Intralot Expands Its Global Presence in Mexico

INTRALOT S.A., the leading international gaming company, and Sorteo Games, Inc., a leading provider of electronic lottery systems and services, are pleased to announce a five-year agreement to roll-out innovative gaming products for Lotería Nacional, the National Lottery of Mexico. INTRALOT has already established a strong presence in Latin America and the Caribbean and this agreement marks its entry into the Mexican market. 

The first gaming product to be deployed is INTRALOT’s industry-leading KENO game. With visually attractive draws in Points of Sale TV screens, Keno is a quick, entertaining and exciting game. Under the terms of the agreement, INTRALOT will provide its technology platform, terminals and operational services to enable the implementation of KENO and, subsequently, new online games. The games will be offered through INTRALOT's LOTOS™ O/S Gaming platform fully integrated for Sorteo Games, which has from the National Lottery the required lottery contracts and licenses, for distribution channels and retail venues. In addition, Sorteo will be able to use the KENO terminals to cross-sell its other National Lottery games.

The Chairman of Lotería Nacional para la Asistencia Pública de México, Mr. Benjamín González Roaro, welcomed the new partnership and stated: “Our objective at Lotería Nacional for the benefit of generating revenues for social welfare of Mexico is to grow our distribution channels by modernizing and automating our systems and games, and we are delighted to be able to develop and launch the new Lotería Nacional Keno game with our long term partner Sorteo Games and the leading global lottery games and systems provider INTRALOT”.

Commenting on the agreement, Mr. Nikos Nikolakopoulos, Managing Director of INTRALOT Latin America, said: “As a fast developing market, Mexico was a natural target for INTRALOT. Thanks to this agreement with Sorteo, we are able to expand our existing presence within Latin America into this key region. It is the remarkable potential of the Mexican lottery market that has attracted INTRALOT’s interest to invest in the country and we are sure that our collaboration with Lotería Nacional will be mutual beneficial supporting the Lottery’s plans to increase its contributions to Good Causes”.

Mr. Nour-Dean Anakar, CEO of Sorteo, added: “We are delighted that INTRALOT has chosen to partner with Sorteo, which validates our offering and expertise. We look forward to benefiting from INTRALOT’s resources and international experience in the development, installation and launch of the KENO game in Mexico, and we hope this will be the first step in establishing a strong, long-term relationship.”

Scientific Games Makes Senior Appointments to Drive International Gaming Business

Scientific Games Corporation (Nasdaq: SGMS) has confirmed two senior appointments to bolster its Gaming division, which includes The Global Draw, Barcrest and Games Media. Michael Koch has been named Managing Director of International Business for the Gaming division, while Gareth Philips has been appointed to the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the division. 

Koch, who joined in 2011 to manage The Global Draw’s strategic relationship with Playtech subsidiary Videobet, will oversee all gaming operations and growth strategies internationally. As the former CEO of Ace Interactive, he brings with him over 20 years of experience, including senior executive positions at GTECH and Wincor Nixdorf. 

Philips joined The Global Draw in 2010 as Managing Director of International Business after having served as CTO of Aristocrat Technologies. With over 25 years of global gaming and systems experience, he will now be responsible for driving the group’s technology strategy. 

Michael Koch said, “I am delighted to be taking on the role of managing and growing our already successful international business. I look forward to extending our geographic reach and expanding further into the global gaming marketplace.”

Gareth Philips said, “Technology already plays a key role in our business and this will increase as further innovation drives future growth in the Gaming division. I am looking forward to using our expertise in this area to build on our position as a leading player in the industry.”

Ian Timmis, Chief Executive Officer for Scientific Games’ Gaming division, said, “Both Michael and Gareth have brought extensive knowledge and experience to the business since they joined, helping us to cement relationships with key partners and develop tailored solutions for customers in regions such as Latin America and the Caribbean.

“Their combined skills and the strength of the Gaming division’s management team should help enable the business to achieve its ambitious growth targets, of which international growth and technological innovation play a key part.”

Intralot Launches Mobile, TV and Live Gaming in Italy

INTRALOT announces the launch of New Interactive Products in ITALY for Mobile, TV and Live Streaming, enriching its current online gaming portfolio by INTRALOT Interactive, and further extending the Universal Gaming Experience family of products and services.  

The new Mobile Betting App (Intralot Mobile), is readily available for user downloads from the Italian Apple Store, giving the player instant access to sports betting options. The app is fully integrated with the players wallet, and provides unified seamless access to the betting product offered also through the other companies distribution channels. The players have also the option to access the new INTRALOT mobile website m.intralot.it.

INTRALOT has also launched the new HomeSmartPlay Betting Application, for the Samsung Smart TV, family of devices that give instant access to the home user to appreciate the betting options of the company, while interacting with his TV device and controls. The application is fully embedded in the TV, and comes pre-packaged with the purchase of the new devices. By simply using the remote control, players can have access to the INTRALOT App in the Gaming section of the Samsung Smart TV and, after authentication, they can place their bets in a new interactive space.

Moreover, the company has launched Live Casino for Roulette, Blackjack and Baccarat, with Live Croupiers interacting with players in real time at its website www.intralot.it. The product has the potential to offer players the exciting playing experience of a real Casino. INTRALOT Italia welcomes all Live Casino lovers to its virtual tables, where they will have the opportunity to win real money and have fun in a space animated by the Live Croupiers. Moreover, each player will have the opportunity to chat and interact with both their fellow players and Croupiers.

Enea Ruzzettu, CEO of INTRALOT Italia, stated: “The introduction of new interactive gaming products, such as the Mobile and TV Apps and the Live Casino in our online portfolio confirms the company’s strategy to guarantee its customers continuous product updates and new services. By assuring safe and responsible gaming, INTRALOT is developing a player community where gaming is not a solitary experience but an occasion to socialize through entertainment.”

Lottomatica Group Subsidiary GTECH Corporation, Together with Grupo Slots s.a., Signs 10-year Lottery Contract with Agencia Financiera de Loterias, Casinos y Juegos de Azar de San Luis in Argentina

ROME (ITALY) – PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND (US), July 16, 2012 – Lottomatica Group S.p.A. announced that its subsidiary GTECH Corporation has signed a 10-year contract as the supplier of lottery technology and support services to Grupo Slots, the new license-holder to be the private operator of the lottery in the province of San Luis, Argentina.  Agencia Financiera de Loterias, Casinos y Juegos de Azar de San Luis (AFLCyJA), the government body that provides regulatory oversight of the lottery, granted the license to Grupo Slots which is undertaking all aspects of operating the lottery on behalf of AFLCyJA.  As the exclusive technology partner to Grupo Slots in San Luis over the contract term, GTECH is supplying the hardware and software needed to operate the lottery central system, as well as online lottery terminals.  GTECH is also providing system implementation expertise and training to Grupo Slots, as well as marketing support to ensure the expectations of the San Luis government are realized throughout the license term. The contract, which runs through October 2021, is the result of a competitive procurement, and may be extended an additional 10 years at the sole discretion of AFLCyJA.

 

“We are excited to partner with Grupo Slots to implement the private operator model in San Luis at a time where many governments are looking to privatize their lottery operations,” said Erik Dyson, GTECH Senior Vice President of Latin America and Caribbean. “We look forward to working together in the province of San Luis to strengthen the lottery business with advanced technology and flexible retail solutions, to optimize and grow the existing game portfolio as well as improve retail outlet performance over the license period.”

 

“GTECH proved to be a highly-organized company with a professional and knowledgeable staff.  The expertise and technology provided by GTECH are a significant contribution to this project,” said Lucas Baffetti, Grupo Slots Operations Director.

 

Under the terms of the contract, GTECH is providing its Enterprise Series central system solution and replaced the existing lottery terminals with 250 Imagine™ GT1100 terminals.  The Imagine GT1100 is a full-function lottery terminal that accommodates retail locations with space limitations.  The new lottery system and terminals went live in the second quarter of 2012. 

 

GTECH has established itself as a leading provider of lottery technology and services in Argentina and currently provides hardware and services to customers in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Entre Rios, and San Luis. 

 

Grupo Slots operates in 24 districts within the provinces of San Luis, Chaco, Neuquén and Buenos Aires, providing services, entertainment and recreation at traditional casinos, slot machine arcades, and bingo halls. Grupo Slots also operates lottery games, racetracks, and betting outlets.

Lottomatica Group Subsidiary GTECH Corporation Signs Five-Year Contract Extension with the South Dakota Lottery

ROME (ITALY) – PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND (US), July 20, 2012 – Lottomatica Group S.p.A. announced that its subsidiary GTECH Corporation has signed a five-year contract extension to continue providing lottery products and services for the South Dakota Lottery.  The extension will extend the contract term through August 2, 2019.

 

“Since GTECH became the online lottery vendor in South Dakota in 2009, online sales have grown approximately 35 percent,” said GTECH President and CEO Jaymin B. Patel. “We can attribute much of that growth to the great partnership we have established with the South Dakota Lottery – a partnership that fosters open communication, collaboration, and creativity, with a shared goal in mind and that is to keep the South Dakota Lottery moving forward and growing to even greater heights.”

 

“This contract extension represents our confidence in the technology and services GTECH provides the South Dakota Lottery, and the partnership that ensures the quality of those services,” said South Dakota Lottery Executive Director Norman Lingle.

 

Currently, GTECH provides the South Dakota Lottery with a full range of products including GTECH’s Enterprise Series (ES) system solution, 620 Altura® terminals, ES MultiMedia digital advertising displays, Ticket-Scan™ self-service ticket checkers, and an IP-communications network.  As part of the extension, GTECH will provide the Lottery with 600 LED jackpot signs and will continue providing the operation and maintenance of the Lottery’s online central system, terminals, and communications network, as well as field service, marketing support, and hotline services.  GTECH will continue operating from a primary data center in Austin, Texas, with a backup data center in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Intralot Enters the German Sports Betting Market

Following a competitive process, ‘ODS ODDSET Deutschland Sportwetten GmbH’ (ODDSET) has awarded Scientific Games International (SGI) in cooperation with INTRALOT with a contract for the operation of sports betting in Germany both in the retail and the interactive space. Under the agreement with SGI, INTRALOT will provide the new generation of its renowned INTRALOT Betting Platform, fully supporting the retail and the interactive operational modes, together with complete Risk Management Services and Interactive Operational Services. ODDSET is the newly established entity that will modernize and develop the existing sports betting operations in Germany, through the national retail network of the Deutsche Lotto und Toto Block lotteries, which is comprised of 23,000 points of sale.

Germany’s betting market is among Europe’s largest and is currently undergoing regulatory reforms. As many as 15 of the country’s 16 regions signed the Interstate Treaty at the end of 2011 and  most of these regions have already ratified it in their local parliaments. The new Treaty is in force since beginning of  July 2012. Aiming to become the leader of Germany’s betting market, ODDSET will apply for one of the twenty upcoming national concessions to be issued for the organization and brokerage of sports betting for an initial period of seven (7) years. 

Mr. Constantinos Antonopoulos, INTRALOT Group CEO, stated: “We are very pleased to become part of this great opening of the German market, one of the most important markets in Europe and worldwide. SGI’s considerable experience and knowledge of the local market together with INTRALOT’s extensive know-how of sports betting operations and the powerful market position of the German State Lotteries create the synergy to address the challenges of the newly regulated German market. Our common objective is to establish through ODDSET a modern, attractive and competitive product portfolio in the German market enabling ODDSET to become the market leader in sports betting in the Federal Republic of Germany over the medium term.”

The Parties have the common objective of supporting ODDSET to launch first in Germany’s regulated sports betting market, which is estimated to take place before the end of 2012.  

INTRALOT Italia selected as B2B technological partner of Betsson Group to launch StarCasino

INTRALOT announces the successful completion and launch of www.starcasino.it, on behalf of Betsson, a Swedish company listed on the Stockholm stock exchange, following the agreement for collaboration to support Betsson’s online operations in the Italian market. 

The agreement comprises the provision of INTRALOT Interactive Gaming Platform, the adaptation of the customer facing gaming portal, as well as the software and system infrastructure for Sogei connectivity. 

Referring to the agreement, Betsson’s General Director for Italy, Fabio Angeli Bufalini commented: “The choice to cooperate with INTRALOT as a B2B technological partner allowed us to launch our vertical Casino website in a very short time, through a tailor made product for the Italian market. We’re satisfied with the work carried out and we’re confident that we will continue to collaborate in order to achieve new positive results in the years to come.”

Enea Ruzzettu, CEO of INTRALOT Italia, stated: “We’re very pleased with Betsson’s decision to select INTRALOT as their successful gaming platform provider. We will work in order to fully support the requirements of our partner by maintaining our highest levels of technical excellence in this state-of-the-art platform and in our services.” 

MDI Congratulates Todd Newton for 2012 Emmy Award

ALPHARETTA, GA – July 17, 2012 – MDI Entertainment, LLC, a subsidiary of Scientific Games Corporation (Nasdaq:SGMS), congratulated its linked game host Todd Newton for his recent win at the 2012 Daytime Emmy Awards. Newton won “Outstanding Game Show Host” for his work on “Family Game Night™” on The Hub television network. His fellow nominees in the category included Ben Bailey, host of “Cash Cab,” Meredith Vieira, host of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” and Wayne Brady, host of “Let’s Make a Deal™.”

 

“Todd beat out some very tough competition in his category, and we’re extremely happy for him,” said Steve Saferin, President, Properties Group and Chief Creative Officer for Scientific Games. “He’s an enormously talented and personable host, and his enthusiasm on the job makes every show he does fun for the contestants and the viewers. This is a well deserved win for him.”

 

Newton has been a television host for various entertainment and game shows since the early 1990s, and was host of the show “Powerball Instant Millionaire” in 2002. Since then, he has emceed several MDI-sponsored industry events, and he currently hosts “The Price Is Right Live™” stage show in Las Vegas. MDI offers a linked game featuring The Price Is Right® brand, and lotteries participating in this linked game send their 2nd Chance winners on trips to Las Vegas for chances to play the stage show game.

 

Newton also is the stage show host for MDI’s newest linked game, “$1 Million Las Vegas Game Show Experience,” featuring six popular game show brands. Participating lotteries will send 2nd Chance winners to Las Vegas to play stage games adapted from the game shows, and each trip winner will have a chance to win up to $1 million. In addition to hiring Newton to host the stage show, MDI secured the Emmy award winner to star in the television and radio commercials advertising the game. These commercials, as well as other marketing materials, are available to lotteries selling the game.

Ingenio’s Creativity At The Service Of Québec’s Casinos

Montréal, July 17, 2012 – The Casino de Charlevoix celebrated its 18th anniversary with a world’s first thanks to the creativity of Loto-Québec subsidiary Ingenio and extraordinary synergy among several collaborators. Ingenio designed and developed Volcan, a unique multimedia environment that provides customers with an unforgettable immersive experience.

Volcan’s concept is simple, but Ingenio had to draw on its substantial multimedia production skills to make it a reality. The challenge consisted in taking an existing slot machine game, Jackpot Explosion®, and projecting winning jackpots on giant screens. In all, 28 slot machines with 14 new themes are connected to each other and to a multimedia installation set up in 2010 by Moment Factory. As the jackpot grows, the volcano’s lava level rises, generating intensity in the entire gaming area and fuelling excitement among players. When the player wins, the volcano erupts, producing spectacular visual effects on the 27-screen wall installed in an arc.

Ingenio was able to find the means to create a larger-than-life experience. “With Volcan, the multimedia environment now interacts with gaming activity to create a more immersive and intense entertainment experience,” said Nathalie Rajotte, Ingenio’s Director General. “This new form of interactivity paves the way for new games and casinos of the future.” Volcan, from concept to delivery, through the development of visuals and sound, scripting and technological implementation, is an Ingenio creation.

Despite significant challenges inherent to the project, Ingenio came up with innovative and original solutions requiring new technologies, particularly the creation and connection of several modules aligned in such a way as to respect the game’s integrity. “To collect data without affecting the game, we worked with Ingenio and WMS to provide an easy-to-use solution that lets the Ingenio system receive real-time updates from participating games, while the games communicate separately with the slot system. The Ingenio application demonstrates the true power of G2S (Game to System) in a way that has never been done before," said Russ Ristine, President of Radical Blue Gaming (RadBlue), a company specializing in Gaming Standards Association (GSA) protocols.

The slot machines used with Volcan at the Casino de Charlevoix were developed by WMS Industries, a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of gaming machines. “Ingenio created an innovative and exciting approach to an immersive gaming experience. We are proud to be associated with this project, which has tremendous player appeal,” said Dean Ehrlich, Vice President Gaming and Networked Operations at WMS Industries.

“Volcan is enjoying unparallelled success,” said François Tremblay, General Manager of the Casino de Charlevoix. “Since its inauguration, the number of customers who want to try it has grown consistently. Within only a few weeks of its launch, it is considered a not-to-be-missed experience.” Over the coming months, Ingenio’s team will be working with two other Québec casinos (Montréal and Lac-Leamy) to introduce this immersive experience to their clientele.

Although Ingenio was the task manager for implementing Volcan, the project’s success is due to sustained cooperation with its partners: the Société des casinos and Technologies Nter (two Loto-Québec subsidiaries) as well as RadBlue and Neosoft Technologies, a Québec company specializing in visual recognition.

Scientific Games Acquires Internet and Venue-Based Sports Betting Solution

NEW YORK, NY – July 20, 2012 – Scientific Games Corporation (Nasdaq: SGMS) announced today that it has acquired the assets of Parspro.com ehf (“Parspro”), a provider of full-service betting systems and related products via the internet and mobile devices.  The acquired Parspro assets include a scalable sports betting system that provides users with all of the elements necessary to operate an online betting site, including software, secure, state-of-the-art hosting, traditional sports wagering and live betting propositions as well as a full range of support and ancillary services.  In addition, the Parspro assets offer a full-service internet platform, integrating casino, poker and other gaming content from multiple third-party providers. 

“Given the rapidly liberalizing regulatory landscape, we believe sports wagering is a significant opportunity for regulated operators in Europe and other jurisdictions over the next few years,” said Bill Huntley, President, Lottery Systems for Scientific Games.  “Parspro’s experienced development team, who will be joining Scientific Games, and its comprehensive risk management tools and strong track record will be key advantages for Scientific Games’ existing customers as well as potential new lottery and commercial customers.”

“Teaming up with Scientific Games, a global leader in the lottery and gaming industry, is a win-win for our company and our customers,” said Sigurdur Baldursson, Founder and Chief Executive of Parspro.  “Scientific Games has integrated our sports betting interactive system with their venue-based lottery system, which supports nearly 4,000 retail points of sale in Norway for Norsk Tipping. This combination of product offerings should be attractive to lotteries and licensed private sports book operators around the world as they seek additional sources of revenue.”

This transaction is not expected to have a material impact on Scientific Games’ results of operations for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2012.

Scientific Games Announces Chief Architect for Interactive Services

ALPHARETTA, GA – July 9, 2012 – Scientific Games Corporation (Nasdaq: SGMS) today announced that Dr. Jerry Bowskill has been named Chief Architect, Interactive Services for the Company. In this newly created role, Bowskill will work in collaboration across all of the Company’s business units to define product strategy and business requirements for Scientific Games’ portfolio of interactive products and services. The appointment of Bowskill, formerly Technology and Solutions Director at Playtech Limited, an online gaming software supplier, is part of Scientific Games’ mission to serve as a global one-stop solutions provider for lotteries and regulated gaming organizations.

 

Steve Beason, Enterprise Chief Technology Officer of Scientific Games, commented, “Jerry brings a brilliant iGaming perspective gained by launching game content and technologies for a wide range of operators in highly regulated markets around the world. He is highly experienced in building secure, interactive products with integration flexibility. We look forward to his added expertise on our iLottery team as we launch our new offerings and build upon our unprecedented branded content capability, as well as enhance the internet, mobile and retail experience for our lottery customers and their players.”

 

With a background in interactive media research and development, including time at the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, Bowskill has a doctorate in Image Processing. Prior to joining Scientific Games, he worked in several technology leadership roles at Playtech, following Playtech’s acquisition of Gaming Technology Solutions (GTS), an online gaming content aggregator, where Bowskill was the Founder and Chief Technology Officer.  Mr. Bowskill also served as Executive Director-New Business at Innovation 4 Business and is known as the Founder and Director of Strategy for Rocking Frog. He began his career as a Senior Research Scientist in the Advanced Research Center at British Telecom and over the last decade, made the transition from research to founding and launching successful internet content and gaming ventures.

Croatian Lottery Selects INTRALOT to Launch Internet Casino

Following an international tender process, INTRALOT has been selected by Hrvatska Lutrija d.o.o, the Croatian State Lottery, as its strategic partner for the lottery’s new iCasino Project. The Croatian Lottery and INTRALOT will jointly manage the interactive casino business on a shared-profit basis for a period of four (4) years.

INTRALOT, through its subsidiary INTRALOT Interactive and its gaming associate Microgaming, will invest in the hardware and software necessary to provide a broad portfolio of Croatian Lottery’s casino games through the Internet. In particular, the iCasino project games’ portfolio includes an extensive assortment of table games, slots games, poker and multiplayer bingo, all of which will be integrated into the Croatian Lottery’s existing multichannel gaming platform, based on INTRALOT’s B-OnTM technology.  

The Managing Director of the Hrvatska Lutrija d.o.o, Ms. Vesna Bakran, stated: “iCasino is a major strategic project for the current and future interactive operations of Hrvatska Lutrija. For this reason, the selection of Croatian Lottery’s business partner has followed a well prepared and accomplished process, which has attracted the vanguard of industry vendors. The selection of INTRALOT has been the result of a detailed and thorough evaluation plan, based of five (5) main evaluation groups with thirty-eight (38) specific criteria”.

Mr. Constantinos Antonopoulos, INTRALOT Group CEO, added: “We are very satisfied to be selected by the Croatian Lottery as their strategic partner for the iCasino project. This new project rewards our long-lasting commitment towards the Croatian Lottery. We are ready to work hard in order to provide exciting iGaming experiences to the Croatian players.”

INTRALOT Awared 10 Year Concession and Licence to Operate the National Lottery of Malta

The Government of Malta and the Lotteries and Gaming Authority of Malta (LGA) awarded MALTCO LOTTERIES Limited (MALTCO), a subsidiary of the INTRALOT Group, with a 10-year concession and a licence to operate the National Lottery of Malta. The award was granted following a competitive tendering process whereby MALTCO satisfied all the technical requirements and submitted the most advatageous financial bid of €39.1 mil. 

MALTCO received the licence to operate the games of the National Lottery of Malta, in terms of the Lotteries and Other Games Act, Chapter 438 Laws of Malta. The licence will be in force from the 5th of July 2012. MALTCO shall undertake a capital investment in Malta for the next ten years and shall also make annual contributions to the Responsible Gaming Fund. 

The concession agreement was signed by Mr. Alfred Camilleri, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, the Economy and Investment on behalf of the Government of Malta, in the presence of the Hon. Tonio Fenech, Minister of Finance, the Economy and Investment and Mr. Emanuel Ellul, Chairman of the Privatisation Unit; whilst the licence for the National Lottery Games was signed by Mr. Reuben Portanier, Chief Executive Officer, Lotteries and Gaming Authority. Dr. John Katakis, Chief Executive Officer signed on behalf of MALTCO. 

Dr. Ioannis Katakis, MALTCO’s Chief Executive Officer, stated that “this is an historical moment for both MALTCO and the Government of Malta. We are entering a new successful era for the Maltese Lottery market and together with all the employees of MALTCO, who I thank for their dedication and hard work, we are looking forward to it. We cordially thank the Maltese Government, the Lotteries and Gaming Authority, the Privatisation Unit and the negotiating team who were all present today”. 

Mr. Constantinos Antonopoulos, INTRALOT Group CEO, who also honoured the ceremony with his presence, commented: “We are very pleased with the granting of the 10-year concession to MALTCO. INTRALOT’s state-of-the-art technology and customized solutions and services guarantee the success of MALTCO during the next ten years. MALTCO will continue offering to the people of Malta new exciting gaming experiences, while at the same time will increase its significant contribution to the local society and to good causes”.

Veikkaus reduces its carbon dioxide emissions according to a rapid schedule

The Finnish National Lottery Veikkaus Oy has adopted an ambitious environmental goal: we will reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 35 percent from the 2009 level by the end of next year. We expect to attain this goal according to schedule; we have already managed to reduce the emissions by 29 percent.

For Veikkaus, reinforcing environmental responsibility, as well as all the other sectors of responsibility, is extremely important. We will achieve this goal by taking concrete actions, whilst at the same time working as a pioneering trendsetter in the gaming industry.

According to Veikkaus’ CSR Specialist Pauliina Siiskonen, a single significant factor leading to a reduction in Veikkaus’ emissions was the adoption of green electricity last year. Our next steps will include compensating carbon dioxide emissions caused by air travel. They are also reduced by organizing video conferences and choosing rail travel within Finland.

− We also reduce the emissions caused by travel by making company cars subject to stricter emission limits, Siiskonen says.

The Northern Light congress, hosted by Veikkaus last summer, was the first carbon neutral lottery event ever in Europe. In the future, carbon emissions will also be compensated in other events organized by Veikkaus. The emissions will be offset by financing Gold Standard projects supported by WWF.

Veikkaus’ carbon footprint has been calculated twice: in 2009 and in 2011.  The environmental impacts were analysed in cooperation with Gaia, a company specialized in sustainable development, showing that Veikkaus’ carbon footprint was reduced by roughly one fifth in two years. In 2011 our carbon footprint remained at 3 774 tnCO². This figure includes electricity consumption at the POS, which is not covered by our environmental goal.

Christos Dimitriadis of INTRALOT Reelected International Vice President

Rolling Meadows, IL, USA (25 June 2012)—Christos K. Dimitriadis, Ph.D., CISA, CISM, CRISC, head of information security of INTRALOT GROUP, Athens, Greece, was reinstalled as international vice president of ISACA—a nonprofit association serving more than 100,000 IT governance, assurance, risk and security professionals in 180 countries—at its World Congress: INSIGHTS 2012 conference in San Francisco, CA, USA, today.

Founded in 1969, ISACA develops international standards for information systems auditing and control; provides education and training; and administers the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT), and Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC) designations. Additionally, ISACA developed COBIT, the internationally accepted framework for governance and management of enterprise IT. The latest version, COBIT 5, was released in April.

Dimitriadis was first elected international vice president of ISACA in 2010. This will be his third term. 

“Christos continues to bring enthusiasm and valuable contributions to ISACA’s board,” said Greg Grocholski, CISA, chief audit executive at The Dow Chemical Company, who was elected international president of ISACA. “His global experience and vast knowledge are a testament to his dedication to the profession, and ISACA truly benefits from his involvement.” 

At INTRALOT, Dimitriadis manages information security in more than 50 countries. He has been working in the area of information security for more than 12 years and has authored more than 80 security-related publications. He provides information security services to the European Commission Directorate Generals, European Ministries and international organizations, as well as business consulting services to entrepreneurial companies. Dimitriadis holds a Ph.D. in information security.

Dimitriadis is chair of ISACA’s COBIT Security Task Force. He has also served ISACA as chair of its External Relations Committee and member of the Relations Board, Academic Relations Committee, ISACA Journal Editorial Committee and Business Model for Information Security work group.

“ISACA is supporting professionals and organizations in creating trust in and value from information systems, and promoting the adaptation of technology by our society. I believe that this serves the core values of information technology: improving quality of life and supporting the global economy,” said Dimitriadis. “I am honored by my reelection and eager to work hard to serve the needs of ISACA constituents.”

In addition to Grocholski and Dimitriadis, nine other IT professionals were named to ISACA leadership positions for the 2012-2013 term. Elected as international vice presidents were Allan Boardman, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CRISC, CA (SA), CISSP, information risk manager at Morgan Stanley (UK); Juan Luis Carselle, CISA, CGEIT, CRISC, head of IT infrastructure at Walmart de Mexico y Centro America (Mexico); Ramsés Gallego, CISM, CGEIT, CCSK, CISSO, CISSP, SCPM, security strategist at Quest Software (Spain); Tony Hayes, CGEIT, AFCHSE, CHE, FACS, FCPA, FIIA, associate director-general of the Department of Communities in the Queensland Government (Australia); Jeff Spivey, CRISC, CPP, PSP, director of Security Risk Management Inc. (SRM) (USA); and Marc Vael, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CISSP, chief audit executive at Smals (Belgium).

Three directors were appointed to ISACA’s board: John Ho Chi, CISA, CISM, CRISC, CBCP, partner in IT Risk and Assurance at Ernst & Young Singapore (Singapore); Krysten M. McCabe, CISA, senior manager in the Assurance and Advisory Management Program at The Home Depot (USA); and Jo Stewart-Rattray, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CRISC, MACS CP, director of information security at RSM Bird Cameron (Australia).