Lisbon, Sept. 28, 2026 (Lusa) - Turismo de Portugal, which includes the Gaming Regulation and Inspection Service (SRIJ), has chosen a platform developed by the French company Sharp Vision to monitor the unlicensed online gambling market, Cyril Casanova, the company's chair, told Lusa.
According to Casanova, the aim is to «move away from manual processes» and use technology to detect «illegal websites and recommend that the national authorities block them.» The contract, published on the Base portal, is worth €19,990 and is initially for one year, but the public authorities may extend it for a further year if they so wish.
«When it comes to combating the illegal market, the ambition must be reasonable,» he emphasised, pointing out that «the idea is to promote a responsible and regulated gambling environment», and to provide «the platform's DNA to Portuguese regulators», so that they can understand all the challenges related to this activity.
«The technology can be rolled out to improve the efficiency of the gambling authorities, in particular, in the fight against illegal gambling,» he said, emphasising that «for a long time, the size of the illegal market was completely underestimated».
«Portugal is a pioneer in using a comprehensive automated tool such as Sharp Vision because in every other jurisdiction everything is done manually,» he said, pointing out that if one considers the number of illegal websites «that are currently active and accessible in any European jurisdiction, only a very small proportion can be dealt with manually».
Cyril Casanova also said that those behind «illegal gambling or the black market use highly sophisticated technology to outpace the authorities, and this poses a major challenge».
In a statement, Sharp Vision said that the launch of this platform enables the SRIJ to «strengthen and modernise its enforcement mechanisms, moving from an essentially manual and reactive approach to a model of permanent, automated digital monitoring supported by real-time information».
It emphasised that «this development complements human intervention, and the regulator retains full capacity to verify and validate the results obtained through the platform».
The platform aims to «detect illegal operators whose websites remain accessible from within the country», verifying with internet service providers «the effective implementation of blocking orders issued», assisting in the production of the details required to investigate administrative offence proceedings, and «providing consolidated market indicators, including the rate at which players are redirected to legal offerings, a barometer of the effectiveness of public regulatory policies».
Sharp Vision is a French technology company specialising in the development of solutions dedicated to the supervision and regulation of online gambling markets.
The company operates in more than six jurisdictions, notably in West Africa, and is expanding its presence in Europe and South America.
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