Online Casino Summit Italia 2023 wraps up tremendous Day 1

The first day of Online Casino Summit Italia 2023 (OCSI) has proven to be a resounding success with attendees having the opportunity to mingle and begin networking from the get-go. The gathering began with an address by Helen Walton, G. Games CCO and founder, who welcomed the guests and attendees at the Rome Marriott Grand Hotel Flora and delivered her opening address.

This was picked by Giovanni Carboni, EGLA’s Managing Director, who spoke about the Italian gaming market growth and how the local market fared in comparison to other European Union jurisdictions and markets. Carboni noted that Italy was by far the largest iGaming market in Europe, and the world’s fifth largest, putting the significance of the heavily regulated jurisdiction in perspective.

Liam Mulvaney, a B2B specialist, Emmanuele Cangianelli, Chairman of the Board, EGP-FIPE, Paolo Di Feo, CEO at Giochi24, and Marco Castaldo, CEO at Microgame, all delivered their insights into the market and outlined some of its particularities that have been based on evolving consumer preferences.

Networking was well on the menu following the morning sessions with industry leaders such as Global Transaction Charge, XR Casino, Run Your Own Poker Site, and Betting Software taking good care of the delegates in the networking lounge. The afternoon sessions were just as exciting, with a clear focus and message sent to companies about the need of adopting and promoting responsible iGaming practices to ensure business sustainability.

Marko Jakovetic, an industry specialist, Emmanuele Cangianelli, and Sophie Platts, Entain’s Group Head Sustainability, all weighed in on the important topic joined by Tom Banks. The second panel discussed SEO trends in the iGaming and how search engines will be impacted by the advancements in Artificial Intelligence that are becoming massively popular.

The second panel was led by Maja Jovančević, Head of SEO (Casino) at Gaming Innovation Group, and featured SEO experts Patrick Georgiev Global SEO Lead at Betsson, Marijana Škrivanko, Head of SEO at WYN Global Media, and Warren Summut. Jovančević hailed the conference and event, praising the hosts for their effort in creating an event that stands out and delivers on impressive opportunities for the local iGaming market:

"I really enjoy the fact that Eventus International conferences are knowledge-sharing focused. You can always learn something new, even about an aged, regulated market such as Italian. The networking is on another level as well."

The afternoon continued with more networking opportunities at OCSI, with the event’s dynamics and unflagging energy among delegates indicating that there were many opportunities to be explored as early as Day 1 and meaningful long-lasting relationships already in the works.

Matthias Ciappara, CCO at CompetitionLabs, and Fabrizio Bergamaschi, VP of Sales iGaming at Nuvei, delivered their presentations following the networking lunch.

The day wrapped up with a final discussion from Dustin Plantholt, the County of MonteCrypto, which was a moderated panel featuring metaverse experts such as Dan Martinez, CEO at XR Casino, Norbert Steff, CTO at Neotach Finance, Conor Thacker, MD at Polker, and Frederic Chesnais, at Founder & CEO at Crypto Blockchain Industries. All participants spoke about the strength of metaverse technology and how it can prove beneficial to operators and their casino projects, blazing a trail in a brand-new landscape.

Not least, Day 1 was completed with a rundown of what has been achieved, with Helen Walton talking about the value of the gathering and the insights imparted to attendees by peers and industry specialists. Day 2 promises to be as densely packed with excitement as the opening hours.

Image credit: OCSI