiGMA Deep Tech! Along with these great speakers came over 4,000 delegate registrations, over 7,000 private messages exchanged between attendees, and over 2,000 virtual cards exchanged.
The aforementioned numbers prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the SiGMA Digital summit was a roaring success, and due to our fixation with tweaking and improving anything we get our hands-on, we are already working on making the SiGMA LatAm Digital event an even better experience!
Keynote Speeches
Four individuals gave keynote speeches at the two summits, all of whom are indisputably central to the industries’ progress and wellbeing.
These persons were Andrea Domingo, Chairwoman of PAGCOR, Heathcliff Farrugia, CEO of the Malta Gaming Authority, Clayton Bartolo, Malta’s Junior Minister for the Digital Economy, and Brock Pierce, Founder and Chairman of the Integro Foundation.
Domingo insisted on asking industry players to “obey the law, be transparent, and be competent”, Farrugia explained the role of the MGA as a regulator during the COVID-19 pandemic; Bartolo encouraged other governments to follow the Maltese government in including digitization as part of their public sector strategy; Pierce stated that 2020 is going to be the year that we begin to see the industry move beyond the minimally viable product stage to mass adoption.
Andrea Domingo, Chairwoman of PAGCOR.Panel Discussions
The vast number of panel discussions and debates that took place throughout the three days, and the many interesting takes the speakers explained makes it difficult to pick and choose highlights and point out who stood out. In no particular order, and without diminishing the invaluable input we heard from other speakers, these are some of the highpoints from these impressive individuals.
Ben Goertzel and Stephan Nilsson discuss COVID-19, with Rachel McIntosh moderating.On day one, during the Focus Philippines panel, Keith McDonnell, CEO at kmigaming.com noted that however successful operators were in Europe, or any other market they come from, they’ve taken the time to partner with people on local issues.
Vice-Chairperson and CEO for Inside Asia Gaming, Andrew Scott, spoke about the situation in Japan, explaining that “the general consensus in Japan has been quite demanding in the process”, adding that “Japan has come out and said repeatedly that it will be the strictest regulatory regime in the world – hardly music to ears of the operator.”
During the second half of the day,SiGMA Deep Tech took place which was organised by techies, for techies. This inaugural summit featured the world’s best devs and CTOs in the speaker lineup and is dedicated to the coders, the CTOs responsible for all cutting-edge tech that the industry is so dependent on.
We saw Founder & CEO of Turing Industries, Steve Chao, spoke about quantum & neuromorphic computing and whether they are the future of processing heavy amounts of data. We also saw panels on managing data in iGaming and life cycle engagement and customer management where individuals such as Chris Armes, Karl Davies-Barrett, Gege Gat, David Sachs and others gave their thoughts on the topic at hand.
The next day, during a Coping with COVID panel, Joseph Borg from WH Partners said that: “Operators are realising that land-based and online are complementary to each other. I believe there is going to be a time where land-based, for a short period at least, will become a bit more popular than online after this COVID situation – because people also want interaction”.
Christina Comben moderates a discussion between Marcelo Garcia and Faris Oweis.HR was also a standout panel, with Erik Bergman, Founder of Great.com chiming in on the power of good communication and a strong team ethic, going on to add, “I’ve been suffering through what poaching can lead to. One of the main downsides of having a business in Malta, where my previous business was, is that everyone else is there too! Today my approach is, I want to create a business that is so different from everything else, that attracts such different people, that it is more or less impossible to poach people because they are there for the greater cause, there for that team rather than the individual journey.”
The third day featured a panel on emerging markets leveraging emerging technology where Faris Owers said that “The biggest hurdle is a lot of the problem with blockchain solutions in cities is they haven’t done it in many places. That’s more of behaviour from a municipal standpoint than it is about the virtue of what blockchain tech is. I think through education that’s where you can lead that resistance.”
We also had Youtube Personality, The Moon Carl, and Beyond Associates Founder, CryptoWendy O, discussed the race to mass adoption of bitcoin or alt. coins, both noting that people eventually “wake up to the fact that the system is fundamentally flawed” and that “they will start to realise that they don’t want others knowing what they’re spending their money on”.
Polling and Votes
The three days saw a number of interesting polls answered by our viewers, thanks to the interactive platform Swapcard provided for us.
Poll on traditional investors waking up to iGaming investments.When asked whether more traditional investors are waking up to iGaming investments, 33% said “yes, but there’s still a long way to go”, and 22% said “Yes”, “Yes, COVID-19 has strengthened their appetite for investment” and “Not Yet”, whilst 0% said “No”.
We also had a poll on how regulators responded to the COVID-19 crisis, with some surprising results. 27% were in favour of the Philippines, while 13% were batting for Macau, Sweden, and the UK. 7% voted for Latvia and 27% chose other.
On the third day, we asked which emerging tech will most impact the future supply chain models, where 41% of users touted AI to be the most impactful. This was followed by IoT, blockchain, and autonomous vehicles (14%), and both Quantum Computing and Big Data at 9%.
Finally, we want to take this opportunity to thank everybody involved in making this event a reality. This includes the SiGMA Squad, speakers, sponsors, media partners, all those who supported us along the way, and, of course, YOU – our followers!
If you want to re-live the SiGMA Digital experience go to our Youtube channels – SiGMA – World’s iGaming Festival and AIBC Summit.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE, SIGMA GROUP IS WORKING TIRELESSLY TO PERFECT THE UPCOMING LATAM DIGITAL EVENT IN SEPTEMBER, AND THE PHYSICAL SUMMIT IN MALTA IN NOVEMBER LATER THIS YEAR – REGISTER HERE!
