MAS Launches Global Challenge to Accelerate Innovation in Responsible AI Solutions

7/13/2021                                          MAS Launches Global Challenge to Accelerate Innovation in Responsible AI Solutions

       Media Releases
     Published Date: 12 July 2021

     MAS Launches Global Challenge to Accelerate
     Innovation in Responsible AI Solutions

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7/13/2021                                          MAS Launches Global Challenge to Accelerate Innovation in Responsible AI Solutions

     Singapore, 12 July 2021… 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.

     2 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.

     3 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.

     4 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.”

     5 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”.

     6 Interested parties are encouraged to submit their applications for the Global Veritas
     Challenge here  by 30 July 2021.

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7/13/2021                                          MAS Launches Global Challenge to Accelerate Innovation in Responsible AI Solutions

     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.
                                                                                 ***
                                                                                                                                        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.

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7/13/2021                                          MAS Launches Global Challenge to Accelerate Innovation in Responsible AI Solutions

     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.

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7/13/2021                                          MAS Launches Global Challenge to Accelerate Innovation in Responsible AI Solutions

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