FinTech 2019, and other ruminations on the paper chase, life and incubators
For four years in a row, the Singapore FinTech Festival has proven once again why it is the biggest FinTech event in the world; during one week, the world’s financial technology community shared a great platform where we could connect, collaborate and co-create.
This year FinTech boasted 60k+ visitors and participants from 130 countries. It centered on four mayor themes: Sustainability, Finance and Tech; Future of Finance; Investment and Global Markets Opportunities, and: Exponential Technologies.
The expo organization challenged the community to harness its power to “create a greener world and, in particular, a greener financial system”; with growing issues like energy consumption and climate change, businesses and governments are now asked to “have a purpose”, and focus on finding greener and more sustainable solutions to problems like the energy usage of cloud computing, which is changing the world´s climate even as I write.
For me, it was a week of inspiration from the players of this new vision of future, who are reshaping the world as it is. It´s kind of humbling. And very, very exciting.
Although I am not a tech man per se, my company does work with tech companies, so I am always looking for ways to educate myself in the subject in order to better understand and meet the needs of our clients.
Projects RH is currently working with two tech companies. This has drawn me into the world of incubators. It is a world which mirrors life. It has imagination, courage, initiative, self-sacrifice and determination. Our new business “squires” are not dressed in the fineries of future knights but have the qualities to be a future leader.
I vividly remember a discussion with my mother when I was in year 11. Her hope for me was a couple of degrees a good job with the bank or oil company, meet a nice girl and get married. Oh, has the world changed.
Our world demands flexibility, authenticity, courage and belief in self.
I have learned that the tech world is not just filled with idealistic 20 year old’s. Projects RH, in both its tech assignments, is working with qualified entrepreneurs who have at least 20 years practical experience. They have shown real courage in putting all on the line in the belief that they can commercialise their vision. Fortunately for me, Projects RH has been engaged to assist them once their vision has been turned into a prototype which can be commercialised.
We are energised by their enthusiasm and their call to hold them in their cause. They have overcome the naysayers and even their own self-doubt to get to the point where we can help.
They have accepted the challenge to be agile and nimble, to live life on a shoestring and ask others to share their vision. They have real skin in the game and have accepted life’s challenges. After long careers, each of the entrepreneurs had accepted that they live in an imagination age. Mark Hodgson, in his work Time to Shine, draws our attention to key fact that we live in the imagination age and that the information and technical ages are behind us.
I remember studying “Learning the Law” by Glanville Williams but enjoying “The Paper Chase” by John Osborn. Osborn’s novel is set at Harvard Law School and his key character was a Professor Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. Kingsfield unlike Williams focused on thinking, he wanted his students to think like lawyers. In the imagination age education remains important as it teaches students to think. Cutting-edge technology needs to be applied and that takes knowledge and imagination, plus perhaps inspiration that definitely application.
Both of projects RH’s clients demonstrate that they have accepted they need for the application of cutting edge technology but their selling point is they stir the imagination and an understanding of what drives their respective consumers.
Mafematica (
www.mafematica.com.au) addresses the issue of how do I manage my assets to get the most retirement. There are some 650,000 SMSF’s (self managed superannuation funds) in Australia today their owners are seeking the best retirement for themselves and others. This app allows them to simulate changes in their investment portfolios and work out the optimum portfolio for them. The key is they can do it when it suits them.
BuildAnApp (
www.buildanapp.com.au) allows a technician to build an application which enables their principal not only to send messages to parties using their app but to have an individual dialogue. This is a substantial step forward in dealing with your client. For me it means when the gym instructor says I’m available at 11 on Saturday I can say no 11:30 and he says OK.
We read many stories which suggest that there will be less jobs in the future. I would rather think that the nature of work will change and that many of the repetitive jobs will disappear. This will open the way for us, human race, to use our imagination to take as even further.
Given this month´s FinTech 2019 as a global platform to connect with those who are changing the world, it is timely to think that is the human imagination that will take us into the future.
Paul Raftery
