NatWest spends £2 million to launch a new center for innovation in banking with Edinburgh Uni
Please note that we are not authorised to provide any investment advice. The content on this page is for information purposes only.
As financial technologies continue to evolve, expand, and get deeper into the world of finance, many are excited to see what new possibilities may emerge along the way. This is why NatWest decided to speed up the process of innovating banking solutions by teaming up with the University of Edinburgh.
Together, the two intend to create a Center for Purpose-Driven Innovation in Banking. NatWest revealed that it has already invested £2 million into the project, indicating that it has great expectations of the new initiative.
NatWest and Edinburgh Uni are combining their strengths
The new unit will supposedly combine NatWest Group’s business insights with the research, data, and social science expertise provided by the University of Edinburgh. The idea is to build new, data-driven solutions that could improve and advance the future of banking.
The Center will not start entirely from scratch, however. The partners will build it on top of the previous joint work that University conducted with the banking group regarding technological innovation in financial services provision sector. This past joint work also looked into technologies that involve harnessing data for public good and education about the climate.
The new partnership is viewed as a strategic team-up, which is supported by Edinburgh Innovations — a commercialization service of the University of Edinburgh. The program is meant to last for five years, and NatWest’s initial commitment of £2 million is expected to cover the first two years of activity.
Who will be in charge of the new Center?
The Center will be led by the innovations hubs, including the Bayes Centre and Edinburgh Futures Institute It will have over 100 academics from the entire university to draw expertise and advice from at any given time. Innovation activity will include talent development and various skills that might be useful for bank staff and University students. It will even include challenge-led R&D activities. As for its goals, the Center intends to bring some of the newest academic developments and thinking regarding AI, data science, business, climate change, and also social sciences.
Combining all of these sectors will, hopefully, help the researchers with tackling some of the new and old issues found in the banking sector. The project also revealed that the Center will be co-directed by Professor Michael Rovatsos, who acts as the Chair of Artificial Intelligence at the School of Informatics. Professor Rovatsos will be joined by Professor Gbenga Ibikunle, who acts as the Chair of Finance at the Business School of the University of Edinburgh.
Dame Alison Rose, the acting CEO of NetWest, also commented on this development, stating that the combination of the University’s world-class research and social science expertise with NatWest’s own deep business and customer understanding will result in a unique partnership. This partnership will drive innovation and make sure that the customer experience is unmatched.
