Opening in Istanbul today is the 5th Congress of European State Lotteries with the main theme and motto: Lotteries and Society. Istanbul, known as the city of seven hills, will be the European Capital of Culture next year and the Congress organiser, ZED Event Management & Consultancy, is offering an ‘Ottoman Monuments Tour’ tomorrow and ‘Historical Old City Tour’ Wednesday and a shopping tour on Thursday. Today there is a boat tour on the Bosphorous.

The exhibition opens officially at 6 p.m. and tomorrow’s welcoming address is followed by a keynote address by an eminent Turkish author. Under the Lotteries and Society theme there will be discussions on ethical values, responding to evolving needs of lotteries and core values of lotteries for the benefit of society. Wednesday brings a forum on responsible gaming, another on sports betting and a roundtable on increasing revenue. On Thursday, the last day of the Congress, there will be discussions on the new legal environment and balancing state interest in the EU environment.

GTECH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lottomatica, has chosen the first day of the Congress to announce the launch of G2, its new interactive lottery, sports betting, poker, bingo and casino subsidiary. G2 is the new brand name for GTECH's interactive gaming ("igaming") and sports betting services businesses that is comprised of Boss Media and its four poker networks, Finsoft, St Minver, and Dynamite Idea.

G2 provides a full range of end-to-end gaming services, game content, and technology solutions to fully-regulated customers operating lotteries, sports betting, interactive poker, casino style games, bingo, skill, and regulated multi-player games. These services include e-commerce marketing, player relationship and risk management, fraud prevention, responsible gaming, and community functions.

G2 brings together, under one brand, the combined expertise of GTECH and its extensive lottery industry insight with leaders in the interactive gaming world, to responsibly drive digital gaming. "Igaming and sports betting are areas where we see tremendous growth for lotteries around the world," said G2 President Atul Bali. "Our worldwide lottery and gaming industry experience, coupled with our recent strategic acquisitions, uniquely position us to lead the industry in these rapidly-growing gaming segments. G2 is an integrated market-focused organization that can offer our lottery customers igaming and betting products to facilitate growth in every aspect of the value chain today."

"GTECH has been working closely with its customers and customizing and delivering world-class interactive solutions for them for more than a decade. Working with lotteries such as Veikkaus Oy, Camelot, New Zealand Lotteries, An Post National Lottery, and Loterie Nationale in Luxembourg, we have built tremendous experience and capabilities in the interactive gaming space," said GTECH President and CEO Jaymin B. Patel.

He added, "We are always investing in the future of our lottery customers, and with the acquisitions of Boss Media, Finsoft, St Minver, and Dynamite Idea, we have further enhanced our core capabilities in this high-growth area through the integration of new products, services, and content. We are fully prepared to assist our customers as regulations allow and opportunities present themselves in digital gaming." (E-06.08.09)

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