We were pleased to attend last week's Gambling Commission Spring Conference, with a major focus on data, research and evidence. In the UK we have witnessed some significant changes to policy, funding and investment in technical platforms that should position us for a new era of regulation over the next 5-10 years.?We were encouraged to see the emphasis on evidence roadmaps in key areas, including product risks.?The GC emphasised the need for; - Longitudinal data - Qualitative research - Data access and sharing - Stakeholder collaboration and robust research governance. There was a lot of interesting content during the day, we particularly enjoyed the keynote from Samantha McGregor, ESRC: Economic and Social Research Council Deputy Director of Smart Data Research, who focused on the need for Trusted Research Environments to support developing a robust evidence base.? Also lots of other interesting input throughout the day, we enjoyed the Developing Evidence Roadmap session which included input from Richard Bayliss, Helen Johnson and Heather Wardle, as well as Jonathan Parke's and Dr Maris Catania's overview of recent research on product risk. All this is super important as we look to finalise a report on defining the current state analysis of product risk to support the development of a strategic product risk research roadmap, due for Q2 2025.
A big thank you from us, to everyone who attended this week's Spring Conference at the The ICC Birmingham. Through collaboration with our partners in industry, academia and the third sector - both at home and abroad - we can use research and the data it provides to ensure that the work that we do is substantial, robust and based on evidence. Together, we can cooperate to ensure that consumers are protected and that gambling is safer, fairer and crime free for all. Here's a short highlight reel of the day with a few words from our Chief Executive, Andrew Rhodes ???