The volume of data on customer behaviour and other business information is increasing exponentially both within and across companies. To turn them into smart data quickly that can enhance productivity and competitive advantages, companies must master the tools to analyse complex data sets. Developing the right tools to do so, however, remains challenging. 

It is with this in mind that the Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics (SKBI) at Singapore Management University organised its 7^th annual conference on 26 May 2017 which brought together industry practitioners, start-ups, regulators, and academic researchers to share their diverse experiences on how to embrace, respond to, and adopt changes related to large data while simultaneously facing the challenge of coping with rapidly changing analytic requirements. 

Some 260 participants from diverse backgrounds including practitioners in banking, insurance, investment, technology, law, data systems and storage, security, healthcare industries, as well as faculty, researchers and students from Institutes of Higher Learning attended the one-day conference.    

Mr Piyush Gupta, CEO of DBS Group and Chairman of SKBI said, “The Sim Kee Boon Institute is bridging theory and practice to address one of the biggest challenges facing the world today -- using data to gain a competitive edge in business. Smart data is already transforming financial services, whether it is in retail banking and consumer experience or back office functions such as risk and compliance, we are at the cusp of the data-driven industry transformation. The SKBI conference highlights the solutions and experiments that are ongoing around the world so we can find effective ways to seize big data opportunities.”

“The future economy of Singapore will rely not only on how we are able to collect and process vast amount of data, but also on the functional or strategic insight we can generate from that data. This conference brings together the best and brightest to discuss how we can take Singapore forward with big data and data science in business applications,” added Professor Gerard George, Dean of SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business.

In his keynote speech on “Data Science and Machine Learning in Practice", Dr David Hardoon, Chief Data Officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), who heads the Data Analytics Group at MAS, shared that his unit aims to obtain data-driven insights in a smarter and more systematic way through the four building blocks of data, tools, infrastructure and skillsets.

He urged the senior management in financial institutions to go beyond approaching compliance functions as mere cost centres, and tap on them as rich sources of methodology and insight. “Find ways to leverage on compliance data to look for linkages and patterns that can help you understand your customers and business activities better. Explore ways to replicate the techniques developed in the regulatory compliance space to enhance the functions of your other business activities. We want to work with you to share tools, and insights, so that we can each go back with ideas and suggestions of how to improve the way we do our work,” he said.

He informed that MAS plans to make dealing with the increasing volume of data as seamless and painless as possible. “We (plan to) make data more easily available for financial institutions and researchers to use for their own analysis. Of course with the right controls in place, since in some cases we may not be able to share the detailed data, but we can publish aggregates. We also want to give back insights that we draw from the data, to increase mindshare within the industry and foster an environment of knowledge sharing.”

[Mr Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer of MAS, spoke on the pitfalls and promise of smart data analysis.]

Mr Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer of MAS spoke on ‘Financial Sector for Inclusion – Pitfalls and Promise of Smart Data Analysis’. In his speech, he opined that Big Data is the ‘new oil’ which will power economies and societies, but only if it is used responsibly. He expressed the hope that a code of conduct for Big Data could be established while at the same time maintaining an open and transparent eco-system. 

[Professor Ekkehart Boehmer (extreme right), Academic Director of SKBI, moderated the panel discussion on Smart Data Analytics.]

[Mr Piyush Gupta, CEO of DBS Group and Chairman of SKBI, gave the Opening Remarks at the conference dinner.]

The conference also saw a series of panel discussions by industry experts and scholars from organisations including OCBC Bank, A*STAR, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, University of Southampton and KPMG who explored the themes of Big Data Applications, Smart Data Analytics, and Experiences with Data/Analytics in Startups. The conference concluded with a dinner featuring a speech by Mr Piyush Gupta, CEO of DBS Group and Chairman of SKBI. The conference materials and gallery may be accessed here. 

SKBI is a Centre of Excellence for applied financial research, designed to benefit knowledge, industry, and society in Singapore and the region. In line with this mission, SKBI is committed to conducting fundamental and applied research that solves real-world issues in a way that will impact and transform business and society. Besides research, SKBI also engages in training and consultancy, executive education and research dissemination in top tier journals, and in organising courses, seminars, and conferences. Since its inception, SBKI has been providing a unique setting and platform for SMU faculty, Visiting Professors, researchers, students, industry practitioners, government agencies and other academic institutions to pioneer research and to contribute to the institute’s mission and to enhance our understanding of how new developments affect business.   

[Featured photo: Dr David Hardoon, Chief Data Officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, delivered the keynote speech at the 7^th Annual SKBI Conference.]