The Promise and Future of New Financial Technology: For Better or for Worse?
|
|
Dates: June 7-8th, 2022 in Berkeley, California | Event Webpage
|
|
|
Breakthroughs in technologies such as blockchain, cryptocurrencies, mobile banking, investment apps, and digital credit are rapidly changing the global financial ecosystem and driving the creation of novel business models. The fintech revolution holds the promise of not only improving access and usage, but also of expanding the financial health and resilience of businesses and vulnerable populations; yet our understanding of many of its consequences has not kept pace with innovation.
The Lab for Inclusive Fintech (LIFT) and the Digital Credit Observatory (DCO) at the University of California, Berkeley, are excited to co-host an event on June 7-8 that brings together researchers, implementing partners, and policymakers to explore whether and how digital financial technologies can benefit underserved populations around the world.
The two-day event will feature novel research and stakeholder panels that will bring together new ideas and expertise across public, private, and NGO sectors to guide the next generation of studies, frame industry conversations and objectives, and inform policymaking. Sessions will take place in person at UC Berkeley, with the option to join remotely via livestream. For more information, please see the event webpage.
We are pleased to announce a list of confirmed speakers, with more to come:
- Joshua Blumenstock, University of California, Berkeley
- Laura Chioda, University of California, Berkeley
- Dante Disparte, Circle
- Arturo Franco, MasterCard Center for Inclusive Growth
- Seth Garz, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Paul Gertler, University of California, Berkeley
- Rachel Heath, University of Washington
- Sean Higgins, Northwestern University
- Ganesh Iyer, University of California, Berkeley
- Nitin Kholi, Center for Effective Global Action
- Elizabeth Li, Binance Charity
- Ulrike Malmendier, University of California, Berkeley
- Bill Maloney, World Bank Group
- Paolina Medina, Texas A&M University
- Denis Medvedev, International Finance Corporation
- Suraj Nair, University of California, Berkeley
- Lisa Nestor, Airtm
- Waldo Ojeda, Baruch College
- Scott Onder, Mercy Corp Ventures
- Eric Parrado, Inter-American Development Bank
- Christian Pennotti, CARE
- Bryan Pon, Kiva
- Silvia Prina, Northeastern University
- Jonathan Robinson, University of California, Santa Cruz
- Simone Schaner, University of Southern California
- Sophie Sirtaine, CGAP
- Ken Weber, Ripple Impact
Additional speakers and event agenda to be released shortly.
The DCO is managed by the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. LIFT is led by the Institute for Business & Social Impact (IBSI), with generous support from Ripple Impact and Binance Charity.
|
|
Additional Digital Credit Observatory Opportunities
|
|
Funding | DCO Data Privacy RFP
Deadline: June 22nd, 2022 | Learn more and apply here
Data privacy is increasingly studied in high-income country contexts, but little research on the topic has been done in LMIC contexts. The renewed DCO program has launched an RFP intended to fill that gap. We are interested in technical proposals that explore the potential for privacy enhancing technologies (PETs), as well as theoretical and qualitative work investigating data privacy concerns and possibilities for enhancing data privacy protections in LMICs. For more information, visit the RFP Announcement Page.
Event | Africa Evidence Summit
Dates: June 29-30th, 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda | Learn more and RSVP by June 13
CEGA's 10th Annual Africa Evidence Summit will bring together our network of East and West African scholars, U.S.-based faculty, policymakers, and practitioners in person in Kigali, Rwanda to share evidence related to poverty and development in the region and forge new connections. The event will feature research on COVID-19 and Development, the Impacts of Digital Credit, Data Privacy, and more. For a current agenda, more information, and to register to attend in person, see the event page.
|
|
|
**If a friend or colleague forwarded this message, make sure you are subscribed to the DCO newsletter so you don't miss future newsletters and event invitations!**
|
|
About the Digital Credit Observatory
The Digital Credit Observatory (DCO) is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and managed by the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), a hub for research on global development anchored at the University of California, Berkeley.
|
|
About CEGA
Research. Inspire. Change.
The Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) is a West Coast hub for research on global development. Headquartered at UC Berkeley, CEGA’s large, interdisciplinary network—including a growing number of scholars from low- and middle-income countries—identifies and tests innovations designed to reduce poverty and promote development. Our researchers use rigorous methods as well as novel measurement tools—including wireless sensors, mobile data, and analytics—to evaluate complex programs. Through careful matchmaking, competitive grantmaking, and research dissemination activities, CEGA ensures that the research we produce is relevant, timely, and actionable to policymakers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
