NZ Lotteries has appointed Warren Hughes to the role of chief technology officer, in a bid to "steer NZ Lotteries' technology platform into the future."

The announcement was made by company chief executive Wayne Pickup, who said:

“Warren has more than 20 years of experience in IT across a variety of industries, as both client and vendor, and he provides a valuable perspective from both sides of the table."

NZ Lotteries says Hughes' experience in business and IT transformation make him an ideal candidate, with his experience ensuring the "integrity and security of its business systems remains a core focus of technology operations at NZ Lotteries."

"New Zealanders increasingly have access to a wide variety of new consumer devices," Pickup said.

"Transforming its technology platform will allow NZ Lotteries to offer its customers unique experiences that take advantage of these, and will help it bring new products to market more rapidly.

“Over two million Kiwis play our games, at least once a year. We want to put our customers and the way we interact with them at the centre of everything we do, which requires new types of technology systems and the ability to leverage information across our business.

“As our channel diversity increases, providing a consistent customer experience across all channels becomes even more important.”