The Bank of England announces a cloud-based data and analytics platform after facing criticism
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Recently, the Bank of England faced criticism from an independent review that commented on “nervousness” when it comes to adopting new technology. In response, the BofE announced that it is building a cloud-based data and analytics platform,
A new cloud strategy for the BofE
Following the publication of the review, the UK’s central bank announced that it intends to embark on a seven-step refresh of its data and analytics strategy.
James Benford, the director for data and analytics transformation at the Bank of England explained the new plan in a speech he made earlier this week. He said that the new cloud strategy, at its core, represents an ambition to manage the bank’s data on the cloud. The bank intends to move most, or maybe even all of its data to the cloud unless a new reason against doing so emerges.
He also noted that the components of the architecture have all been agreed on by now and that the move represents the North Star for every live project and program that embodies technological change in the Bank of England. Benford said that the bank’s goal is to transfer all of its data in time, and place it in one lake, or have it connected to the lake.
Either way, it will be described in a single, searchable catalog, and connected with a built-in set of analytical tools.
The Bank of England to introduce several AI pilots
While the bank’s plans for a cloud-based data and analytics platform represent a rather significant change in the way it will store and secure data, this is only a portion of its plans. Moving forward, the Bank of England also intends to introduce a set of AI pilots as part of its modernization program.
This will be a sort of AI task force, which will conduct a number of tasks. For example, it will oversee testing for a set of tightly-defined use cases in different parts of the business.
Speaking more on this matter, Benford said that the Bank of England is choosing specific pilots to hone an AI portfolio that has good coverage across different areas of the Bank. He concluded by saying that this will be of great help when it comes to exploring all areas of recent advances in Artificial Intelligence research and development.
In the end, the new plans for the future are considered to be a good thing, although, even though they will affect over 2,000 financial institutions that report to the bank. Still, the UK has been making an effort to stay up to date with new technologies, and the BofE’s seven-step plan is just another example of that.
