Participants agree: Recent Fin.Techsummit 2018 – Conference on Technological Innovations for the Financial Sector – has been a professional enrichment and networking experience for them.
It is not surprising to take into account the quality of speakers and the mix of themes presented, reflecting the latest developments in the various dimensions of the industry. The level of the event was also appreciated by foreign speakers and those who came from a record number of 15 countries.
The conference organizers also believe that highly professional events of this kind contribute to creating a more positive and innovative “fintech” environment not only in Slovakia but also in Central Europe. Some participants have also indicated that Europe is catching up in this respect. In his speech, for example, MEP Ivan Štefanec made it clear when he said that “The European Union is not a global leader in providing fintech services.” He also referred to a recent survey comparing our continent with the US, China, India and Japan. According to him, European company fines are on average smaller and there is less time than their overseas competitors; their growth is still hampering the persistent inconsistency of rules in the EU.
The program of the second year of the Fin.Techsummit conference, held in Bratislava on 14 November 2018, was divided into two streams entitled “Financial Market Automation” and “Future vs. Regulators. innovation “. In parallel, a hackathon – a nine-team development competition – and also B2B matching. The organizers have traditionally put emphasis on creating an environment for networking nearly 300 present professionals from the world of finance, information technology and startups. They could also listen to the views of people representing the public sphere, including the director of the Banking Department of the Ministry of Finance, Martin Petr, who spoke mainly about the new Financial Innovation Center and the British Ambassador Andrew Garth, whose embassy was also a partner of the event.
The organizational team’s perfectionist efforts have led to the realization of a truly beneficial meeting of experts, as many have subsequently stated. One of them was the internationally recognized financial market psychologist Thomas Oberlechner, a pioneer of the term “behavioral fintech”. His speech in the panel discussion attracted the deserved attention of the participants and he himself expressed satisfaction with the audience level and the topics of the conference. This recognition is underlined by the fact that it is an experienced presenter who has worked at top universities in Europe and the USA, including Harvard and MIT.
Two Londoners – Samir Parekh and Ambuj Agrawal from Zappy AI – were also pleased with the Bratislava conference. Their two entrances to this issue have also made their impact thanks to the good organization of the event and the professional composition of its participants, as they later stated.
Lydia Goutas, a New York-based molecular biologist, was another career world traveler (or rather a world traveler) at the Fin.Techsummit 2018 conference, but through managerial positions she managed to manage the international headhunting agency in Vienna. “Great thanks for being part of the Fin.Techsummit – I felt it was even better than the previous year and that the interest was fantastic,” she wrote after returning.
Finally, it is also important to evaluate the partners and supporters of the Fin.Techsummit conference without which it could not be organized – at least not in the quality and scope. The exclusive partner was Tatra banka, which also initiated and sponsored this year’s hackathon theme; it was related to the development of front-end parts of the client chat. Interest in the hackathon has exceeded expectations, as Tatra banka’s deputy Katarína Béžová also confirmed; 15 teams signed up, the jury selected nine finalists who developed and presented their solutions. The Slovak Magic team eventually became the winner of this international competition.
The conference supporters also include sli.do, who knows the taste of international success and has also provided the organizers with an assessment. Participants from this company ranked among the biggest positives of networking, good, often discovery themes, international and multisectoral character and program choices.
And what is the rating and insights of the organizers themselves? “This year, we have moved the quality of the Fin.Techsummit even higher. I think we managed to design themes and speakers in such a way that the participants made perfect sense, and they appreciated it, ”said Davy Tajko, CEO of Future Proof, which organizes Fin.Techsummit, as well as other conferences. “As a cherry, we perceive the response to the quality of the designs of our second year of Hackaton, which positively surprised all those involved – the sponsor, the facilitator, but also the participants themselves. It shows the quality of our generation of people dealing with developments in this area. We are very pleased that we have top developers in Slovakia and we have created an opportunity for them to have interesting cooperation, ”he added.
How will the next edition look like? The organizers also decided, on the basis of feedback from the participants, that the Fin.Techsummit 2019 will have a larger format, its program will be even richer and will also take place in a new term – in September. To the Techsummit Events conference series, Davy Tajko said: “This fifth conference this year has completed a very successful year of innovative artists’ conferences. A lot of work is waiting for us to create an attractive “fintech” environment in the region. We are preparing a deeper analysis of the CEE ecosystem, which we have de facto mapped through our events. As a fast growing company with a clear vision to be a leader in the CEE region, we are preparing new formats and new topics for next year. We keep in touch with our fans, ”he promised.
According to him, in the next year, the organizers want to further emphasize the support of the industry’s fines by competent authorities. Their invited representatives should therefore get even more space for the next Fin.Techsummite.
