From 19 to 21 June 2024, the Edinburgh Centre for Financial Innovations and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, with support from the University of Edinburgh Business School and the Edinburgh Futures Institute, hosted the third instalment of the Economics of Financial Technology Conference to stimulate debate and research on financial innovation and the digital economy. The Conference brought together academics, policymakers and finance professionals to share new insights and discuss the economic issues related to the application of technology to the practice of finance in a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape. For the first time, the Conference featured a dedicated Industry Day with presentations, fireside chats, and panels to discuss the application, implementation and operationalisation of technology in a regulated business context. The Industry Day included representation from Modulr, NatWest Group, Morgan Stanley, abrdn, Aegon UK, QBE Ventures, Pinsent Masons, FinTech Scotland, Scottish Financial Enterprise and more.
The Economics of Financial Technology 2024 Industry Day was a captivating conference that featured industry leaders giving insights into the future of financial services and fintech, and the disruption that AI will cause within the industry. The speakers represented different areas of the financial services world, each offering insightful observations on their area of expertise. These ranged from the way synthetic data can help improve insurance coverage in underserved markets, to the tokenization of financial assets, the developments of financial crime with AI, and a financial historical perspective given by Russell Napier, an investment strategist, on the future of financial services. This last event was particularly impressive to me. As a student who has taken a variety of financial history courses, it’s very revealing to see the lessons that financial history can teach us in an applied sense, even with modern technology.
The variety of speakers and the range of their expertise and specialisations meant that a well-rounded landscape was discussed, and I was able to link all the different experts' perspectives. For example, the discussion on the threats to cybersecurity and financial crime was complemented with Luke Scanlon’s presentation on the regulatory side of AI and the inherent challenges this faces, even delving into moral and philosophical issues with AI.
With this diversity of speakers, I was able to point out general themes that the conference was focusing on, rather than just listening to experts and networking. These were: fintech as a force for good; the opportunities and threats of AI for the industry, both in Scotland and globally; and the importance of education for the industry's future. This made for a coherent and thought-provoking conference which engaged with different stakeholders such as founders, students, regulators and industry leaders, on important aspects of fintech and financial services.
What I was most impressed with was the engagement of the audience and the constant networking that was taking place. The audience kept asking challenging questions to the speakers, encouraging nuanced discussion, which provided different perspectives due to the diversity in experience of those there. From enthusiastic students to CEOs, the range meant that no perspective was the same, which is what made the Conference a comprehensive analysis of the industry. It also led to dynamic breaks where people looked to continue the discussion, look for potential partners and/or ask the speakers further questions. There were also two panels that further stimulated the collaborative environment, one on the link between industry and academia and one on human-centric finance, the former delving into the future of secondary and tertiary education in Scotland and the latter drifting into the need for creativity and imagination to make AI “human-centric”. Overall, the Conference was characterised by a stimulating environment in which the constant engagement and diversity of perspectives fomented a well-rounded outlook on the fintech and financial services industry in Scotland, the UK and the world.