The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Enterprise Singapore and the National Research Foundation (NRF) yesterday announced that the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) and the Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SWITCH) would come together as SFF x SWITCH to synergise across the themes of FinTech and Deep Tech. SFF x SWITCH will run from 11 to 15 November 2019.
Mr Peter Ong, Chairman, Enterprise Singapore said, “SFF x SWITCH is the foremost platform to bring together tech communities and startups around the world to bridge the gap between technology and finance for deep tech and FinTech.”
“Singapore hosts a vibrant community of innovation enablers, enterprises and startups to drive co-innovation of new solutions relevant to global needs and modern challenges. Our strong connectivity to the region will serve as a gateway for enterprises and market-driven solutions to reach Asia and beyond.”
The Conference will feature for the first time the theme of sustainability, and cover Financial Services; Industry 4.0 – Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Cloud and Cybersecurity; Financial Inclusion; Green Finance; and Technology Beyond Finance.
Competition for the Global innovation community
There will be three Competitions for the global innovation community: Global FinTech Hackcelerator, which matches innovative startup solutions to address industry’s problem statements; SLINGSHOT 2019, an international startup pitching competition; and FinTech Awards, which recognises innovative financial technology solutions. Finalists from the competitions will showcase their solutions at SFF x SWITCH.
Dr Cheong Wei Yang, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, NRF, said, “This collaboration between SWITCH and the Singapore FinTech Festival will consolidate our national efforts to create value from science and technology – starting from the capabilities built in our research base, through to innovation and commercialisation by our enterprises.
“We will focus on deep tech areas relevant to Singapore’s growth as a Global-Asia node of technology, innovation and enterprise. We are excited to see more researchers, entrepreneurs, investors and companies coming together from all around the world, to benefit society and economy through innovation in new business models and novel technologies.”said Deputy Chief Executive Officer, NRF.
Singapore FinTech Festival is organised by MAS, in partnership with The Association of Banks in Singapore, and in collaboration with SingEx Holdings. SWITCH is organised by Enterprise Singapore, NRF, and Intellectual Property Intermediary (IPI). Last year, the two events together drew close to 57,000 delegates from almost 130 countries.