In the latest edition of Gibrael Chamber Magazine, the annual business publication of the Gibraltar-Israel Chamber of Commerce, David Black, Managing Director EMEA at Continent 8 Technologies, reflects on the ‘Gibraltar Day’ event in Tel Aviv.
Gibrael Chamber Magazine – In September 2018, Continent 8 colleagues Luis Garcia, Caroline Moran, and I attended the Gibrael trade delegation to Israel. This was an intensive few days taking in visits and meetings to Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem, and, of course, ‘Gibraltar Day’ in Tel Aviv, supported by the Government of Gibraltar through the attendance and presentation by Hon. Albert Isola.
The reasons for Continent 8’s engagement in this delegation were, firstly, to support Gibraltar in this important economic development work. Secondly, as a technology company, we are always energized by innovative technologies; it was therefore with some excitement we looked forward to visiting the ‘start-up nation’…
As Gibraltar works into the challenges and opportunities in the coming years there can be little doubt that the enterprise of its people and the community will as ever continue to be its strongest asset. Gibrael represents a noteworthy representation of the power of collaboration both in Gibraltar and elsewhere. Continent 8 looks forward to continuing to work with Gibrael next year and indeed in the ensuing years.
Read full article in Gibrael Chamber Magazine.
The Continent 8 Technologies team looks forward to attending G2E Asia @ the Philippines 2019 in Manila on 3-4 December. G2E Asia @ the Philippines will explore the opportunities and challenges presented by ASEAN gaming markets, including cybersecurity, financial technology and investment, gaming, and integrated resorts. Our team looks forward to discussing the future of gaming in ASEAN markets.
Serving the iGaming industry, Continent 8 provides globally managed hosting, networking, security, and Cloud infrastructure services in over 50 connected locations across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. For over 20 years, Continent 8 has served customers in highly regulated and technically challenging locations around the world.
If you’re interested in support for your online operations in Asia, Continent 8’s low latency network throughout Asia offers a consistent and reliable platform for serving your clients. In addition to co-location facilities, our network points of presence in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore connect to the rest of the world over a high-capacity, fully-redundant private network. Continent 8 also offers highly reliable DDoS monitoring and mitigation services throughout Asia and around the world.
Heading to G2E Asia @ the Philippines 2019? Set up a meeting with Continent 8 delegates Peter Williams, Managing Director, Asia-Pacific, and Craig Lusher, Senior Solutions Architect.
G2E Asia @ the Philippines
December 2019
Marriott Manila,
Philippines
Email: sales@continent8.com
Phone: +44 1624 694625
The Continent 8 Technologies team is thrilled to be heading to London for the SBC Awards at Battersea Evolution on 3 December. The SBC Awards are dedicated to recognizing “the achievements of operators and affiliates, as well as suppliers from across all the major disciplines including payments, marketing, platform providers and data.” We look forward to connecting with the most innovative leaders in the gaming and sports betting industry on this momentous occasion.
Continent 8 is an award-winning, multi-jurisdictional global Cloud infrastructure solutions provider for online gaming, sports betting, and eSports. Our advanced data centres and high quality networks support critical online operations in both private and public-sector organisations across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Each connected location provides gaming operators with vital reliability, connectivity, security, and compliance as they expand across regulated markets.
Headed to London for the SBC Awards? Set up a meeting with the Continent 8 team!
Event DetailsSBC Awards
3 December 2019
Battersea Evolution
London, UK
Email: sales@continent8.com
Phone: +44 1624 694625
On November 8, GI Friday featured a guest column by Justin Cosnett, Head of Solution Architecture at Continent 8 Technologies. Read Justin’s column detailing Continent 8’s work in Malta, as well as the region’s gaming developments.
What’s Next for Gaming in Malta – Continent 8 Technologies has enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with Malta since 2003, even prior to the formation of the then Lotteries and Gaming Authority. At that time, Malta successfully positioned itself as a ‘gateway to Europe,’ being the first EU member to license and regulate online gaming. Malta also had significant international ambitions and its government and the private sector stakeholders successfully created a value proposition for the online gaming market. According to the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, the gaming sector in Malta has grown to represent some 12% of the island’s GDP, making Malta a global gaming hub. Subsequently, we have seen dramatic regulatory, market and technological change, which has had an effect on our Maltese-focused operations and customers.
Regulatory change: As technology continues to develop, regulations in both the EU and Malta have changed, with concomitant effects on infrastructure, operations and management. Some regulating EU states have imposed or created “data safe” or local data replicas, and while infrastructure could remain in Malta, this poses an additional burden. Some regulatory change which isn’t technological or operational has influenced market change.
Market change: New entrants are rarer, certainly on the EU-wide B2C operator basis, and significant M & A activity has resulted in more enterprise or fewer large companies. Some of this has been driven by the need to scale to meet regulatory pressures and maintain margins, some due to aggressive growth strategies. In many cases, this results in a technological change or refresh, in some instances leading to the closure of operations or infrastructure locations in favour of growing an existing alternate location. This hasn’t always been directly beneficial to Malta, but sometimes it can result in use of existing infrastructure and operations in Malta.
Technological change: New entrants to the market tend to be smaller and more content or B2C-focused. Their desire to come to Malta is good news for the island. Many of these start-ups utilise cloud to minimise the investment and provide scale.
From a technological perspective, change is often led by growth or renewal projects, where new risks or challenges inform the overall design. Having a growing global offering grants choice and flexibility to meet these challenges and create new infrastructure designs to support the industry in Malta. This year alone there has been significant change, including enabling companies to create infrastructure deployments in global high peering locations, acting as a global “engine;” and extending this to Malta with dedicated infrastructure or public cloud to provide regulatory data. Particularly useful to sportsbook operators, provisioning secure connectivity to hyper-scale cloud providers, such as AWS and Azure, has enabled “burst” infrastructure access or global front-end service delivery.
Times are changing for the industry but in the past 16 years, Malta and Continent 8 have developed solutions to the challenges that arise. As we look ahead to the promising opportunities for the gaming sector, our commitment to Malta is just as strong now as it was in 2003.
View Justin’s guest column on pages 9 and 10 of GI Friday Week 45.
Isle of Man – November 7, 2019 – Continent 8 Technologies is helping Isle of Man entrepreneurs connect with a global project run in partnership with Google for Startups.
Continent 8 Technologies is the exclusive sponsor of the Isle of Man’s recently launched Startup Grind chapter which connects entrepreneurs here on the Island to a global community of two million of their peers in over 600 other chapters and 125 countries. Startup Grind is the world’s biggest independent startup community and has helped millions of entrepreneurs build their businesses, connect with strategic partners, and secure funding.
Founded on the Isle of Man in 2006, Continent 8 is the world’s largest online gaming data centre and global network solutions provider. Continent 8 seamlessly integrates global internet hubs with offshore and regulated jurisdictions, creating a unique footprint for data and communications excellence.
Roberta Castle, Account Director, Continent 8 Technologies, said: “Startup Grind is a truly global community designed to educate, inspire and connect entrepreneurs, and we are delighted to be the exclusive sponsor for the Isle of Man chapter. Startup Grind and Continent 8 are a great fit because our business was founded by two entrepreneurs – Michael Tobin and Jay Stubina – and we have a global reach spanning operations in more than 50 locations across Europe, Asia and the Americas. The Startup Grind ethos of successful entrepreneurs giving something back to help the next generation of startups is one that Continent 8 wholeheartedly endorses – in fact, our story is a great example of what entrepreneurs can achieve and one that will inspire members of the Isle of Man chapter.”
Startup Grind began in California’s Silicon Valley and each chapter organises events featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who share lessons learned on the road to building highly successful commercial companies and social enterprises, with speakers on the roster including Dustin Moskovitz, who co-founded Facebook, and Nate Blecharczyk who co-founded Airbnb. The Isle of Man chapter is being run by Founded, and they will be hosting regular events at The Courthouse, Athol Street, Douglas, under the Startup Grind banner, which will offer advice and support to overcome challenges, network, and to nurture the Isle of Man’s startup ecosystem.
The Startup Grind association is one string to Founded’s bow. Founded will launch in January 2020 with a suite of services providing local founders with access to training, networking communities, funding, events and consultancy services through a partnership network branching into the UK and Europe. Continent 8’s sponsorship ties into Founded’s core mission to connect enterprising businesses and ambitious entrepreneurs with a support system to elevate their business to the next level.
Founded is run by three Co-Directors – Alex Wilson, Katie Nicholson, and John Garland. Alex Wilson thanked Continent 8 for its support, and added: “Startup Grind is a very exciting initiative and we’re delighted to have launched a chapter on the Isle of Man with Continent 8’s valued support. In addition to providing startups here on the Island with access to a global community of like-minded individuals around the world, it also offers opportunities with Google for Startups, the option to send delegations to regional conferences, and access to an exceptional pool of speakers. The affiliation with Startup Grind is a partnership that will form the backbone of Founded, as part of a strategy to form alliances with global brands, and in doing so create more opportunities for startup founders via community networks, funding, training, and consultancy activities.”
The Isle of Man chapter’s first event is on November 12 at 5.30pm at The Courthouse, and is titled ‘How to build a world class lottery business: Inside Annexio with the millionaire makers’ featuring local founders Tom Brodie and John Spellman.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit: startupgrind.com/isle-of-man.
— Download the press release here —