This year’s Singapore Fintech Festival is only a few weeks away and the anticipation surrounding the event is mounting. As each year, there are specific themes that accompany the Festival itself. This year the theme is around Web 3.0 and all that this entails.
However, the event doesn’t just take place in Singapore. There will be a network of satellite events in key Fintech hubs around the world hosted by a global network of trusted partners. Locations of these events include Budapest and Sydney, countries like Japan, the Philippines, Kenya, Nigeria, Cambodia, USA, India and regions like the Nordics.
The theme for SFF 2021 is the impact of Web 3.0 on financial services
Web 3.0 has collided with financial services and the movement towards decentralised infrastructure continues to accelerate. Decentralised finance (DeFi) has the potential to transform every financial transaction and to reach individuals and businesses traditionally excluded from the financial system. Ultimately, Web 3.0 will shape new business models, enterprises, careers and the new digital economy.
Over three days, the Festival will bring together global knowledge sharing from leading academics, practitioners and thought leaders across 45 reimagined sessions covering designing, building and ensuring sustainable financial services for Web 3.0. In particular, the conference will examine three key structural drivers that could re-shape financial services in the coming decade:
- Re-configuration of financial products and services delivery through Embedded Finance (#EmFi), decentralised finance (#DeFi) and Digital Currencies
- Integration of ESG into the core design of financial services
- Pervasive adoption of foundational digital infrastructure (Digital Identity, Trusted Data Exchange, Interoperable Payment Systems and Consent Systems)
This year the Festival is introducing online learning. While watching SFF, participants can earn a verifiable digital Web 3.0 Knowledge Certification in Financial Services issued by The Asian Institute of Digital Finance, National University of Singapore (NUS). Participants can enrol for just an additional S$10 to any digital pass and complete the certification by 30th September 2022.
World FinTech Festival
(11 and 12 November 2021)
During the main conference there will be several other support programmes taking place. These include:
The World FinTech Festival will continue to support the development of local FinTech ecosystems and drive greater collaboration opportunities across regions. Explore events hosted by country partners which spotlight latest FinTech trends, innovations and activities from different countries around the world, or affiliated events with a sectoral or topical focus.
Oxygen by APIX, an upskilling platform for financial institutions, FinTechs and tech enthusiasts with carefully curated masterclasses, panels, podcasts and research content from industry experts dedicated to promoting worldwide knowledge sharing
The Innovation Lab Crawl features innovation labs across Singapore which will open for visits to their labs at their physical venues as well as on the event platform. The Innovation Lab Crawl offers a good opportunity for participants to network with start-ups and key innovation executives and tour technology showcases.
Competitions at SFF
To compliment the conference and its’ theme, the organisers of SFF have arranged several competitions for companies in the FinTech sector. These include:
The Awards recognise innovative FinTech solutions by FinTech companies, financial institutions and technology companies; as well as individuals and companies whose initiatives have contributed significantly to the FinTech ecosystem.
The inaugural Global Veritas Challenge seeks to accelerate the development of solutions which validate artificial intelligence and data analytics (AIDA) solutions against the fairness, ethics, accountability and transparency (FEAT) principles, to strengthen trust and promote greater adoption of AI solutions in the financial sector.
A global challenge for retail Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) solutions was launched in partnership with the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Capital Development Fund, United Nation High Commission for Refugees, United Nations Development Programme, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The Global CBDC Challenge seeks innovative retail CBDC solutions to enhance payment efficiencies and promote financial inclusion.
The 6th edition of the Global FinTech Hackcelerator will run with the theme “Harnessing Technology to Power Green Finance”. The competition, supported by Oliver Wyman, seeks to unlock the potential of FinTech in accelerating the development of green finance in Singapore and the region.
One of the Hackcelerator’s, out of Poland, reached out to us recently and this is how they explain the programme:
Speakers at SFF
Akon and Bill Gates spoke at last years’ Singapore Fintech Festival. This year, Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park and Vitalik Buterin headline the event. But not just them.
For those who have been watching investment banking for some time now, Vikram Pandit may be a familiar figure. Once the CEO of Citi, he led the bank during the global economic crisis. Today, Vikram’s Orogen Group focuses on the growth opportunities created by the shift in the financial services landscape and makes significant long-term strategic investments in financial services companies and related businesses with proven business models. They have invested in firms like Virtusa, Fair Square Financial and EXL:
Ben Horowitz may need slightly less of an introduction. Known today as “a16z” Ben Horowitz and his partner Marc Andreessen are stalwarts of the investment community. Only Sequoia Capital have a larger footprint amongst tech StartUps. The team at a16z have been investing in crypto firms over the last year. Hopefully Ben will share some of his experiences in this area with attendees at the conference:
The list of speakers can be found on the Singapore Fintech Festival site and reflects the global FinTech community. It’s not too late to sign up. Make sure you get involved with the biggest thing in FinTech in 2021.
#DisruptionBanking is a Supporting Media Partner of Singapore Fintech Festival. Our team will be covering many of the biggest topics during Singapore Fintech Festival. Visit our site for more stories about Singapore and the global Fintech landscape.
Author: Andy Samu
#DeFi #ESG #SFF #CBDC #Fintech #Singapore #EmFi #DigitalCurrencies #LinkinPark #VitalikButerin
