Asia’s annual flagship fintech event, “Hong Kong FinTech Week”, was taken place from 2 to 6 November 2020, featuring a variety of online events which aim at connecting experts from around the world to discuss the future trends and challenges of the fintech industry. PolyU hosted a webinar titled “FinTech Development and Opportunities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA)” on the first day of Hong Kong FinTech Week, to explore ways to address the talent need of the fintech industry and support the fast-paced development in GBA.
More than half of the 600 fintech companies in Hong Kong have indicated that they are operating in or plan to expand into other cities of the GBA. Given the huge demand for manpower by the rapidly growing fintech market, the Department of Computing (COMP) has launched fintech-related undergraduate and postgraduate programmes to provide fintech education and training at different levels to cope with the rising need for fintech talents.
At the webinar, Dr Walter Fung, Teaching Fellow of COMP, and Dr Bin Xiao, Associate Professor of COMP, introduced our BSc (Hons) in Financial Technology & Artificial Intelligence and MSc in Information Technology respectively. The BSc (Hons) in FinTech & AI programme equips students with good fundamental computing knowledge with a focus in AI, sound finance concepts, strong intellectual and practical skills to apply computing technologies in finance and related areas. On the other hand, the MSc in IT provides a choice for students to concentrate their postgraduate studies with a Stream in AI & FinTech.
Scholars and industry leaders were also invited to share their insights into the outlook of fintech in GBA. Dr Henry Chan, Associate Head of COMP, joined as one of the panelists in the roundtable discussion on how fintech shapes the future of financial services in GBA. The panel analysed the strategies to facilitate talent development and explored possible tactics to ride on the upcoming mega trend of fintech innovation and digital transformation.
