"We hope that Brazil become the next big event in the gaming industry"

GMB - With what expectation does SIQ arrive to SAGSE 2017?
Urtzi Jauregui - The expectation is double. On the one hand, make contact with the manufacturers and operators of machines and game systems to know their needs. On the other hand, establish contact with regulators, especially Argentineans, since the market is in a process of regularization, establishing formal standards, and we want to follow this process closely, from its beginnings, to advise regulators and help them to elaborate sensitive regulations that protect players and all sectors. We want to be an integral part of the development of gaming regulation in Argentina.

What presence do you currently have in Latin America?
We have been in the region for many years, since the beginning of the decade of 2010, working in all regulated jurisdictions. We are in Peru, Panama, Chile, Colombia, we have certified all kinds of gaming machines, also online betting systems, we know the Latin American gambling market in all its jurisdictions and in all its spectrum of systems.

How do you handle work in the region, perhaps with problems that may arise with respect to changes in governments, economic crises, changes in the rules, etc?
I believe that the Latin American situation is characteristic of a developing industry, in the transition from the absence of regulation to the presence of it. That generates contradictions, faults and modifications, but that is something normal that happens all over the world. We have not found specific problems in Latin America. Our experience has been good, as for example in direct contact with regulators, in a personal way and with response times that perhaps in other jurisdictions would be impossible.

What differentiates SIQ from the competition that also works in the Latin American market?
We differentiate in three fundamental things. On the one hand, we cover the entire spectrum of services that a gaming machine manufacturer needs. We perform electrotechnical testings, electromagnetic compatibility reviews, and conduct measurement of low-frequency phenomena that are necessary for a cabinet to be approved. We do game trials, of information security system for online systems, ISO audits, SIDSS audit for credit card payment systems, etc. The client gives us a machine and we do everything.

On the other hand, although we are a smaller organization than our competitors, we are a high percentage of test engineers. We do not have vendors or marketing personnel to act as an intermediary with the client. When they talk to us, they talk to the test engineer who is doing the field work on their system and responds directly to them.

Finally, our policy of transparent terms and prices. We prepare an offer with a deadline and a certain price and that is our final word. We promise to finish in that period and at that price as promised without hidden charges or surprises.

In summary: total spectrum for all customer solutions; close deal with short response times of the people who are carrying out the trials; and pricing policy and transparent deadlines.

How does SIQ see to process of the Brazilian gaming market?
SIQ is following with great interest the evolution in Brazil. We hope it will be the next big thing in the global gaming industry, we hope it will soon regulate the activity, approve the gaming law, and the corresponding regulations for systems certification. We are confident we can follow that process from the beginning to help regulators with our experience so the best possible regulations can be written; and to the manufacturers, with our complete offer of services so that they can certify in the most efficient way possible.

Is there a possibility that SIQ physically settles in Brazil when the country opens the market?
I would never say no. Certainly the size of the Brazilian gaming market could make viable many options for representation, although we have no plans that I can confirm right now. But we do not rule out possibility either.

Source: Exclusive GMB