FinTech Scotland develops roadmap for growth of financial technology sector

FinTech Scotland is developing a ten-year research and innovation roadmap to support the growth of Scotland’s digital economy and the fintech sector across the UK.

It is intended that the roadmap will advance Scotland’s fintech sector in a number of ways, including developing priority areas of innovation such as financial inclusion, net zero and wellbeing.

Other themes covered by the roadmap include aligning research strengths and capabilities with innovation priorities, influencing future government innovation strategies and building Scotland’s reputation for fintech innovation nationally and internationally.

The roadmap implements one of the recommendations highlighted in the recent Kalifa FinTech Sector Review, which referenced Scotland as the second largest fintech cluster in the UK.

The review said there was an opportunity to build on that position through strategic research and innovation.

The roadmap is being developed in collaboration with the Global Open Finance Centre of Excellence (GOFCoE) and together they have appointed Whitecap Consulting to progress the initiative.

It also builds on the FinTech Scotland ‘Research and Innovation for UK FinTech’ report published in January 2021, as well as the academic-led research and innovation roadmap recently developed by the Edinburgh Futures Institute at the University of Edinburgh.

 Nicola Anderson, chief executive of FinTech Scotland, said: “The roadmap will further advance and grow Scotland’s fintech cluster and it will bring insight and specific focus to accelerate fintech innovation.

“Working with Whitecap Consulting and across the cluster we will identify a suite of progressive actions that will enable positive economic outcomes”.

Richard Coates, managing director of Whitecap Consulting, said: “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work alongside FinTech Scotland and the GOFCoE team on this interesting project.

“The development of FinTech Scotland’s research and innovation roadmap calls for us to utilise a combination of our core strength in strategy and planning, our extensive work across the UK’s regional fintech ecosystems, and our experience working with and connecting key stakeholders across public, private and higher education organisations.”