Why is the FinTech Research & Innovation Roadmap so important?

Article written by Julian Wells, Director at Whitecap Consulting

FinTech Scotland, the cluster management body, recently published its 10 year Research & Innovation Roadmap. Whitecap worked in partnership with the FinTech Scotland team to support the development of this roadmap, and in the first in a series of blogs we discuss the fundamentals behind this important document.

FinTech is driving change in one of the most important parts of our economy. It presents a significant disruptive force in financial services, and will shape the future of the digital economy. It has the potential to radically change the way people and businesses engage with money, and to create a new financial system that is more effective and resilient.

FinTech Scotland’s Research & Innovation Roadmap is a 10 year plan which has been developed as an industry-led and action-focused tool to increase the positive impact of FinTech innovation across Scotland and the UK. It creates a framework and an environment to drive greater collaboration, and to build the connections that will enable responsible innovation for the future of finance.

The roadmap builds on foundations that were already established through the FinTech Scotland cluster, and sets out the cross-sectoral strategic priorities that ”“ through collective and collaborative action ”“ will shape the future of financial services, and enable Scotland and the UK to further advance FinTech innovation. It was published on the anniversary of the HM Treasury commissioned Review of Fintech led by Ron Kalifa OBE which set out a number of recommendations, including the opportunity for research and innovation to accelerate the development of cluster excellence.

Why do we need a Research & Innovation Roadmap for FinTech?

The financial services industry contributes £132 billion to the UK economy ”“ almost 7% of total economic output. It is an essential part of the full UK economy that enables prosperous outcomes for businesses and people across the UK. Its significance was highlighted by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the recent HM Treasury report A new chapter for Financial Services’. Working with others across the economy, his vision is for “an agile and dynamic approach, one which enables those in the financial services industry to evolve and thrive as they embrace the new opportunities of the future.”

Research and innovation play a key role in the vision for the future of financial services in the UK and beyond. However, financial services and FinTech have, compared to other industries, generally not been aligned with the academic research communities. Recent analysis highlighted that research funding into these fields is as low as 3% of total UK funding1 for research and innovation.

In addition, there is a general acknowledgement in financial services, FinTech, and the academic community that current engagement has had a relatively narrow focus. The result is limited exploration of research and innovation, which means an important part of the economy is not fulfilling its full potential.

There is an opportunity to close the gap between the economic productivity of UK financial services and the current scale of UKRI investment in FinTech and financial services R&I. This can be achieved via more strategic and systematic collaboration, which can help develop the necessary FinTech innovation between the range of stakeholders. Importantly, this should be driven by a true desire for effective change, and by an industry-first real-world’ approach to the challenges ahead.

This work also supports the strategic HM Treasury Review of UK Fintech led by Ron Kalifa OBE. It recognises the value of collaboration, and the leadership that is needed to create the right conditions for FinTech to innovate, accelerate and grow.

How will the Roadmap be implemented?

The priority themes form the building blocks of the Roadmap are: Open Finance data, Climate Finance, Payments and transactions, and Financial regulation. In subsequent blogs in this series we will focus on each of these four themes individually.

The roadmap will be led and facilitated by FinTech Scotland. However, wider stakeholder participation is required to implement the R&I actions set out in this Roadmap.

Actions will be progressed through two key types of activity:

Unleashing Innovation: A series of Open Innovation Calls, using technologies and data to develop new and improved financial products and models.

A rollout plan will be developed to implement a programme of innovation calls. This will include developing a sponsorship proposition to maintain the commitment for an industry-led programme.

The initial steps for the Roadmap innovation calls include:

Work with the Smart Data Foundry to start the implementation of the priority innovation calls identified in the Roadmap.
Continue the work with industry stakeholders to refine a series of problem statements for each theme, ensuring industry value in the future solutions.
Market the innovation calls across UK and international FinTech clusters, raising the profile of FinTech innovation in Scotland.

Actionable Research: Research, using technologies and data to create actionable insights that can be applied commercially using FinTech.

FinTech Scotland will engage with academic community in respect of the research topics proposed. FinTech Scotland will also engage with research funding organisations such as UKRI / Innovate UK to ensure this roadmap is fed into future funding calls.

The initial steps for research topic actions include:

Work with university leaders to generate research briefs that directly respond to the actions identified in the roadmap.
Establish relevant steering groups demonstrating collaboration across industry and the research community.
Monitor and review progression (including a KPI scorecard).

Twice a year, the FinTech Scotland Cluster Management Board will measure and review the Roadmap’s progress of the Roadmap. This will be reported publicly to stakeholders in Scotland and the UK.

What will the impact of the Roadmap be?

In this blog we have outlined the requirement and benefits to bringing industry-led approach to research and innovation, but describing the impact the Roadmap can have on the Scottish and UK economy is perhaps the most compelling way to explain why this is such a vital document.

The overarching economic ambition for the Roadmap is to do two things:

Create up to 30,000 extra jobs in Scotland.
Increase economic value (GVA) by more than 330% ”“ from £598 million to more than £2 billion ”“ over ten years.

Taking a broader perspective, the impact of the Roadmap will be:

To tangibly help improve lives for citizens, by tackling inclusion and health- related issues.
To further develop Scotland as part of the UK in being a global engine room’ for FinTech and a desirable location for international FinTech companies.
To drive innovation, supported by a world-leading reputation in regulation and compliance.
To use Scotland’s and the UK’s natural strengths, making them a global enabler of greener’ FinTech.

A blueprint for the future

FinTech Scotland’s Research & Innovation Roadmap outlines actionable research and innovation activities that can help develop economic, environmental, and societal value for Scotland and the UK through FinTech. Successful implementation will require the engagement and co-operation of key stakeholders within the FinTech Scotland cluster, and stakeholders from across the UK and internationally. The Roadmap is the first of its kind in the UK, but the aspiration is that it has created a framework that other countries, regions or indeed FinTech sectors can learn from and adapt.

More information about FinTech Scotland’s Research & Innovation Roadmap can be found here, where the full Roadmap can also be downloaded.

FinTech research and Innovation ”“ the future of finance

This month we published our FinTech Research and Innovation Roadmap. We know more research and innovation in financial services and fintech will set us on a course to shape the future of finance.

It’s been in the works over recent months, and it’s allowed us an opportunity to hear industry, consumer academic, and innovators views on what the future of finance and fintech could be. Leading the way!

It’s a genuine privilege to hear the ambition and determination across the fintech and finance industry for a future that means less friction in financial services, enables more inclusion using technology and data, and drives climate change enabling greener investments.

The tone from all was clear, fintech will drive better financial outcomes for people, businesses, our society, and the environment. The desire for change and energy for innovation and collaboration is truly inspiring.

The report gives us a framework for focused collaboration. It identifies 4 priority themes and outlines the primary actions that will enable us all to learn, advance, and most importantly, build the right collaborations to drive and lead future fintech innovation. It was published during the first anniversary of the Kalifa review of UK Fintech where more R&D was a specific recommendation.

The first of those priority themes in Open Finance Data ”“ already an area of strength in Scotland! FinTech businesses such as DirectID, Visible Capital, Inbest, AirFunders, and One Bank all use Open Finance Data in their businesses. This experience along with the investment in the Global Open Finance Centre of Excellence, now known as the Smart Data Foundry sets us on a course to explore how Open Finance Data can change the way we do finance in the UK and across the world.

Climate Finance is another key priority ”“ a growing area of strength and focus for Scotland. FinTech businesses such as Snugg, Coastr, Pulse, Iceni Earth, Trade in Space, and Space Intelligence are all focused on using data and technology to help people and businesses make the changes needed to achieve change in the interests of the planet. These businesses are enabling a different future. The same can be said for the research community in Scotland with centres such as The Centre for Sustainable Developmentand the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute leading research and providing deeper and focused insights on climate impact. From this place of understanding more will change.

Payments and transactions’, as well as Financial Regulation’ complete the 4 priority themes. Again, both assets for Scotland, where the depth of fintech innovation, skills and expertise stand Scotland’s FinTech Cluster in great stead. More on both these themes in the coming weeks and months.

For now, we’re gearing up for UK FinTech next week. There’s a host of events in plan where we’ll have an opportunity to share the wonderful work happening across FinTech Scotland.

I’m signing off with a note of thanks and a special note of thanks to everyone who contributed to the FinTech Research and Innovation Roadmap.

The Roadmap is a true demonstration of Scotland’s FinTech Cluster at its best. It highlights the breadth of contribution to the cluster that allows us to learn, collaborate and inspire each other for development and growth. It shows how our commitment to action for positive change, and it is ambitious, challenging us to think ten years ahead so we can lead the future of finance.

I’m looking forward to seeing this advance and working with the inspiring leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and educators as we build and teach the future!

Thank you

Nicola

How Scotland’s Fintechs plays a role in saving people and planet

The most recent IPCC report has shown us how much we need to change to keep the warming of our planet below 1.5º. Climate change is no longer in the future – it is now. Heatwaves, droughts and floods are already exceeding plants’ and animals’ tolerance levels and with 80% of people in the UK being concerned about the warming climate, the appetite for making changes that positively impact our futures is there.

All eyes have been on Scotland since COP26 was held in Glasgow last year, and the coverage and the attention made it clear that Scotland must do more to become a climate and social leader. While there have been changes it is clear that they are too incremental, that a radical overhaul is not yet here. The will for change is there though ”“ especially amongst Scottish people.

Scotland has a reputation as being socially and environmentally progressive ”“ they are ahead of the rest of the UK in the legally binding target to hit net zero, co2 emissions are already half of what they were 30 years ago. At the start of 2020, Scotland was already creating enough renewable energy to account for 97% of total gross energy use in the country. Socially, also, Scotland is setting an example ”“ with free university education, fantastic baby boxes for every newborn and the new young carer’s grant.

Scottish Fintech has been a fast-growing industry since the beginning of the pandemic; there were 119 in March 2020, and there are now almost 200. With the analysis of our cluster as being positive and vibrant’ in the Kalifa review, along with the fantastic collaboration between small and large companies in the Fintech sectors in Scotland, it is no wonder that Scotland has become a hub and a leader in the industry. This brings with it the responsibility to build environmental and social governance (ESG) into our organisations ”“ this is much easier than trying to retrofit later on.

Some Scottish Fintech organisations that are working to be changemakers in society include Iceni Earth (The Experian of Nature) – which help landowners assess their land and give them a biodiversity score, along with clear instructions on how to improve this score. A lot of Scottish Fintech is also focused on social inclusion, with HI55 helping people get access to their pay more frequently and when required. Inbest is using data capture and analysis for good, helping people who are entitled to benefits receiving them. These are just a few examples of fintech organisations that are using their skills to bring benefit to people and the environment, as well as helping people feel empowered to impact the biodiversity of their land, or simply their personal finances.

Fintech has the opportunity to help customers take control of aspects of their lives, using data to see and control their finances and investments. This has been shown to be vital in keeping eco-anxiety (the chronic fear of environmental cataclysm) at bay. This is vital if we are to keep activated, moving forward and not frozen in fear. With all eyes on Scotland, the time to prove they are the social and climate leaders we know they can be is now.

However, there is still plenty of work to be done and the changes that have been made so far could be described as modest. While it is possible to hit net-zero targets, it has been recognised that this will take a radical change in every part of Scottish lives and businesses. But there is the drive to make that change ”“ Scotland has a socially responsible culture, environmentally thoughtful perhaps because of the strong connection to the fantastic landscape.

Gihan Hyde is the award-winning communication specialist and founder of CommUnique, an ESG communication start-up.

She has been implementing ESG campaigns in eight sectors, across six countries over the past 20 years.

Her campaigns have positively impacted over 150,000 employees and 200,000 customers and have closed over £300m in investment deals. Some of the clients she has advised include The World Health Organisation (WHO), HSBC, Barclays, M&S, SUEZ, Grundfos, Philip Morris, USAID, and the Saudi Government.

Get in touch with Gihan through LinkedIn or Twitter @gehanam.

Interview with a fintech that pitched in the Den

Following her appearance on Dragons’ Den, Fintech Scotland member Sheila Hogan, founder and CEO of digital legacy vault, Biscuit Tin, shares her experience of her time in the Den and what it was like pitching to such a high profile and successful group of entrepreneurs

Sheila, well done for your appearance on Dragons’ Den. Can you tell us what drove you to apply for the show?

I had originally applied to take part in Dragons’ Den in 2020 and was approached about being in the show in 2021. The process for getting in front of the Dragons is a lengthy one, involving an application, video pitch and interviews with a researcher who then presents your case to the executive team. Just getting to be on the show felt like an enormous achievement.

I applied for the show because I wanted to propel awareness of Biscuit Tin, it’s purpose and mission to a global audience, whilst hopefully securing investment from one of the Dragons’. I had my hopes pinned on Deborah Meaden. Given her own personal experience I knew Biscuit Tin would resonate, and she holds a strong belief in businesses with purpose and as a force for good. I knew getting on Dragons’ Den would be the chance of a lifetime and would help me to achieve my vision of establishing Biscuit Tin as a leading global household brand for end-of-life planning and digital legacy within the next five years.

Despite a great pitch, you didn’t manage to get a dragon on board. What do you feel was the main reason?

At the time of filming, I was a pre-revenue tech company with a business profile that simply did not align with the Dragons’ individual investment strategies.

Is pitching in the den very different from pitching anywhere else?

Knowing my pitch was going to be aired to potentially millions of people on prime-time TV, meant that my Dragons’ Den experience was always going to be quite unlike any other pitch or speaking engagement that I’d ever had to do over my forty-year career in IT, change and project management. And so, it proved to be. Stepping out of the lift and into the studio where the Dragons were sat was one of the most nerve-wracking, but exhilarating times of my life. In the Den, there was an intensity to my pitch that I’d not experienced before. Knowing the pitch could be edited in any way the producers chose, which I had no control over, meant that I was more nervous on the night the episode aired than I was before the pitch! The one thing it did have in common with pitching to others, is that with any set of potential investors the key thing is to make a meaningful connection with them. In the Den I knew I had to give the performance a lifetime and I did everything within my control to be ready and prepared for filming on the day.

What learnings do you take away from your appearance on the BBC show? Would you do it again?

I would absolutely do it again. I wouldn’t want to miss such a golden opportunity. On my journey to the Den, I learnt so much. All the preparation was invaluable and has stood me in good stead for pitches to other investors. Since filming I have secured £330,000 investment from Velocity Capital, Scottish Enterprise, and a private investor. In fact, some of the feedback I received from the Dragons’ made me even more determined to succeed!

Whilst no money came from the dragons, you recently announced a successful £330,000 raise. What did you investors see that the dragons didn’t?

The investors we pitched to were specialist tech investors, who understand the financial profiles of tech startups. They saw the potential of Biscuit Tin and were not phased by the losses we experienced in the first couple of years of the business, as this is standard for a tech start-up. Biscuit Tin was simply better aligned to their experience and strategies.

What will this fresh investment allow you to do?

This investment will allow the business to gain significant traction through key hires and product development. I am more than equipped and determined to take the business to the next level. We are moving ever closer to achieving my dream of making Biscuit Tin a global household brand, to live in a world where planning for end of life is the norm, and where we all have virtual’ biscuit tins containing digital legacies to hand down the generations.

What are the next big milestones for Biscuit Tin?

The next big milestones are to engage with as many users as possible, coupled with valuable partnerships, so we can empower as many people as possible to get organised. We will be working to develop Biscuit Tin further, to provide product features that reflect the needs of our customers.

I am delighted to have been selected as part of the cohort of Scotland’s top twenty up and coming tech companies travelling to Silicon Valley with StartUp Grind in April. Funded by the Scottish Tech Ecosystem Fund, the trip will bring together Scotland’s top startups and scale ups with more than 3,000 of the world’s best.

Combatting CEOs cyber security concerns

By Fraser Wilson, Head of Financial Services at PwC Scotland and Colin Slater, Cyber Security Partner and Scotland Risk Leader.

For businesses with digital adoption high on their agenda, the arrival of the pandemic was undoubtedly a catalyst moment. Customers moved online in their droves benefitting subscription services from Spotify to Peloton. Retailers moved rapidly to refocus their operations to the web, and customer service channels and face to face’ services via video consultations, from high street banks to doctors surgeries, suddenly became normalised.

Scotland has a world leading FinTech ecosystem which has a key role in driving the innovations that allow businesses to transform customer experiences and adapt to a changing environment. However, the rapid pace of change has left many businesses feeling exposed to new risks.

Nearly two thirds (64%) of respondents to PwC’s 25th Annual CEO Survey said that they have significant concerns about cyber threats. In the UK, this outranked health risks, macroeconomic volatility and climate change as the threat to their business that CEOs are most concerned about, further cementing its elevation in business conscience.

And CEOs are right to worry. It’s an accepted fact that it’s not if but when a cyber attack will occur. CEOs’ main concern is around a catastrophic incident stunting business growth. As shown by the myriad of Ransomware cases, a successful cyber attack delivers more complex existential problems to solve. Associated issues we see, like not being able to pay salaries, deal with supply chains, place orders or give regulators the information they need; suddenly become pressing if you are in the midst of recovering your whole business.

Risk is a fundamental part of business. Companies are well practised at both mitigating risks and using them to take calculated business steps. Fintechs, in particular, have a role in both the defensive as well as proactive use of risk management. Being a good cyber citizen can be a huge market differentiator and demonstrating a good cyber posture and structure can also be hugely beneficial in any investment or deal situation. Being cyber aware and building a secure business are the foundational aspects for any fintech and will ultimately protect the valuable IP assets they are creating. While CEOs are right to be concerned, having an organisational approach to think cyber’ across all strategic and tactical decisions is key to success. Putting the right structures in place now ultimately will pay dividends in the market later.

Our recent announcement that we’re strengthening our financial services team in Scotland is part of our commitment to helping businesses embrace technology and improve resilience and agility. With our cyber security hub in Scotland we are expanding and delivering services around the world as well as on our doorstep. Our Managed Operations Centre of Excellence is located in Edinburgh, alongside our Threat Intelligence team, so our local footprint is something we are rightly proud of. We’re determined to help CEOs tackle their cyber concerns head on and drive the Fintech agenda in Scotland.

Increasing industry use of encrypted email to combat cybercrime

Recognition amongst financial services businesses of the need to safeguard emails is increasing in the face of financial cybercrime and they are taking action. Origo’s Unipass Mailock recently marked its one millionth email sent though the encrypted system.

Industry providers such as Aegon and Royal London are using military-grade encryption email services to protect their email exchanges with financial advice firms, and other providers are also realising email protection is now essential.

Cyber criminals hack vulnerable email systems and employ sniffer programs which identify valuable emails and take copies of them, which the criminals can then exploit. For example, in just one email in which a client sends their personal and asset details to their financial adviser, there would be enough detail to help criminals commit fraud.

Putting in place a secure, military-grade encrypted email system, one which protects emails in transit, and ensures that only the intended recipient can access the email, as well as providing an audit trail for compliance purposes, now needs to be thought of as base-level security for product providers and financial advice firms, and without a doubt where confidential and transactional data is being sent.

It is also another way for providers and firms to demonstrate value to their respective customers in the precautions they are taking to safeguard their data.

Origo’s Unipass Mailock system has now surpassed one million emails through the system. Looking at industry benefits, not only has this protected over a million communications between providers, advisers and their clients, but we calculate that this equates to £1.9m saved in print, packaging and postage costs, as well as climate related savings of 459 tonnes of CO2 and 154,000 tonnes of water.

The risk to businesses is not just potentially having to compensate clients for losses, and meeting fines imposed by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), but the effect on client trust and the reputation of the business.

As we move to a more digital advice experience, we expect to see companies of all sizes look to protect this potential point of vulnerability and employ encrypted email as a matter of course.

Standard security protocols advice firms can follow

Some general basic actions businesses can take to help protect their businesses against cybercrime, include:

Having in place standard items of internet hygiene including firewalls, anti-virus software and a virtual private network (VPN) for off-site working.
Identifying where the risks to the business lie ”“ are they with providers or are they in unsecured communications with the end client?
Implementing formal processes and procedures, and staff training, to raise awareness of the potential dangers, and how to protect the business against them.
Having formal cybercrime processes written into a firm’s policy documents, including written instructions for staff to follow where, for example, fraud is detected.
Having in place appropriate controls for inward and outward communications ”“ such as encrypted email.
Letting your customers know the potential dangers and what you are doing to protect them.

Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels

Why Origo is supporting the Research and Innovation Roadmap

Origo has been delivering technology solutions for the UK financial services market for over 30 years. We are proud of that history and also proud to be an Edinburgh-based company, contributing to the economies of both Scotland and the UK.

“With the technological innovations happening in the world today, and the opportunities they offer, this is probably the most exciting time in our history.

“Open Finance Data, which is one of the four themes of the Roadmap ”“ the others are climate finance; payments and transactions; and financial regulation ”“ is one example of the innovation taking place in financial services. Amongst other things, it will enable people and businesses to have more control over their finances by making it easier for them to access their financial information.

We see the value of this type of access every day at Origo. Our technology enables the industry providers to access pension and investment information and by evolving through Open Finance we can use this capability to enable individuals to directly access their information.

To this end, we are partnered with Capgemini to supply the central digital architecture for the Pensions Dashboards Programme, which will enable pension holders to easily access all their pension details in one place ”“ action that is vital for individuals planning for the future and for retirement.

But technological innovation is not restrained by geographical boundaries, so it is important that UK FinTech continues to innovate and push the boundaries, within the highly regulated environment in which we work.

This is about the future of finance, the way people engage with money, their savings and investments. The FinTech Scotland Research and Innovation Roadmap will help enable industry-led collaboration to provide a practical pathway to accelerate the development of FinTech and open up opportunities across the financial services industry as well as the broader economy in Scotland and the UK.

We are proud to be part of this forward-thinking and practical initiative.

Being a woman entrepreneur in the fintech industry

To celebrate International Women’s Day 2022, we met with Lynne Darcey Quigley, founder and CEO at Scottish fintech Know-it.

Lynne, when did you decide to become an entrepreneur and why?

From a young age I knew I wanted to run my own business.

I’ve always been hardworking and was a skilled credit management consultant so understood that I could build something great by helping businesses in need of recovering unpaid invoices and increasing their cashflow.

I founded Darcey Quigley & Co in 2007 offering commercial debt recovery and sales ledger management that has grown to be one of the UK’s leading commercial debt recovery specialists.

What led you to launch Know-it?

Working in the credit industry for over 25 years and running one of the UK’s leading commercial debt recovery specialists for 15 years I seen businesses make the same credit management mistakes time and time again.

The businesses I help day to day could avoid the need to use a debt recovery partner if they had implemented a robust credit control process. However, there’s a perceived barrier to this, mainly time and cost.

But the problem of late payments is massive, SMEs in the UK are currently chasing £61 billion in late payments, an increase of 22% since 2020!

Realising the size of the issue with late payments I founded Know-it to give business owners a complete automated end-to-end credit management process that is cost effective. Our automation will save businesses valuable time and help them get paid quicker and boost their cashflow.

How will Know-it help businesses avoid problems associated with late payments and improve their cashflow?”

Know-it provides businesses with all the tools and intelligence needed for a watertight credit control process all in one easy to use platform. Know-it brings together the 3 key elements of the credit control process, we like to call the 3 C’s, Check- it, Chase-it, Collect-it.

Check-it gives businesses the facility to credit check and automatically monitor companies from across the UK with real-time data from independent and reliable sources in just one click. This intelligence will allow businesses to make more informed credit decisions and mitigate credit risk.

Chase-it automatically chases unpaid invoices when they’re due through email, letter and SMS. Our smart integration with leading accountancy packages means Chase-it knows which invoices are due when and how much is owed.

Collect-it offers a much needed safety net by providing the services of leading commercial debt recovery specialists Darcey Quigley & Co to Know-it users with problematic late payers.

What is it like to be a woman entrepreneur in the fintech industry?

It’s been fantastic so far! The Scottish fintech community is so vibrant I feel women are very well represented.

I feel very supported in the Scottish fintech space. Schemes such as AccelerateHER and Business Women Scotland are helping female entrepreneurs thrive.

Do you feel like investors, potential clients or other stakeholders approach female entrepreneurs differently?

No, it’s never been something I’ve experienced during my fintech journey so far, certainly not with potential clients, partners or other stakeholders.

We’re just getting started with our big push for investment but so far I haven’t experienced any feelings of being treated differently so far.

According to you, what should be done to ensure more gender diversity in tech?

I believe there’s a lack of awareness of the variety of careers available to women within the IT industry.

It’s not just about coding. There are so many other exciting jobs in the tech sector such as Project Management, Business Analysis, Solutions Architects, as well as a myriad of roles in supporting business functions. We are in tech and big advocates for our industry, so we need to educate girls and women to the variety of careers now available to them.

What does the future look like for Know-it? Any exciting developments you can share with us?

Having launched our beta late last year we have aggressive growth plans for 2022.

We’re actively seeking investment now to help us fund these plans.

Our goal is to make Know-it the best credit management platform possible so we’re taking feedback from our users onboard and are always developing our product to meet the needs of our users.

The Talent Solution Most Enterprises Are Missing Out On

The societal and digital disruption brought about by COVID-19 has changed the way we work. Enterprises are having to reassess how they can develop, hire and invest in talent in their workforce as we move into 2022.

At the same time, employees’ views on career success, mobility and even the meaning of work itself have undergone a seismic change.

In fact, data shows that in the UK alone, the number of job vacancies is at an all-time high, reaching 1,219,000 in November 2021 ”” an increase of 434,500 from pre-pandemic levels.

Against the backdrop of the so-called war for talent’, businesses that want to maintain a competitive advantage over others need to find new and innovative ways of not only attracting top talent, but retaining it as well.

The traditional model

Traditional human resource management relies on a number of accepted ideas about how organisations work. Namely, a person is hired to do a particular job, and answers to a manager, who is in turn managed by someone else ”” all the way up to the top of the traditional hierarchical structure.

On the traditional career path, employees may eventually be promoted and climb the ladder within their chosen profession. A marketing assistant might eventually work their way up to becoming a marketing manager ”” but not an accountant.

And herein lies the problem: an employee is not just a CV. Placing someone in a box based on their job title alone ”” not on their actual skills, experience and personality ”” isn’t useful to anyone.

And while agile talent mobility might be relatively common within a job function (HR, marketing or sales professionals may jump from project to project fairly frequently), it’s rare for people to cross those boundaries and work on a project under a different discipline entirely ”” even when the skills and competencies needed for the role massively overlap.

For example, a data analyst working within a company’s IT department might make a fantastic addition to the team working on marketing analytics ”” but this is rarely the way it works.

The invisible talent problem

When companies need to staff a new project or build a new team, they’ll usually look to bring new talent on board ”” despite the fact they may well already have the skills they need in house.

As Gigged.AI’s CEO Rich Wilson explains: “Because of remote working and a largely distributed workforce, a lot of enterprises have no idea what talent they have internally. There’s so much money wasted by hiring new employees when actually, they’ve got that talent in house”.

Essentially, because of the silos the traditional company structure inevitably creates, enterprises have always found it difficult to understand exactly what skills and talent they’re sitting on.

The internal talent marketplace and the future of work

There are signs, though, that this mindset is beginning to change. Coca-Cola is just one big enterprise that’s starting to do things differently, and actually analysing the skills they have in-house.

These are skills that might not appear on a CV, that might have been picked up in a previous job ”” or a previous career ”” and that might otherwise have remained invisible. By bringing these skills to the surface, Coca-Cola hopes to identify opportunities for employees to have new experiences at work.

More importantly from the company’s perspective, this can help to retain talent as well. As Rich says, “There’s this sense right now that if somebody can make more money elsewhere, they’re going to leave. But people don’t just leave jobs for money ”” they leave because the project they’re working on’s not exciting, or because they’re not utilising certain skills.”

And it’s true: The Work Institute’s 2020 Retention Report found that compensation and benefits was only the sixth most common reason employees gave for leaving their jobs in 2019 ”” the first was career development.

By identifying their workforce’s core skills ”” and linking these with opportunities for employee development and the chance to work on new projects ”” companies can lower not only their staffing costs but their attrition rates as well.

And there are other big benefits to be had from implementing an internal talent marketplace too.

A broadened perspective for managers and employees

Coming into contact with different members of an organisation, either on a short-term basis or through a permanent job move, can broaden perspectives and help employees and management alike to develop positive traits such as empathy. An increase in empathy was the key theme of LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends 2020 report, which also suggested that employees stay at companies with high levels of internal hiring 41% longer than at those with low levels.

Elimination of bias and increased DEI

In the current model, when projects are staffed internally, this is often done on a who-you-know basis ”” according to the LinkedIn report above, 50% of internal recruitment happens because a manager reaches out to an employer they already know.

Naturally, unconscious bias plays a role here, as people are much more likely to refer people who resemble themselves. It can also leave out talented employees who don’t have a strong network ”” but whose skill sets might be a good match for the project. By using an internal talent platform based on a comprehensive skill classification system, you can eliminate that bias and focus on the best person for the role.

Access to a broader talent pool

One of the biggest advantages of using an internal talent marketplace is that it can bring talent that might otherwise have been overlooked to the forefront. Like in the case of Coca-Cola above, enterprises can access skills that their employees may have picked up in previous roles, or transferable skills that could make a person a great fit for a role they might otherwise have been dismissed for due to lack of job-specific experience. As an added bonus, companies can also see a reduction in onboarding and training costs when new hires are already familiar with the business.

Drawbacks and pitfalls

Of course, there are problems with this approach too ”” most notably that it requires significant buy-in from management, employee engagement and a sizeable investment in tech.

Management buy-in

Surprisingly, according to Deloitte’s 2019 Global Human Capital Trends report, 46% of managers resist internal mobility, which can create a talent-hoarding culture ”” a big problem when it comes to implementing a successful internal talent solution.

Companies that want to adopt this approach to talent management, therefore, need to help managers understand that it effectively removes the need to jealously hang on to their top performers because it provides real-time transparency into the skills available within their organisation ”” and the opportunity to build and develop their team’s skills.

Hiring managers need to move away from the traditional talent acquisition model, which simply involves recruiting a candidate to do a particular job, and instead focus on fractionalising’: thinking in terms of projects and the knowledge and skills they require ”” knowledge and skills which may well be present within the organisation already.

Staff buy-in

The second problem is employee engagement, as employees (plus freelancers and contractors) usually need to manually input their details into their organisation’s internal talent platform to appear in searches. Although this might only take a few minutes, there needs to be some encouragement to motivate them to put themselves forward.

Team leaders can start by leading by example and entering their own skills and experience into the system. There should also be some education around the opportunities that the short process of filling in a profile could lead to ”” after all, only 28% of millennials surveyed in 2015 felt that their employer was making full use of their skills.

Tech investment

The last and perhaps most notable problem with implementing an internal talent marketplace at the enterprise level is the tech side. Building a platform in house will almost certainly be a time-consuming, complex, and ”” yes ”” astronomically expensive undertaking.

Thankfully, there is a solution available.

Introducing the Gigged.AI internal talent marketplace

Fresh from a successful pilot with The Data Lab, the Gigged.AI internal talent marketplace launches officially in the summer of 2022 ”” and can help large enterprises, universities and public sector harness the power of internal talent sourcing problems at the enterprise level.

Designed to meet the evolving business needs of companies in the post-COVID world, our white-labelled, data-driven solution allows managers at large enterprises to create a detailed and accurate statement of work using our innovative conversational AI chatbot. Our unique skills-matching algorithm will then use this to find the best people for the job from within your organisation.

You can run a quick check to see what talent you have internally within about 22 seconds ”” 22 seconds that could save your enterprise the thousands of pounds and months of lost time that typically comes with sourcing talent externally.

Gartner predicts that by 2025, 20% of large enterprises will have deployed internal talent marketplaces to optimise their utilisation and agility of talent.

Drivers for Growth? People, Technology and Regulations- a collaborative approach

Driven by digitalisation, fintech is one of the most important innovations embedded in everyday transactions, supported by emerging technologies including automation, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain, smart contracts, and machine learning.

While fintechs are here to stay, the image of the future is a little uncertain. Challenges such as the modernisation of financial architecture and changing consumer perceptions, the disruption of existing service models, incumbent employers and regulatory frameworks posing double edge implications for the overall ecosystem, and to access human capital, a discussion initiated by the University of Dundee Business School inviting FinTechs, regulators and Academics.

Regulators’ concerns have become increasingly complex because of technological integration and at times, fintechs exist in an environment with limited guidance. This challenge is underscored by regulatory regimes that multiply across countries, states, and even regions, a point emphasised by Professor Hisham, Birmingham University Business School, added how the terms around fintechs are not”¯comprehensive or standardised, which needs to be addressed in order to enable the”¯ecosystem to”¯grow.

Quicker responses from financial markets are crucial in terms of developing new instruments to battle the challenges about security and reliability of data and in terms of developing the regulatory framework, fostering relational and behavioral trust with consumers.

We must understand that regulations can be a barrier too, another point emphasised by industry experts, emphasising the need for a more balanced approach that allows flexibility and innovations. Najia ( Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan) shared a regulatory perspective by adding that attitudes are shifting as a result of regulatory sandbox initiatives, providing a safe environment for early-stage development for fintech start-ups to test their innovations without the need for full license, thereby, playing another critical role in the development of fintech, ultimately breaking down the current regionalism of the sectors.

Nonetheless, different countries are at different stages of fintechs growth, for developing countries like Pakistan, a bigger issue is contract enforceability, suggesting that the biggest challenges are from the other side of the table, hence being mindful of the fact of how”¯the investors are and can be protected. This signifies the emergence of new developments and technological innovations that can help to develop a global friendly fintech ecosystem, breaking down the current regionalism of the sector.

“”¦.Fintech innovations will only become more pervasive in everyday transactions as their adoption increases and more inclusive and open regulatory frameworks allow them to grow.” [Stephen Ingledew, CEO at FinTech Scotland]

Opportunities abound for fintechs to engage in dialogue with regulators and raise awareness of rapidly emerging technologies and consequences they may have for market integrity, stability, and sustainability. Knowledge shared between regulators and fintech companies can enhance regulators’ awareness of consumer habits, behaviours and desires.

The technology supports the human understanding, where the growth opportunities are, but it will never replace a human in making those decisions, a point emphasised by Clive representing ACCA and Morris, Dean of Dundee Business School, adding that Digital transformation requires a transformation of people, technology, and processes, with people being the most important factor.

The key challenge organisations are facing globally, is the right talent. Despite searching for it, businesses are not getting the right people to assist them in this particular transformation. You can’t really have one without the other, Marijus (NCR) and James (Zudu), Tayseer (SadaPay) and Hazel (Candocollective) continuing the debate, suggested that people are extremely important, especially development of human capital, we need to put more emphasis on people’s learning, not only in their own skill set and knowledge, and also for their cross-functional flexibility.

After all, everything connects and technology, human capital, and businesses are dependent on each other now maybe more than ever before. The importance of educators was emphasised by most participants in reducing the gap between the needs of FinTechs and the offer of the current human capital market.

Overall, the promises offered by fintech certainly far outweigh the risks, at least in the medium to long term! However, we need to act now and get the regulatory environment and the human capital market “fintech ready”.

Participant organisations:

University of Dundee Business School ; SadaPay; Sehatkahani; Fintechscotland; Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan; Candocollective; Birmingham University Business School; Zudu; NCR; ACCA; Tez Financial Services