Last week, I attended Fintech 2.0 – an event created and hosted by AO Hall. ‘Fintech’ is, as the name suggests, the merging of Finance and Technology – into new products and services to benefit the finance industry as a whole.
Claire Cockerton, Head of Innovation Programmes at Level39, spoke about the creation of their ‘tech incubator’ in Canary Wharf. The idea behind Level39 was to create a space where early-stage and startup businesses could work alongside established and experienced companies. To help new entrepreneurs get exposure to powerhouse brands and industry experts.
. @clairecockerton “we carefully designed a tech incubator to facilitate collaboration between ‘big bank’ and tech” #fintech @Level39CW
— Crowd Media (@wearecrowd) February 6, 2015
Claire is also the CEO of Innovate Finance – an industry voice for the Finance, Tech, and combined FinTech sectors. She defines FinTech as “the transformation that happened to many other industries, but has been slow to take hold in financial services. A transformation that is driven by new technologies and by entrepreneurship.”
“[Innovate Finance] is not government backed. We are independent, and dedicated to our entrepreneurs and financial services firms that are really trying to be innovative. We wanted to be this independent voice for the industry”.
These comments ignited discussion about Guernsey’s own tech ‘incubator’ – the proposed Digital Greenhouse. New questions raised – like should the Greenhouse be the States’ responsibility? The industries and users’ responsibility? Or a combination of both? It was an exciting new topic, and one I look forward to discussing more in the upcoming Digital Greenhouse discussion on Friday.
We know that Guernsey has long been a leader in the Finance industry – but both Tech and FinTech are rapidly growing sectors presenting entirely new opportunities. Are we ready to keep up with these? Deputy Gavin St. Pier, T&R Minister at the States, also spoke about these issues. He mentioned FinTech in regard to regulatory bodies – making sure we have right and fair regulations to nurture new business and new concepts. Ensuring that Guernsey is an attractive – and affordable – place for startup businesses.
“Guernsey could be *the* location to testbed new business.” @gavinstpier at #Fintech @AOHallAdvocates
— Crowd Media (@wearecrowd) February 6, 2015
Finally, Guernsey’s infrastructure, connectivity, and funding were mentioned by other key speakers; Justin Bellinger, Director of Business Transformation & Development at Sure, mentioned that Guernsey has the infrastructure to support more tech-based businesses. Connections to a powerful fibre line that can apparently support demands of small and massive new operations (like e-gaming).
Adrian Chopin of CrowdShed also discussed the benefits of crowdfunding and angel investors. CrowdShed is not only a crowdfunding platform, but one with a physical presence too; a hub in Central London. Designed to ‘bridge the divide between the internet and the people who make projects happen’, CrowdShed is also a part of Claire’s Innovate Finance. It’s clear that these collaborative and supportive environments have a great impact on their relevant sectors and the economy. The question now is “how can we do the same in Guernsey”?
What are your thoughts? What’s the next step? We’re talking about it throughout the week on Twitter. Join our discussion and tweet your ideas to @wearecrowd.
