Evolving engagement: governments forge new frontiers with fintech

Global Government Fintech Lab 2024 panel session one: Siobhan Benita (moderator), Karen Cullen, Dominik Freudenthaler, Peter Oakes and Robert Rampre | Credit: Deirdre Brennan for Global Government Fintech.

The panel for the ‘Governments and ntech: on the right path?’ session comprised: Karen Cullen, who heads a ntech steering group alongside her principal role as head of international nancial services in Ireland’s Department of Finance; Dominik Freudenthaler, ntech expert in Austria’s Federal Ministry of Finance; Peter Oakes, the founder of independent network Fintech Ireland; and Robert Rampre, undersecretary in the insurance and capital market division at Slovenia’s Ministry of Finance.

Regtech
Oakes began by referring to Freudenthaler’s examples, pointing out that the rollout of digital government services would typically involve multiple elements of back Peter Oakes (second from right in photo above) at Global Government Fintech Lab 2024 end technology powered by private-sector innovation. “I ask: would any of those [innovations] actually have been achievable if there hadn’t been regulatory technology [RegTech] applications that were doing the verification of customers who wanted to open bank accounts? Without that, the innovation in government to improve public services may not have happened at the rate that it did,” Oakes (who also appeared at last year’s Lab: on a panel discussing data) said.

Global fintech investment decline
Oakes concluded by highlighting the IMF working paper’s conclusion on the relationship between fintech and economic growth. The paper, based on analysis of 198 countries’ data between 2012 and 2020, stated that: ‘Looking forward… fast-growing fintech is likely to have a greater effect on economic growth. In this context, maintaining financial stability is sine qua non for sustainable growth and that requires strong regulatory institutions, better use of technology in regulation, extensive cross-border coordination and appropriately calibrated prudential regulations for a level playing eld and effective monitoring and supervision of traditional and emerging financial institutions.‘

Sandbox dilemma
Oakes stated that while sandboxes may often benefit nascent innovators, they are also help established companies that “want to keep an eye on younger players that might ‘disrupt’ them out of business.”  “It depends on what the sandbox is going to do, how it’s going to be measured and how transparent it will be with its findings,” Oakes continued. “I do think that, overall, if there’s a budget and resources, it should be created. But I think those who run sandboxes need to prepare [their expectations] that they may not be inundated from day one with applications.”

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