DELEGATE SHAWN FLUHARTY, D-OHIO

WHEELING — West Virginia Del. Shawn Fluharty will bring his expertise in gaming and gambling — from more than one perspective — to an international stage this week.

Fluharty, D-Ohio, will be one of the speakers at the Global Forum on Responsible Gaming and Gambling Policy, to be held Friday and Saturday at the BMO Center in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The forum is part of the G7 Canada Brain Economy Summit.

The G7 is an intergovernmental forum including leaders from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and Italy.

“It will touch on many different issues within what they’re calling the brain economy,” Fluharty said. “A large part of that is the gaming space. On one end, it’s a source of entertainment, but as it becomes increasingly embedded in our digital environments and everyday experiences, we must recognize that it’s important that we have the proper regulations in place, and we have the proper policy in place to back that up.”

Fluharty is well versed in those areas in multiple ways. The minority whip of the West Virginia House of Delegates, he was at the forefront in passing legislation in March 2018 to make sports betting legal and in March 2019 to make online casino gambling legal in the Mountain State. Through that, he serves as president of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States.

He also serves as head of government affairs for Play’n GO, an international company supplying gaming entertainment to the online casino industry. That position, Fluharty said, combines legal, operational and strategic roles.

His interest in the field started when he was part of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society at West Virginia University’s School of Law. He has been studying gaming law since then.

On the forum’s first day Friday, Fluharty will head the formation of a steering committee that will be part of both the G7 and G20. That committee will discuss policy recommendations and put together a global policy framework for responsible gaming. Online gaming has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, Fluharty said, and shows no signs of stopping. It will be crucial to create guidelines that can work across the globe.

“It’s not just West Virginia-based or United States-based,” he said. “It’s a global framework where experts and policymakers can all come together and lay the foundation for how this should operate worldwide.”

On Saturday, Fluharty will be one of several providing a TED-style talk. Other speakers that day include actor and screenwriter Seth Rogen, famous for movies like “Superbad” and “Pineapple Express,” former U.S. Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy, D-RI, and Dr. Thabele Leslie-Mazwi, chair of neurology at the University of Washington.

Fluharty’s talk will discuss the role of online gaming within the “brain economy” — new economic belief prioritizing brain capital and encompassing brain health and brain skills, as its core asset.

“The brain economy is the new economy,” he said. “We’ve transitioned from manufacturing and the way we used to do things to an economy where a lot of it is driven by the cell phone in your hand. Along those lines, the gaming industry is not innately harmful, but it can be harmful if it’s not properly regulated.

“So in combining the idea that we want to protect people and we want to drive our economy, let’s merge those lanes together,” Fluharty continued. “Let’s properly regulate, shrink the black market, protect the consumer and raise revenue.”

As he offers his expertise to a global audience, Fluharty understands what it means for someone from the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia to be given such a large and influential platform. It reinforces, he said, the idea that West Virginia can be ahead of the curve and lead internationally.

When he represents his state in such an environment, he said he wants to embody the Mountaineer spirit.

“It’s a blue-collar, hard-working, never-doubt-us mentality,” he said. “We’re going to show up, outwork you, out-think you and get the job done.”