ICE-SiGMA Asia Will Host a Digital Conference and is Postponing Its Physical Events

17.04.2020, 14:48

Due to the global spread of COVID-19, ICE-SiGMA Asia is transitioning its June showcase to a digital environment. The in-person show was supposed to take place in Manila between June 8th – June 10th. However, there will now be a digital event taking place during that same time period. ICE Asia will still have a physical event, but it has now been pushed back until May of 2021. Eman Pullis, who is the founder of SiGMA, has stated that the digital conference will allow participants to embrace the difficulties of the ongoing pandemic and find innovative ways to pull together. 

This announcement followed ICE North America’s decision to create a virtual event. Furthermore, ICE North America’s physical showcase has been pushed back to Spring 2021 and will take place in New Orleans. Its virtual conference will run from May 11th to May 15th. 

ICE-SiGMA Asia DIGITAL is a free event and will comprise of three days of gaming content. The showcase will feature Asian operators and gaming experts. There will be virtual workshops that revolve around gaming’s future, technology innovations, and how the market will recover after the coronavirus health crisis has subsided. The event will also feature a platform that will allow attendees to make video networking connections. 

ICE Asia has released its agenda for the entire digital conference. On June 8th, at 5:30 p.m. JST, the event will kick off with a panel on expectations for how the Asian gaming market will recover from COVID-19. Much of this panel will focus on the industry within the Philippines, Japan, Macau, and Singapore. During the panel, experts will also discuss how Japan’s timeline for legalizing and opening integrated resorts has been affected. The trends of Japanese stock prices will also be on the table for discussion. Finally, during this panel, CEOs of Ice Asia’s operators will join in to tell consumers how they are planning on exhibiting sustainable growth within their venues. 

On June 9th, at 5:30 p.m. JST, there will be a discussion about regulations within the Asian gaming industry. The main focus will be on changes to the iGaming market, as well as the differences between European and Asian regulatory frameworks. 

Afterward, at 6:15 p.m. JST, there will be a panel on how the gaming industry within Asia has been adapting to COVID-19. For instance, how the sports betting industry has been responding, as well as the rise of eSports. This will segue into a presentation about traditional sports versus eSports at 7 p.m. JST. 

The final presentation will take place on June 9th at 7:45 p.m. JST. It will cover the relationship between Asian operators and their affiliates. 

On June 10th, there will be a robotics and virtual reality showcase at 5:30 p.m. JST. At 6:15 p.m., there will be another regulation discussion, but this time it will focus on decentralization models of online casinos. At 7:45 p.m., there is going to be a panel on how technology has developed during the coronavirus pandemic. For instance, experts will discuss how private data has been breached in the name of public safety. The day will close out with an information session about Cryptocurrency adoption within Asia.