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The Centre for Advanced Software Technology (CAST)
The UK recently got its first gaming compliance test lab, sited just outside Bangor in North Wales at the state-of-the-art Technium CAST facility. Casino International went along to meet two of the brains behind the operation and find out what's what…
Richard Edwards, Manager of the Compliance Testing Laboratory, and Andrew Rosewarne, Testing Operations Manager, have been pretty busy since CAST [Centre for Advanced Software Technology] gained accreditation from the Gambling Commission in late 2007. The centre is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bangor University, an institution with a solid reputation within technology circles. Demand for CAST's services across the gaming sector has apparently soared since the doors opened, and we went to find out why.
Casino International: What is Technium CAST?
Richard Edwards: It’s one of a series of high-tech buildings around Wales, supported by European Objective One funding through the Welsh Assembly and the Welsh European Funding Office. The purpose of the building is to stimulate economic regeneration. Our company, The Centre for Advanced Software Technology (CAST) Limited, helps run the building, but we also have specific technology focus – the two main streams of which are compliance testing and visualisation technology.
CI: You were first in the UK weren’t you?
RE: We were the first Test House to get full approval to test gaming machines and online gaming sites, yes.
CI: The area you’re in is very competitive. What are you bringing to the table that’s different to your competitors?
RE: I think we can genuinely claim to be bringing a fresh approach. Firstly, our aim is to build relationships and assist companies to demonstrate their compliance and to help the industry to drive up standards – we don’t see ourselves simply as police. Secondly, Andrew and myself have worked for some years with a diverse range of corporate IT systems and we gained expertise in a number of useful areas, such as data extraction and transformation, document automation and so on, which has been very useful in keeping costs as low and turnaround times as short as possible. CAST is a commercial operation based off-campus, but we’re well connected at the University. That relationship has allowed us to tap into expertise in the economics of the gaming industry, utility of gambling, consumer psychology, data visualization, and various other aspects that we think will add value as we expand our services.
CI: What is the background of the project? What’s the driving force behind a venture like this?
RE: When the CAST project started, we were very involved in so-called ‘knowledge transfer’ activities, which primarily involved assisting local businesses to draw in academic expertise and consultancy services. Soon after Technium CAST opened its doors to new startups and established companies looking to relocate, Inspired Gaming Group moved into the building, and introductions were made. The company approached CAST and said they were looking for an independent test house, as they were keen to demonstrate early compliance with the impending regulations. It grew from there: we started fairness testing their games well ahead of the new legal obligations. It all went very well and we realised it was a service we could offer to other gaming companies. From there it was a natural step to started engaging with the Gambling Commission. It’s a classic economic regeneration story – the business grew from a real need on the ground rather than by being driven 'top down' from the University.
CI: Who actually runs this as a business?
RE: CAST has a board of directors drawn from the University’s Senior Executive team, but on a day-to-day basis it’s run by CAST’s management team. Andrew and I oversee all of the compliance testing operations.
CI: Who benefits financially from the business?
RE: CAST is a commercial entity in its own right, but it’s wholly-owned by the University, which is a not-for-profit organization. If CAST were to become highly profitable then the commercial benefits would likely be invested back into the University, but for the time being we’re growing the business. We’ve currently got about 20 staff here.
CI: Is everybody based on-site?
RE: Yes, we’re completely self-contained, other than making use of some of the administrative functions of the University. We run our own IT systems and have a number of secure labs and machine rooms.
CI: In terms of location, does being in North Wales present any problems?
Andrew Rosewarne: We don’t see it as an impediment. The operators of these machines move their machines all over the country on a daily basis, and to deliver a machine to us here is just one more delivery in their daily schedule. For us it wasn’t really a choice as to where we based the business; we were based here, and the business grew here.
The advantage that we have is that we have the production line of the University turning out people with great skills, many of whom want to stay in the area. We can provide them with the means to do that – people like it here because of the climbing and the sea [Bangor is bordered by Snowdonia and the North Wales coast]. It really is a beautiful place to live.
CI: So transport links aren't a problem?
RE: No, it’s actually quite convenient for a number of our target markets. It used to be that one of the barriers to doing business in Wales, particularly between north and south, was the road system – it’s very attractive driving but you don’t want to be doing it too frequently. Now that Anglesey Airport is open, you can get down to Cardiff in no time at all. We’re about an hour and a half from Manchester and Liverpool by road, close to Holyhead for ferries to Dublin, and there are express trains to Euston.
CI: How long did it take to get Gambling Commission accreditation? It must have been tough, being the first company assessed that way.
RE: From start to finish it was probably round about the six month mark because we weren’t starting completely from square one – we already knew we could do the work, and we had a track record to call upon. The Gambling Commission has selected an internationally recognised standard, ISO 17025, as an appropriate entry level for approval, so we had to get ourselves ISO accredited first. This involved scrutiny of our quality system and our competence to test against the Commission’s technical standards, and then we had to go through the Commission’s probity and independence checks. It was a lot of work but the process was extremely useful, as we emerged with a tightly documented set of standard operating procedures and test methods. Without those, we wouldn’t have been able to expand the team as rapidly as we have, nor taken on such a volume of work.
CI: Does server-based gaming present any specific hurdles for you, any particular problems to you as engineers?
RE: No, actually quite the reverse, as it’s the direction we originally came from. When I was in corporate IT I specialised in client/server development projects, involving back office systems, a middle tier for the logic and business rules, and a user-facing front end. There are so many similarities with server based gaming that it’s an area where I see us having a real advantage. Also, the team within CAST helped set up the network for this entire building, including all of the private networks, telephony systems and communications, so it’s an area where I think we bring particular expertise.
AR: I agree. Some of our guys came from IT services where they were managing 10,000-user systems.
CI: Is there scope to develop beyond this site and the UK?
RE: There’s definitely potential. Initially we’re very much focused on the UK market, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re only talking to UK manufacturers. Overseas manufacturers shipping machines into the UK will approach us because of our knowledge of the UK system, regulations, industry and culture. Plus of course we’re well placed geographically to do the compliance testing, and are currently benefitting from European exchange rates. We could in theory expand in any number of ways, and there are definitely opportunities for us in some other jurisdictions, but for the time being we’re busy enough servicing the UK market.
CI: What's been the highlight of your first year in operation? What's the uptake been like for your services?
RE: An early highlight was launching our services at the ATEI/ICE show at Earls Court in January and receiving such a warm welcome from the UK industry. More recently, it’s been incredibly rewarding to see what we set out to create working so successfully. We had an explosion of interest over the summer as the deadline for UK compliance drew nearer and we took on a lot of orders. By 1st September we’d tested 74 games and machines for close to 20 companies, including leading industry names such as Astra, Barcrest, Cyberview, Electrocoin and of course Inspired. It’s been a lot of hard work but the team has really pulled together and we’re very optimistic for the future. There seems to be no let-up either, as we’re already taking orders for games that will be launched at next year’s show. It definitely feels like we’ve arrived, and we’re very excited about the challenges and new opportunities ahead.
