Tom Zschach, SWIFT’s Chief Innovation Officer, discusses the challenges and opportunities facing the innovation community as they compete in this year’s virtual Discover Perfect Pitch competition and Sibos Hackathon. </em></strong></p> Tom Zschach</figcaption></figure></div> Q: What are you looking for from fintechs entering the Discover Perfect Pitch competition?</strong></p> A: </strong>We are looking for the best and brightest fintechs that are leveraging cutting-edge and emerging technologies to solve major challenges. We have 12 categories across three streams - leadership, humanity/society and sustainability – and want fintechs to be able to give us clear examples of how their offering fits into the category they are applying for.</p> We will consider entries from ambitious fintechs of all sizes, although do need to see some progress beyond the embryonic proof-of-concept stage of a company’s development. We encourage all early stage fintechs with a promising vision and proposition, who are keen to expand into new areas, to apply.</p> Q: How can fintechs stand out and demonstrate the value of their proposition to the Sibos community?</strong></p> A:</strong> We want to see fintechs who can clearly and strongly articulate their value proposition, supported by real evidence, for example from customers. We will consider applications from early stage companies, but they must be able to demonstrate they can scale their idea. </p> A huge boost will be if entrants can demonstrate how their value proposition fits into the financial services ecosystem. Discover is about collaboration with fintechs and we want to see the value a fintech is adding - how they make one plus one equal three. Are they, for example, the essential partner in an alliance that brings the industry together? Do they offer a unique way of collecting and connecting new data or information? </p> Most importantly, we want to see results and a clear vision. While ambition and the character of a team is no doubt important, particularly in the current environment, we also want to know how they have adapted and pivoted their business for success.</p> Q: What can Sibos and SWIFT offer to fintechs that win?</strong></p> A:</strong> We will provide winners with access to venture capital leaders as well as valuable contacts within the traditional Sibos community. Fintechs will receive a comprehensive consultancy package to help them grow and continue to achieve. This will include input and guidance from a wide range of experts – including those on our specially assembled panel - from across the industry and within SWIFT.</p> Q: Why is it more important than ever to connect fintechs with the ‘traditional’ Sibos community?</strong></p> A:</strong> Collaboration is key to addressing the challenges facing the financial services industry. The solutions for adapting to the biggest trends on the horizon are broader than any one industry participant. The current environment has thrown up new challenges that no one could have foreseen and collaboration will be essential to making it through as an industry, stronger than ever before. </p> It also important for our industry to be as diverse as possible to solve the challenges that we face. Fintechs are an essential part of the financial services ecosystem and we need ideas from different organisations and people, including different geographies and cultures, to deliver true inspiration, ideas and innovation.</p> Q: Which skills are most important for teams entering the Sibos Hackathon and what additional challenges will they have to overcome this year? </strong></p> A: </strong> Teams are likely to be tackling the Hackathon while spread across different geographies around the world. This poses new challenges but the skills they need to succeed are, in many ways, the same. This year’s hackers need to demonstrate teamwork and an ability to self-organise. They also need to really solve a problem and be clear about the value of their solution.</p> Q: What’s your advice on how to tackle the challenges of competing remotely?</strong></p> A:</strong> The most obvious challenge is working across different time zones. My advice is the same that I give to internal teams: be open to listening and learning from your colleagues. Teams may need to spend more time communicating, but in order to make that communication productive they must truly consider the value of what their team mates are saying, encouraging an environment where the best ideas are expressed and then taken forward. </p> We also want teams to be ambitious with their solutions, think big and push boundaries. It’s much easier to aim high, and reel it back in slightly, than it is to start small and try to expand your ambition from there.</p> Q: What are the greatest untapped data opportunities that teams should be thinking about in this year’s Hackathon? </strong></p> A:</strong> There are a lot of data and machine learning opportunities that people still don’t fully understand. I would encourage our Hackathon teams to think about data diversity, rather than becoming siloed in specific data streams. Teams should think about how to make their approach to data as diverse as possible and then look at where they can find new correlations. Ingenuity springs from exploration and discovery of previously unconnected relationships, and data diversity can deliver these opportunities and even drive financial inclusion. </p> We would also encourage teams to think more widely than a specific endpoint or result. Teams should have goals that they aim towards but remain open to innovation in terms of other ideas that may arise as they go through their process, but which they had not previously considered. </p> That said, they should begin by defining a clear strategy that lays the groundwork for innovation. Much like what we want to see from teams competing in the Discover Perfect Pitch competition, our Hackathon participants should articulate a clear value proposition which can be scaled; additional benefits such as new and unintended applications, ideas and innovation will flow from there.</p>