The Central Bank (BC) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), known as the central bank of central banks, launched the global G20 TechSprint competition today (25th). This fifth edition of the competition focuses on sustainable financial solutions. Participation is open to any company, fintech or individual in the world, which will allow international connections, and registrations are open until May 31st.
Brazil is the president of the G20, which brings together the world’s largest economies, until the end of the year, and has defended the discussion and search for sustainable solutions within the group. This year’s TechSprint will focus on three issues related to sustainable finance to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and inclusion.
During the event, Roberto Campos Neto, president of the BC, stated that unprecedented climate, environmental and social challenges can affect the work of central banks in two ways. One is monetary policy and financial stability, when events such as floods and droughts affect food and energy prices, hence inflation. The second impact, in the long term, is that these shocks have lasting effects on productivity and economic growth. The BC has an agenda with several initiatives linked to sustainability.
The three challenges are nature-based solutions, that is, technological solutions that encourage and attract sustainable and inclusive investments in biodiversity and nature conservation. The other is ESG, with the search for new technologies to improve the quality, reliability and granularity of ESG data, which improves, for example, due diligence and risk management disclosure.
The third is SDG, in which open source solutions are sought to support financial decisions and capital allocation aligned with UN goals. This includes, for example, biodiversity conservation, climate change, clean energy, financial education and inclusion, poverty reduction.
Registrations for the hackathon, prototype construction and online evaluation of project proposals are made through the Apix platform. Selected teams will develop solutions for eight weeks and will have the opportunity to present them and receive support from national institutions and invited experts. Fenasbac, which develops innovation programs with the BC, also participates in the initiative.
An independent panel of experts will choose one winning solution for each challenge. The announcement of the winners will be in November, according to Fabio Araujo, project coordinator of Drex at the Central Bank, during the hackathon’s announcement. The winner of each category will receive a prize of US$ 25,000 (about R$ 125,000). All selected projects will receive a scholarship of US$ 5,000 (about R$ 25,000).
Benedicte Nolens, who leads the BIS innovation hub in Hong Kong, stated that the competition is free and among the benefits of participating are connecting with other participants from around the world and presenting cases at events.
Watch the TechSprint 2024 launch video:
