BIS and Bank Indonesia Launch the Third G20 TechSprint Focused on CBDCs
by Fintech News Indonesia April 26, 2022The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub and Bank Indonesia has launched the third G20 TechSprint Initiative, focused on developing new solutions for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
The initiative will be one of the side events of Indonesia’s G20 Presidency.
The G20 TechSprint Initiative 2022 is a “hackathon” that invites global innovators to develop new solutions for issuing and distributing CBDCs.
The BIS Innovation Hub and Bank Indonesia have published three problem statements in the following categories for the 2022 TechSprint.
The first would be to build effective and robust means to issue, distribute and transfer CBDCs as there is a need to optimise various processes. New capabilities, such as programmability of money, could also result in provisioning of new and innovative services to customers.
The second would be to enable financial inclusion as CBDCs also offer an opportunity to overcome barriers facing the unbanked and underbanked.
The last problem statement is focused on improving interoperability. CBDCs can help to improve and enable connections and linkages in payment systems, enhancing connectivity and interoperability.
Interested participants can compete and develop innovative solutions to these problems using the appointed APIX hackathon platform, which facilitates registration, prototype building and online judging of project proposals.
Shortlisted teams will be announced in mid-June 2022 and will be invited to showcase their prototypes in a workshop in July for feedback from national authorities and invited experts.
An independent panel of experts will choose the winning solutions, to be announced in October.
The winners for each category (problem statement) will receive an award of IDR 770,000,000 (about US$53,000). All short-listed projects receive a stipend of IDR 145,000,000 (about US$10,000).
Agustín Carstens
Agustín Carstens, General Manager of the BIS said,
“There is a collective belief that CBDCs have potential for promoting the public interest in this age of digital money. Trust in money is the glue that holds the financial system together.
It is for this reason that, as technology advances, central banks must ensure that the monetary system remains fundamentally a public good and preserve its stability.”
Perry Warjiyo, Governor of Bank Indonesia said,
Perry Warjiyo
“Through the G20 TechSprint 2022, we aim to foster and challenge the international community to propose and deliver the most practical and deployable solutions in designing and implementing CBDCs.”
