- 21 teams have been shortlisted in the G20 TechSprint competition out of 99 submissions from teams around the world.
- The judging panel includes private and public sector experts in the field of financial sector data and technology.
- The initiative highlights the potential of new technology to tackle challenges in green and sustainable finance.
The Bank of Italy, under the Italian G20 Presidency, and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub today announced the shortlisted finalists and judges for the G20 green and sustainable finance challenge.
In May, the Bank of Italy and the BIS Innovation Hub published three high-priority operational problems and invited the international community of innovators, entrepreneurs, developers, data scientists and designers to develop innovative technological solutions.
Eighty-nine teams from more than 25 countries submitted 99 innovative solutions to face these problems using the dedicated Codemotion platform for registration and online judging. Twenty-one have now been shortlisted by a panel of representatives of a Green Finance and Data Consultancy firm appointed by the BIS and invited to showcase their prototypes at a workshop in August for feedback from national authorities and experts.
An independent expert panel, organized and sponsored by the Bank of Italy, will judge the submissions and select the most promising solutions. Alessandra Perrazzelli, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Italy, will act as an observer for all three problem statements. The winners will be announced in October and cash prizes awarded.
Andrew McCormack, Head of the BIS Innovation Hub Centre in Singapore, said: "We were delighted to see the strong interest in the G20 TechSprint and to receive so many innovative and accomplished entries from all over the world. This response shows how the private sector can play a key role in solving high-level challenges to help promote green finance and contribute to global financial progress and stability. The teams that qualify for this next stage of prototype development have proposed some very practical yet innovative approaches to address the problem statements. We look forward to seeing the fully developed solutions."
Paola Giucca, Deputy Head of the Retail Payment Instruments and Services Directorate of the Bank of Italy, said: "The 21 shortlisted teams will receive support from expert mentors in developing their projects and be invited to a touchpoint event to get more feedback. The initiative aims to catalyse private-sector energies towards identifying solutions and developing working prototypes through the implementation of innovative technological approaches in green and sustainable finance, paving the way for further innovations with a significant potential impact for citizens and the planet."
For more details about TechSprint, please refer to https://www.techsprint2021.it/.
