The School of Computing at the National University of Singapore (NUS Computing) has announced a partnership with Ripple, a provider of enterprise solutions for global payments, to launch NUS FinTech Lab.
The lab, which aims to fuel the growth of the fintech sector in the city-state, will serve as a locus of co-operation and a facilitator of conversations between industry players, government agencies, regulatory bodies and educational institutions.
The new initiative will bring together a diversity of expertise that could be deployed to work on promising fintech projects. Besides, it will provide resources to train the next generation of business leaders, entrepreneurs, computer scientists and professionals to develop and apply emerging technologies in the area of fintech.
The lab is led by an industry liaison group made up of representatives from business and financial institutions, government agencies and appointed faculty members of NUS Computing.
NUS FinTech Lab is the cornerstone of a broader strategic partnership between NUS and Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI), an academic partnership programme with top universities around the world to support academic research, technical development and innovation in blockchain, cryptocurrency and digital payments.
Since joining UBRI, NUS Computing has worked to advance education, technical development and innovation in digital transformation, data-driven decision making, and fintech.
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“Singapore is already a recognised fintech hub as home to some of the most competitive academic institutions in the world,” said Eric van Miltenburg, SVP of Global Operations at Ripple. “The launch of the NUS FinTech Lab is a significant step toward recognising the full potential of blockchain technology in finance and the real-world benefits of collaboration between academia and industry. Perhaps most importantly, the FinTech Lab will prepare students for the career opportunities brought about by continued technological advancements in finance.”
The NUS FinTech lab will also form the education arm of NUS Computing’s Industry FinTech Initiatives (SIFI) launched in 2018, to spur fintech-related activities such as educational workshops, training seminars and short-term projects. The lab plans to expose 1,000 students and industry professionals to fintech within a year through various courses and programmes open to all NUS faculty and students, as well as all levels of industry professionals.
“The lab will provide a neutral space for dialogue and innovation, connecting the worlds of academia and industry so that our education programmes can be readily translated into practice and in turn generate tangible results,” said Professor Mohan Kankanhalli, Dean of NUS Computing and Chairman of the NUS FinTech Lab Advisory Board.
The NUS FinTech Lab will be open for engagements beginning 26 November 2019.
Ripple provides a platform for enterprises to send money globally using blockchain. Financial institutions can use the platform to process their customers’ payments anywhere in the world instantly. Banks and payment providers can use the digital asset XRP to further reduce their costs and access new markets.
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