Last month, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed
by MIMOS Bhd (MIMOS) and the International
Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF), to develop a blueprint
for an Islamic finance-based investment technology platform.
INCIEF was established in 2005 by Bank Negara Malaysia, the
Central Bank of Malaysia to develop and nurture talents and expertise in the
area of Islamic finance under the MIFC (Malaysia International Islamic Finance
Centre).
MIMOS, a strategic agency under the Ministry of Science,
Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), is Malaysia’s premier Applied Research and
Development Centre in Information and Communications Technology, Industrial
Electronics Technology and Nano-Semiconductor Technology.
The MOU was signed by INCEIF President & CEO Prof. Dato’
Dr Azmi Omar and MIMOS President & CEO, Mr Ahmad Rizan Ibrahim.
The collaboration is expected to drive greater Islamic
Finance development and facilitate exploration of its potential. Under the MOU,
INCEIF and MIMOS will collaborate in research and development of information
and communications technology (ICT), in particular the areas of Big Data
Analytics, Deep Learning and Fintech.
The two institutions would seek to exchange personnel for a
range of purposes including teaching, research, training, study visits,
internships or attachment.
Further, INCEIF and MIMOS may also cooperate in undertaking
other activities such as field-testing, technology transfer and
commercialisation of technological products.
Dato’ Azmi said, “This collaboration is a fine example of
like-minded partners building on each other’s strengths and strategic focus. We
look forward to translating the innovative ideas incubated through our research
into a reality, be it a service or product which is of use to the society at
large. As a global university specialising in postgraduate studies and applied
research in Islamic finance, we are encouraged by this development and look
forward to be part of the Fintech movement.”
“Fintech – much less Islamic Fintech – is still in its
infancy and growing in Malaysia. MIMOS has established a couple of Fintech
collaborations during the past few years, but the technologies behind it, in
particular Big Data Analytics, Deep Learning and Artificial Intelligence have
been some of the key thrust areas at MIMOS for quite some time. Today
we’re only building on the successful work that we have done in the past,”
commented MIMOS CEO, Mr Ahmad Rizan.
Some of the previous Fintech collaborations MIMOs has
entered into previously include a MOU with Kenanga
Investment Bank for collaboration on the development of Fintech
applications in March 2017. The two parties would design, develop and
commercialise homegrown technologies in the areas of information security and
intelligent informatics for the capital markets.
In December 2016, MIMOS signed an MoU with Securities
Commission Malaysia to jointly develop an advanced analytics platform for
capital market.