New network bid to ‘supercharge’ UK fintech
A new collaboration has been launched to help drive UK research and development in financial technology (fintech).
The UK FinTech Academic Network (UKFAN) is co-founded by Innovate Finance, the not-for-profit organization representing the industry, and a group of academics from UK universities working in fields including finance, economics, information systems, strategy, mathematics, entrepreneurship, computer science and the humanities.
Led by Alliance Manchester Business School, the nascent network has set itself three main aims. Namely to:
– Establish an interdisciplinary and self-sustaining inclusive fintech research community in the UK
– Bridge existing gaps between academic, industry and regulatory environments and help unlock new partnerships and investments in research and innovation
– Develop coherent research roadmaps and future research agendas to address challenges in the UK financial services and fintech space to inform policy and practice
“The UK is the second largest fintech destination globally and the industry is a critical economic driver of the economy,” said Prof Markos Zachariadis, Professor of Information Systems at Alliance Manchester Business School.
“Now is the time to combine the efforts of our world-leading UK academic institutions and power the growth of the UK fintech sector by developing the next generation of transformative technologies, and we believe that UKFAN can help facilitate that.”
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The initial focus areas for the new network are intended to include artificial intelligence, open banking, payments, blockchain, regulation and green finance.
An annual conference, meanwhile, will position itself as “the UK’s flagship academic event on fintech research”.
Innovate Finance will act as the secretariat for the new venture.
“We recognize the key role academia can play in accelerating the development and growth of innovation across financial services,” said Innovate Finance CEO, Janine Hirt.
“That’s why we’re proud to be working with Alliance Manchester Business School to launch the UK FinTech Academic Network, ensuring it’s a coordinated effort connecting our world-leading, outstanding UK university sector with our world-leading, outstanding UK fintech sector. .”
The list of universities and research institutions offering academic support when UKFAN is launched includes:
University of Manchester
University of Cambridge
University College London
University of Edinburgh
Alan Turing Institute
University of Oxford
Imperial College London
University of Warwick
Loughborough University
London School of Economics
Queen Mary University of London
Gresham College
City, University of London
