London: The Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE) has signalled its intention today to set up its first international hub in Singapore. CFTE has been working closely with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to formalise plans to expand CFTE’s education initiative to ASEAN.
The objective is to train finance professionals in technology-related skills to help them transition to a world of digital finance, both in Singapore and in the ASEAN region.
Tram Anh Nguyen, CFTE’s Co-founder, said,
“I strongly believe that in a world dominated by technology, people must remain at the centre of society and organisations, and that education and training are key to help individuals adapt to a fast changing world. Singapore and MAS have a very comprehensive strategy about human capital and we are honoured to be working with them to help finance professionals in ASEAN make the most in a world of digital finance.”
Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS, said,
“We welcome CFTE to set up its education hub in Singapore. The people factor is crucial for the success in FinTech as well as our innovation-driven Smart Financial Centre. It is at the heart of what we do to sustain and grow the FinTech movement in Singapore, through a vibrant range of channels and opportunities for people to develop deep skills that are relevant to the market.”
CFTE is a new education initiative for the finance sector. Emerging technologies are disrupting traditional finance and enabling FinTech companies and forward thinking organisations to create new and innovative digital finance products.
This is creating demand for professionals with a technical skill set who have the ability to understand the application of these new technologies. It is CFTE’s mission to help finance professionals develop the necessary technical skills that will enable them to work with emerging digital technologies and in turn contribute to the growth of digital finance.
CFTE will also train technology professionals in order to show them how to utilise their existing skill set in finance 2.0. CFTE delivers courses that cover the major trends affecting the finance industry.
Participants will have the opportunity to learn about subjects such as Artificial Intelligence, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), coding, blockchain, and RegTech. Courses will be delivered via a blend of online learning and in-class training. Online learning will take place via an EdTech platform that leverages mobile and adaptive technologies to provide an engaging learning experience across multiple digital channels.
In-class training will be delivered via workshops, group projects, mentoring sessions, and intensive bootcamps at the education hub in Singapore. The curriculum has been designed in collaboration with an exceptional advisory and academic board who are finance, technology and innovation leaders from organisations such as Harvard Business School, Imperial College London, Hong Kong University, Citi, Ping An, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Fintech SuperCharger, and Holberton School.
In addition, there have been further inputs from consultations with industry experts, financial institutions, start-ups, and academia. The scope of the education hub will extend beyond serving as a platform to deliver training.
It will embody CFTE’s core value of building an inclusive ecosystem that creates a cascade of multiplier effects to positively benefit Singapore and ASEAN economies. It is with this goal in mind that CFTE will look to integrate closely with Singapore’s finance and education community. CFTE is actively looking to build partnerships with local academic institutions, financial institutions, start-ups, technology accelerators, and more generally the wider ecosystem.
This will ensure professionals training with CFTE can have an immediate impact where their skills are needed the most. MAS is recognised as the world’s most progressive financial regulatory body.
It has implemented a number of supportive initiatives to help drive the continuous development of the FinTech sector in Singapore. These initiatives tie into the city- state’s Smart Nation programme, which has the overarching objective of utilising technology to improve the lives of its citizens in every manner possible. Education plays a central role in achieving this objective.
The government has heavily invested in programs like SkillsFuture to help Singaporeans develop the skills necessary for the economy to upgrade to a tech first society.
The support for CFTE to establish the hub of their education initiative in Singapore strengthens MAS’s commitment to this end goal. By working closely with MAS to implement this initiative, CFTE hopes to lay the foundations that will help finance professionals in Singapore and neighbouring economies to upskill and benefit from the transition to Finance 2.0.