Interview with Laura Da Silva – SG:certified
By Dan Iliovici, Rombet Vice President
I met Laura Da Silva for the first time seven years ago at the OXO Tower in London, at an event organised by Clarion Gaming. She brilliantly spoke about corporate social responsibility and the need for the industry to think and act on its impact.
Laura is the Founder and Sustainability Director of SG:certified1. The aim of her platform is to simplify sustainability leading to better impact, which includes:
– Corporate social responsibility, Safer Gambling and sustainability training
– Licence, certifications and standard support
– Benchmarking and best practices identification.
Last autumn, we met again, at the EGR 2022 London Summit, where she delivered a speech on the differences between sustainability, ESG*1 and compliance. Now, at the beginning of 2023, I have kindly asked Laura to have an interview, to find out what she is doing with the SG:certified program, what her vision of a sustainable business is… and much more.
Without any further introductory words, here are her answers.
How did you get into the gambling industry, and why do you stay?
I wouldn’t say I’m in the gambling industry per se. It just so happened that a few of my clients were National Lotteries (amongst construction, financial services and sports companies). Overtime, I saw the blurred lines between gambling and lottery products and the enormous influence this industry has on our societies. I was also concerned about the impact gambling can have on individuals when an issue is left unnoticed.
This is not an industry that I am particularly supportive of, however I truly believe with the right tools and understanding there is a high potential to change the landscape for good.
In a recent conference you stated (please correct me if I am wrong) that it is important to make money, but it is more important HOW you make that money. I love this statement. How did you come to that?
Yes, that’s correct. I would also add the “why” as being very important.
The “how” because “how” a company operates matters. A company cannot define success solely by short term profit or shareholder value. If the company operates in a way that hurts society, people will pay the costs but at some point, the company will too. An example is the makers of Oxycontin in the US. A company which was highly successful if we only look at the short term initial financial results. However, it pushed an addictive drug to doctors and patients which led to 100,000’s of lives lost or altered forever. Years later, the owner of the company was sued and the company went bankrupt. This grave failure shows the impact of only focusing on the “how” (without care for society) and the “why” (short-term profit at any costs). The behaviour of one company will also destroy an entire industry’s reputation. This adds to the fact that companies need to be kept accountable, by the public, governments, the press but also other players in that same industry. I value companies that are honest, innovative and ambitious and aren’t scared to take the hardest path: the one where success is a mix of financial, social and environmental positive impact.
What has been one of your biggest challenges for you since you joined this sensitive industry?
My biggest challenge in this industry are challenges I see with other industries I work with. The challenges of debunking myths and preconceptions such as many people still believe that “the only purpose of a company is to create shareholder value!” This is simply not true. Companies need to consider “how” they operate and ensure that their definition of success incorporates environmental and social impact.
his is why we put an emphasis on the ‘by’ in our ‘Doing well by doing good’ motto.
We aim to help companies operate ‘by’ having a positive environmental and social impact.
In his 1962 collection of essays Capitalism and Freedom*2, Friedman argued: “There is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.” At no point in that essay, or anywhere else in his writings that I have seen, does Friedman add “at any cost” or “no matter the negative impact on other stakeholders” indeed, Friedman believed that corporate executives should behave in an ethical manner and he never advocated a short-term approach to growth or profitability.
What motivates you?
Selfishly, ‘pride’. I am proud when I know that a company or an individual has put measures in place that impact society or the planet in a net-positive way. I’m proud of my team when they grow and enjoy their work. I’m proudest when I feel that our work is making a change for the better.
What is the biggest challenge for the gambling industry at the moment?
I would say that the number one challenge this industry will face, is the one challenge that not many companies in the gambling industry are really focusing on. Despite the fact that 100% of their employees, regulators, players and partners will be affected by it: the climate crisis. I truly believe every company in all industries needs to act and act fast.
A more obvious challenge the industry faces (or will face) is the fact that the industry is competing with true entertainment for people’s time and attention. Until the industry changes its success measures from “short term profit” or even “revenue” or “market share” to measures such as “positivity” or “player value”, the majority of people will continue to see the industry as a negative one.
Where do the great ideas come from in your organisation?
The very smart people I work with. Listening and debating from people from very different fields, backgrounds and interests – but common values – leads to great results in my experience.
What has been your biggest learning since you have started SG:certified?
Being reminded to start small and that progress takes time and convincing.
Prevention (including education) should be a key pillar of responsibility for our industry. How does the SG:certified program contribute to integrating these objectives into operators’ organisational culture?
It should indeed. We look at three pillars when it comes to safer gambling;
– Prevention (including education).
– Detection (understanding who could be experiencing gambling harm)
– Interaction or intervention (if potential harm is apparent an operator needs to act appropriately).
Around the prevention pillar, we focus on three things with operators:
TRAINING: We train their teams and partners to make them excited and knowledgeable about safer gambling and the broader sustainability pieces. We measure that knowledge and interest to continuously help us improve the training we deliver, both online or in-person through the beest experts there are.
GAP ANALYSIS: We provide tools for companies to understand how they could improve, without reinventing the wheel. Our analysis tools do the trick and are fed by tried and tested best practices.
BENCHMARKS: We very transparently show how well (or not in some cases) they are doing. We continuously test websites and products of the industry either independently or at their request. Our goal is to push them to deliver better. So, we will gladly show how they can get ahead of their competitors.
Do you have contacts with regulators? How do you approach them, based on what your company is doing for the industry?
Yes – We work with regulators, operators, treatment professionals and other stakeholders in the industry. The aim is simple: make the industry sustainable. Therefore, speaking and collaborating with a large range of industry stakeholders is critical to our mission.
How has the gambling industry changed in the past 5 years? What do you predict will happen in the next, let’s say, 5 to 10 years?
From the impact lens, operators seem to have a better understanding of the fact that when safer gambling (or “responsible gambling”) is done right, it also helps them; as well as the individuals affected. We’ve also seen issues such as match-fixing or money laundering prevention rise in interest in recent years.
In the next few years, other issues will rise and competition will become more fierce with other sources of entertainment.
Finally, could you please tell us about your collaboration with the Romanian National Lottery. And as a follow-up question, with this occasion you had the opportunity to get a glimpse on our gambling market. How does it look like, compared with other markets?
The Romanian Lottery was making the steps to get the RG certification and we supported them in achieving it. We found in the Romanian Lottery a team that had the knowledge of RG but needed the right tools and the exact understanding, for which we were there by their side. Also, we provided Romanian Lottery training in Romanian on RG topic and measured knowledge increase and effectiveness. So, in June 2022 the Romania Lottery successfully obtained the certification from European Lotteries on RG, being the first company in Romania certified on this topic I believe. Now, they need to keep this up and continue to improve. They are not perfect but the certification process aims to enforce continuous improvement.
Regarding the Romanian market, in short, it seems very crowded. I couldn’t comment on specific operators but my hope is that there will be a race to the top (and not the bottom) when it comes to safer gambling measures. And that regulators and stakeholders will increase pressure on the industry to raise standards.
Thank you Laura!
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*1 ESG – short for Environmental, Social and Governance
*2 Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hillennevins/2019/08/28/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-company
