BIS Innovation Hub and Bank of Italy announce shortlist and judges for the G20 green and sustainable finance challenge

Press release  | 
25 June 2021
  • Twenty-one teams have been shortlisted in the G20 TechSprint competition, out of 99 submissions from teams worldwide.
  • The judging panel includes private and public sector experts in the field of financial sector data and technology.
  • The initiative highlights the potential of new technology to tackle challenges in green and sustainable finance.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub and the Bank of Italy, under the Italian G20 Presidency, today announced the shortlisted finalists and judges for the G20 green and sustainable finance challenge.

In May, the BIS Innovation Hub and the Bank of Italy published three high-priority operational problems and invited the international community of innovators, entrepreneurs, developers, data scientists and designers to develop innovative technological solutions.

Eighty-nine teams from more than 25 countries submitted 99 innovative solutions for these problems using the dedicated Codemotion platform for registration and online judging. Twenty-one have now been shortlisted by a panel of representatives of a green finance and data consultancy firm appointed by the BIS and invited to showcase their prototypes at a workshop in August for feedback from national authorities and experts.  

An independent expert panel, organized and sponsored by the Bank of Italy, will judge the submissions and select the most promising solutions. Alessandra Perrazzelli, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Italy, will act as an observer for all three problem statements. The winners will be announced in October and cash prizes awarded.

We were delighted to see the strong interest in the G20 TechSprint and to receive so many innovative and accomplished entries from all over the world. This response shows how the private sector can play a key role in solving high-level challenges to help promote green finance and contribute to global financial progress and stability. The teams that qualify for this next stage of prototype development have proposed some very practical yet innovative approaches to address the problem statements. We look forward to seeing the fully developed solutions.

Andrew McCormack, Head of the BIS Innovation Hub Centre in Singapore

The 21 shortlisted teams will receive support from expert mentors in developing their projects and be invited to a touchpoint event to get more feedback. The initiative aims to catalyse private sector energies towards identifying solutions and developing working prototypes through the implementation of innovative technological approaches in green and sustainable finance, paving the way for further innovations with a significant potential impact for citizens and the planet.

Paola Giucca, Deputy Head of the Retail Payment Instruments and Services Directorate of the Bank of Italy

For more details about TechSprint, see www.techsprint2021.it/

 

End notes: 

Shortlisted teams:

Problem Statement 1:

  • AI based automated pdf to XBRL solution
  • AI4ERA – QuantCube
  • Digital Impact Platform
  • Greenomy
  • Greenwashing Digital Detector – FinScience
  • PolicyScope – CRRM3
  • Project Sunrise: ATOME for Environmental Data

Problem Statement 2:

  • A Tool for Assessing Climate Impact on Sovereign Debt
  • Air Trace Climate Smart – PwC
  • Climate Risk Analytics Suite – CRIF & RED
  • Climate X
  • Global Fire Index for TCFD physical risk assessments – The Climate Data Factory
  • NUA – AmigoClimate
  • Tenko

Problem Statement 3:

  • Add To My Mortgage
  • Amazon Crowdlending Platform – SITAWI
  • Ener2Crowd
  • Igugu
  • Scaling the Sustainability-Linked Fixed Income Market with the Support of Digital Technologies –Blockchain & Climate Institute
  • The BCube Platform – Brand Conscience
  •  Transiction

List of judges:

  • Fabio Natalucci (Deputy Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department at International Monetary Fund)
  • Marianne Haahr (Executive Director at Green Digital Finance Alliance)
  • Massamba Thioye (Manager, Sustainable Development Mechanism Program at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Co-Chair at Climate Chain Coalition, and Co-Chair of ISO Working Group 10 preparing ISO 14097)
  • Thomas Puschmann (Founder and Director of the Swiss Fintech Innovation Lab and Founder of the Global Center for Sustainable Digital Finance, a joint initiative of Stanford University and the University of Zurich)
  • Richard Teichmeister (Head of Funding – New Products & Structured Transactions –European Investment Bank)
  • Anthony Nyong (Africa Regional Director, Global Centre on Adaption and former Director, Climate Change and Green Growth, African Development Bank)
  • Sharon Donnery (Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Ireland)
  • Vijaya Ramachandran (Director for Energy and Development at The Breakthrough Institute)
  • Paolo Giudici (Professor of Statistics and Financial Data Science, University of Pavia)
  • Elizabeth Aceituno (Sustainable Finance Specialist at World Wildlife Fund)
  • Christine Chow (Executive Director, Global Head of Strategic Governance and ESG Integration at IHS Markit)
  • Vivek Pathak (Director and Global Head for Climate Business at International Finance Corporation)
  • Barbara Buchner (Global Managing Director and Executive Director at Climate Policy Initiative)
  • Sabine Mauderer (Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank)
  • David Brand (CEO, New Forests)
  • Eric Usher (Head of UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative)
  • Gema Sacristan (Chief Investment Officer at IDB Invest)
  • Ronie Mak (Managing Director, RS Group Asia)
  • Eric Parrado Herrera (Chief Economist and General Manager of the Research Department at Inter-American Development Bank)
  • Gerhard Mulder (CEO and Co-Founder at Climate Risk Services)
  • Simone Borghesi (Director Florence School of Regulation Climate, European University Institute)