The Guyana Lottery Company has enjoyed over 14 years of business in Guyana and now plans to launch a new system to expand the company’s base of operation.
This will generate higher sales and increase revenues for the country.
According to a press statement from General Manager Tracey Lewis, when the lottery was launched in 1996, the technology available at the time was termed as “store and forward”.
This is where the numbers for the draw were collected through remote terminals that would store the information. Then the terminals would physically send this information to the central CBN lottery office in Georgetown, in order to prepare the lottery draw. The terminals used for this technology are outdated and cannot be replaced.
During the 14 years, the company launched four electronic games in Guyana and has paid $8B in prizes. Most lotteries operate on basis of information secured exchange online in real time.
The business includes lottery as well as its Parent Company CBN.
CBN has developed an in-house lottery management software system that is one of the most versatile and advanced in the industry that operates in real time through all available communications technologies to include wireless, DSL, cellular, satellite and internet.
The release said the system is called ‘Abrazo’ (the Spanish word for EMBRACE). The implementation of an Abrazo system would allow the lottery company to greatly expand the base of operation in Guyana with more terminals and more game products, the end result would be significantly higher sales and increased revenues to the country.
The ‘Abrazo’ system has been successfully installed in Aruba, Dominica, Grenada, Honduras, St Lucia, St Vincent and Suriname.
The initial investment required is US$2M. The investment will go towards a secure telecommunication network across the country, state-of-the-art terminals and the development and installation of a customized software system to flexibly and securely handle a versatile range of lottery game products for sale to the public.
The cost will also include the ongoing technical support of the systems and terminals across the country as well as training services, database license fees, marketing surveys, publicity and marketing efforts among others. The current forecast is to launch the new system with 200 terminals with the network growing over time depending on customer demand.
CBN anticipates to install the new system during the second quarter of 2011 with completion and launch by mid-year.