FCA Held DataSprint to Develop Datasets for Digital Sandbox Pilot
FCA held a three-week DataSprint in July and August 2020, bring together 120 participants from across regulated firms, startups, academia, professional services, data scientists, and subject-matter experts. They collaborated on developing high-quality synthetic financial datasets to be used by participants in the forthcoming digital sandbox pilot. The digital sandbox will enable innovative firms to test and develop proofs of concept in a digital testing environment around three use cases related to COVID-19 pandemic. These use cases are detecting and preventing fraud and scams; supporting the financial resilience of vulnerable consumers; and improving access to finance for small and medium-size enterprises.
The creation of a synthetic ecosystem of financial data is a highly ambitious and complex task. During the DataSprint, participants made significant progress in developing data models and typologies, evaluating methodologies, and producing reference data for millions for synthetic individuals and businesses. Over 50 participants have continued working since the sprint, refining and expanding the data assets produced. In the coming weeks, once this work is completed, FCA will open applications for the digital sandbox. The participating organizations included Deloitte, Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, EY, FCA, FinTech Relationship, FinTech Sandpit, Fiola/Finexos, Gensys, Global Open Finance Center of Excellence (GOFCoE), Grant Thornton, Harvard Business School, HSBC, ING, Office for National Statistics, Refinitiv, RegNet, and Santander.
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Keywords: Europe, UK, Banking, Insurance, Securities, Cyber Risk, Fintech, Regtech, COVID-19, Data Sprint, Regulatory Sandbox, FCA
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