FinTech lecturer gets involved in #FifeTech
Accounting and Finance senior lecturer and FinTech expert Devraj Basu is taking part in a webinar on September 30 as part of the launch of 'Tech4Good' to support Fife Council's communities.
Tech4Good will be launched via the webinar to share plans to bring the success of Nationwide’s ‘Open Banking for Good’ (OB4G) challenge to Scotland. The aim is to seek out pioneering entrepreneurs, start-ups and industry-leaders to harness their tech skills and collectively create impactful solutions to make a positive difference on the lives of Fife’s citizens.
Tech4Good has evolved from a collaboration of representatives from Nationwide’s Open Banking for Good challenge team; Strathclyde University; Personal Finance Research Centre at the University of Bristol; Fife Council; and the Global Open Finance Centre of Excellence (GOFCoE) at the University of Edinburgh. The first project aims to help the financially squeezed by offering appropriate and accessible digital, data enabled products, services and policies that help those in financial hardship to get through the month without seeking unregulated and unaffordable finance.
Even before the pandemic, 25m people in the UK (or around half the adult population) were financially squeezed or financially struggling. Covid-19 is very likely to worsen the financial condition of many of these people. The online consortium developed over the summer explored how the principles of Nationwide’s OB4G could be applied to the current situation and adapted to benefit Scotland.
Dr Basu said, "Strathclyde University’s Fintech cluster is very pleased to have acted as a catalyst in bringing together a consortium of leading figures in academia, the third sector, local government as well as the private sector to build on the pioneering Open Banking for Good project. The focus of this project will be to spur innovation to help the financially squeezed cope with the ongoing challenges of Covid. This event aims to outline a series of challenges and invite stakeholder engagement."
Agenda:
• Introductions and Welcome: Devraj Basu, Senior Lecturer, Accounting and Finance, Strathclyde University
• Grounded Innovation: Phil Gosset, Head of Innovation, Nationwide Building Society
• Post Covid financial stress: Sharon Collard, Professor of Personal Finance and Research Director, University of Bristol
• Impact on Communities across Fife: Paul Vaughan, Head of Communities & Neighbourhoods, Fife Council and Niall Alexander, Associate, Carnegie Trust
• Interim Findings - Devraj Basu
• Q+A - Call for Interest and broader Collaboration.
Initial phase plans will be shared on September 30 at the webinar which takes place from 10.30am-12pm. Anyone interested in attending, should register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fifetech-for-good-call-forcollaboration-tickets-119607879387
Published: 23 September 2020
