The main goal of this two-day workshop was to gather researchers from different central banks and other national and international organizations to exchange ideas on the present and future use of Big Data, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence applications in the field of economics and statistics.
Big Data and Machine Learning applications are going to help both the banking sector and central banking. Over the two days we discussed many applications geared towards the improvement of standard central banking activities and the creation of new methodologies for bolstering the traditional central bank mission: setting monetary policy, banking supervision, and payment system oversight.
We considered the growing role of extracting the relevant quantitative information from text and image data. We also looked at how to harness machine learning algorithms to fight illicit financial activities and increase the statistical accuracy of many micro- and macroeconomic indicators.
The topics considered in the workshop also took into account the main challenges posed by these methods, mainly due to the statistical limitations of Big Data in the absence of sample selection as well as the risks around breaching individual privacy.
The Bank will keep working carefully on these issues to make the most of all the efficiency-improving methodologies enabled by these new technologies.
