FCA Opens Up Digital Sandbox Access to Prevent Innovation ‘Cliff Edge’

of Financial Conduct Authority will permanently make its digital sandbox available starting August 1, 2023, to open up the platform to a wider range of enterprises, start-ups and data providers to foster innovation and growth.

A digital sandbox acts as a testing ground, allowing early stage companies to conduct experiments and validate product concepts during the development phase.

In addition to supporting innovators, the Permanent Sandbox will also invite data providers to submit their data for inclusion on the platform. Doing so will not only increase your traffic, but will also give you access to valuable insights about your data usage.

Until now, the platform was only temporarily available to those participating in pilots and “techprints.”

From October 2020 to February 2021, the FCA will: City of London Corporation Accepted were 28 organizations focused on issues impacted or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The second pilot City of London Corporation with 12 companies.

By perpetuating this, FCA said the digital sandbox has shown that collaboration and access to data can drive profitable innovation in the marketplace. We currently have 2,445 registered users, 17 public datasets, 2 billion synthetic data records, and 1,000 onboard APIs.

Sandbox insights

Matt Rowemanager, digital and data Financial Conduct Authority provided insight into the evolution of the digital sandbox. Fintech North Newcastle Conference 2023 on thursday.

“I’m really excited to see this come to fruition,” Lowe said. “We’ve been experimenting with this digital sandbox concept for quite some time, and it’s something I’ve been working on for a long time.

The digital sandbox should be dynamic, and that is one of its core principles. We want to make sure that the platform is constantly evolving and so is the data that enters it. We want to see new typologies such as money laundering data and better synthetic data.

What we want to do from August 1st is to expose the Digital Sandbox and all its assets to the wider community. We dont want a cliffhanger in development.

Features of Digital Sandbox

Participants have continuous access to many valuable resources in a digital sandbox.

1. Extensive datasets and APIs: Access a wide range of over 200 high-quality datasets, including synthetic, public and anonymized datasets. Additionally, participants can leverage her 1,000+ APIs to test and validate technology solutions. These datasets include various domains such as payment and transaction data, social media data, investment data, company information, and credit data.
2. Robust data security: The platform features an integrated development environment that encourages experimentation while maximizing the protection of all data assets available on the platform. Security measures are in place to protect sensitive information.
3. Collaborative environment: A digital sandbox fosters diversity of thought and provides a collaborative platform to foster learning and exchange of ideas among participating teams, observers, and mentors. This ecosystem fosters innovation and collective problem-solving.
4. Observatory: There is an observatory for interested parties such as regulators and incumbents. This feature gives these stakeholders a technical level view of ongoing testing activities, promoting transparency and knowledge sharing within the sandbox.

‘A step forward’

Dr. Henry BarraniGlobal Head of Industry and Regulatory Affairs for KYC Solution Providers Encompass Co., Ltd.said FCA’s move is a positive step to support innovation, especially for regtech providers striving to deliver technology solutions that deliver significant business benefits.

Importantly, this approach actively supports the development and testing of financial instruments in a safe, robust and non-disruptive manner, from which lessons can be learned, said Dr. Bharani.

RegTech has an increasingly important role to play as financial institutions seek a balance between meeting an evolving and tightening regulatory environment and maximizing their operations.

Promotion of economic growth

in the meantime, Shiraz SaleemChief Technology Officer, FX Management Consulting Company DKK Partners, described its efforts to foster innovation and business support in the UK as ‘excellent’.

Technology is evolving at an incredible pace, and we should not fear this, but rather look to take advantage of it. Small businesses are engines of innovation, but many lack the support they need to grow, and now is the time to meet that need.

“Support from public bodies such as the FCA will enable companies in multiple sectors to further develop their technology offerings in areas such as foreign exchange, helping to propel the UK forward in the global innovation race.

This will not only help businesses, it will also make the UK an attractive destination for countries around the world wishing to reap the benefits technology can bring, ultimately boosting economic growth.

“Passion for Innovation”

Based in London Nayawan said they were very happy to win the tender to offer the digital sandbox.

We are passionate about empowering and supporting the future of financial innovation and the incredible growth of the UK technology ecosystem.

Details on how to apply and what the FCA is looking for are below. now available here From August 1, 2023. Subjects including banking, investment, lending, payments, insurance, pensions, wholesale buy-side, wholesale sell-side, and cross-sector are welcome.