On Monday, Bwin Interactive Entertainment A.G. announced a five-year extension on an agreement to collaborate on research with the Division of Addictions at Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate.
The five-year agreement calls for scientific evidence to create the safest possible online gaming environment by implementing the findings of a longitudinal study, the company said. The Harvard affiliate has been working with Bwin for the past three years developing and testing new responsible gaming initiatives.
According to a prepared statement, the scientific studies analyzed the data of over 47,000 customers during a 36-month period, which Bwin said is the largest longitudinal study of its kind worldwide. IGamingNews wrote about one of the studies in May. Click here to read the article.
“We need to understand what goes on in consumers' minds and be able to answer fundamental questions about online gaming based on scientific evidence -- and not based on speculation,” Manfred Bodner, co-cheif executive of Bwin, said in the statement. “Ultimately, we are interested in creating behavioral models capable of predicting certain outcomes. Therefore, we are working towards establishing the scientific foundation that will yield algorithms capable of identifying risk patterns associated with disordered gambling so that we can prevent them.”