Sue Yoxall: Keeping up to date with technology advancement

Appealing to a younger generation is often the biggest challenge for technology developers, especially given the pace of change to software and trends, explained Sue Yoxall, co-founder and executive director of mkodo.

Yoxall, whose company provides apps and user experiences for mobile, online and retail environments in the betting, gaming and lottery sectors, spoke to SBC at the iGB Live! event about the challenge of keeping technology and ideas remain up to date.

When pressed on how mkodo continues to generate fresh ideas, Yoxall explained: “This is something that we always have to do, it’s the core of our DNA. As a company that’s been in the technology business for 18 years, and the only way to stay relevant is to keep up-to-date with what’s happening with technology and new ideas, we have an innovation team who are looking for new ways to bring new ideas from the outside. 

“So we do things like working alongside the local universities where we have our offices and set innovation challenges where they can come to us with new ideas for new lottery games that might be appealing to millenials. 

“We are also very involved with a developer programmes for the operating systems that we work with. So we know that we’re ahead of the curve on what’s coming out on those operating systems which means that we can enhance and inform our clients on a product basis.”

One of the main changes to the industry at the minute is the changes to Apple’s App store guidelines, which Yoxall explained will be keeping mkodo busy for the remainder of 2019. 

She added: “We’re continuing to grow the team. In our particular part of the industry with digital products, a key thing that’s happening at the moment is the Apple App store guidelines and Apple’s enforcement of those. 

“We are helping our operator clients navigate the challenges around that, and will be spending quite a lot of this year helping them through that process and helping them be successful with that. 

“You can expect to see announcements about broadening our base with lottery client base, you can expect announcements about new partnerships, we will have integrations with new platform providers particularly in the casino space. They will be the main areas that will keep us busy for the rest of 2019.”