The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today announced the launch of the inaugural Global Veritas [1] Challenge. The competition seeks to accelerate the development of solutions which validate artificial intelligence and data analytics (AIDA) solutions against the fairness, ethics, accountability and transparency (FEAT) [2] principles, to strengthen trust and promote greater adoption of AI solutions in the financial sector.
FinTech firms, solution providers and financial institutions around the world are invited to submit innovative solutions to address eight problem statements identified by banks. These problem statements focus on validating the fairness of AI solutions for selected banking use cases in (i) product marketing; (ii) risk, compliance and fraud monitoring; (iii) loan origination and know-your-customer (KYC); and (iv) credit scoring and profiling.
The Global Veritas Challenge is supported by Accenture. Up to 10 finalists will be shortlisted for a programme where they will develop customised prototypes on the API Exchange [3] (APIX) AI Sandbox (known as Veritas), under the guidance of industry leaders. Finalists will pitch their solutions during the Global Veritas Challenge Demo Day on 20 October 2021 as part of the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF). Up to three winners will be selected, with each receiving a cash prize of S$50,000. The winners will showcase their projects to a global audience during the SFF, which will be held from 8 to 12 November 2021.
Mr Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS, said, “Responsible AI solutions which validate AI solutions against the FEAT principles (fairness, ethics, accountability and transparency) strengthen trust in AI technologies among users and the general public. This trust underpins all our AI development efforts and is vital to realising Singapore’s ambition as a global hub for AI in the financial sector. I invite all innovators to use this unique platform to showcase their responsible AI solutions to a global audience.”
Mr Lee Joon Seong, Managing Director, Accenture’s Applied Intelligence Lead for Southeast Asia, said, “Accenture Research found that majority of C-suite executives believe that AI is a key leverage to achieve their growth objectives. When incorporating AI into their business, these leaders must also understand the potential ethical and socio-technical implications; and take steps to mitigate the risks and challenges that may arise. The Global Veritas Challenge 2021 will help to uncover the practical ways in which businesses can incorporate the FEAT principles into their operations. Accenture is proud to be part of this journey as we further strengthen Singapore’s position not only as a leading financial services hub but also one that promotes responsible use of artificial intelligence in the industry”.
Interested parties are encouraged to submit their applications for the Global Veritas Challenge here by 30 July 2021.
About the Singapore FinTech Festival
Singapore will host a week-long festival, featuring two marquee events for the global innovation community from 8 to 12 November 2021 – the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) and Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SWITCH).
Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) is the world’s largest FinTech event and a global platform for the FinTech community comprising FinTech players, technopreneurs, policy makers, financial industry leaders, investors including private equity players and venture capitalists, and academics. In 2020, SFF and SWITCH saw 60,000 participants from over 160 countries with more than 2,000 speakers, over 1,300 exhibitors, 27 international pavilions, and 45 satellite events hosted by partner cities across the world during the 5-day round-the-clock event. The SFF is organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in partnership with The Association of Banks in Singapore and in collaboration with Constellar.
Find out more about SFF, the largest and most impactful gathering of FinTech professionals in the world, and SWITCH, Asia’s leading tech festival at www.fintechfestival.sg and www.switchsg.org.
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Annex A
About the Global Veritas Challenge 2021
The competition seeks to encourage innovation of responsible AI solutions which ensure fairness across the following problem statement categories:
1. Product marketing
2. Risk, compliance & fraud monitoring
3. Loan origination & Know-Your-Customer (KYC)
4. Credit scoring and profiling
Up to 10 finalists will be shortlisted by an independent panel of judges to participate in an 8-week programme. Finalists will develop and refine their solutions under the guidance of industry coaches. Finalists will also undergo various workshops and gain insights into the industry’s key trends from industry leaders.
APIX AI Sandbox (Veritas)
The APIX AI Sandbox (Veritas) is a collaborative development and test platform for rapid prototyping of solutions which validate AIDA solutions against the FEAT principles. Through the sandbox, users can create/edit code and integrate APIs across different solution domains (such as core banking, payments, loan originations, credit scoring, KYC, risk & compliance monitoring) to experiment and develop solutions for various use cases.
Rewards for Finalists and Winners
Finalists will be offered an opportunity to pitch their solutions to an esteemed panel of judges at the Global Veritas Challenge Demo Day on 20 October 2021. Winners will showcase their projects to a global audience during the Singapore FinTech Festival 2021.
The top three solutions will each receive a cash prize of S$50,000.
[1] Veritas is a framework which enables financial institutions to evaluate their AIDA-driven solutions against the FEAT principles. The Veritas framework was highlighted by Mr Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore, in his speech laying out Singapore’s National AI Strategy at SFF x SWITCH in 2019.
[2] MAS co-created FEAT with the financial industry in 2018 to strengthen internal governance around the application of AI and the management and use of data.
[3] APIX (www.apixplatform.com), a product of the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network, is a not-for-profit entity formed by the MAS, the International Finance Corporation and the ASEAN Bankers Association, with the objective of supporting financial innovation and inclusion around the world.
