No. 24/276/DKom
Bank Indonesia (BI) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub announced the TechSprint 2022 competition winners on the theme of central bank digital currency (CBDC) at the hybrid G20 TechSprint 2022 Awards Ceremony & 3rd CBDC Seminar held today (12/10) in Jakarta. Launched in April 2022, the international competition is an integral part of the series of events during Indonesia's G20 Presidency. The TechSprint competition entries are expected to catalyse sustainable technology development to welcome the development of wholesale and retail CBDC moving forwards. The announcement follows the news of 21 finalists from 99 participants as reported in Press Release No. 24/178/DKom, dated 12th July 2022.
An independent jury panel of 11 experts assessed the prototype solutions presented by the finalists and agreed three winning teams. The winner in each problem statement category was announced by BI Governor, Perry Warjiyo, directly from Washington DC at the IMF Annual Meetings 2022 and 4th G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors as follows:
- Team Dragonfly FinTech from Singapore, winners of the 'Implementing Effective and Robust Issuance, Distribution and Transference' category with the 'End-to-End CBDC Solution'
- Team Bitt-IDEMIA from United States, winners of the 'Enabling Financial Inclusion' category with the 'Secure Offline CBDC Payment Solution'
- Team Partior from Singapore, winners of the 'Enabling Connectivity and Interoperability' category with the “Project Naucratis: Enabling Connectivity & Interoperability for mCBDC' solution
Governor Perry took the opportunity to outline three main issues in the development of CBDC. First, central banks must be able to determine the optimal CBDC design to meet policy objectives for implementation and to mitigate the risks. CBDC must function as sovereign public goods that can meet public needs in accordance with the mandate and objectives of the central bank. Second, well-designed CBDC, retail CBDC in particular, could help overcome financial inclusion barriers, including by providing offline capabilities, low-cost transactions and data portability. Notwithstanding, financial inclusion must be achieved immediately rather than waiting for or just relying on CBDC. Third, CBDC must have interconnectivity, interoperability and integration (3i) with financial market infrastructure and payment systems as well as the potential to strengthen cross-border payments by reducing friction through technical regulations in terms of compatibility, interfaces and technology platforms.
Governor Perry also expressed his sincere appreciation to all participants for their best efforts and innovative ideas to support and provide benefits through CBDC development moving forward.
At the same event, the General Manager of BIS, Agustin Carstens, described three important components for the future of the monetary system. First, wholesale CBDC that can accommodate central bank transactions with financial institutions. Second, retail CBDC and fast payment systems for the public interest. Third, multi-CBDC arrangements for cross-border transactions. BIS continues to work intensively with central and private banks to provide innovative solutions to overcome the challenges posed by CBDC. The solutions proposed by the TechSprint winners will contribute to CBDC design. Furthermore, the BIS General Manager expressed appreciation to Indonesia as G20 President in 2022, and for the full support of BI, the jury panel and dedicated winners.
Strengthening preparations for CBDC implementation, the TechSprint Awards Ceremony also presented a CBDC-themed seminar that covered two main topics of discussion. First, the choice of technology and design to optimise the benefits and minimise the risks of CBDC. Second, fostering financial innovation through CBDC technology and programming features. Raphael Auer, Head of Eurosystem Centre of the BIS Innovation Hub, and Erik Koenen from Google were invited as moderators for the first and second sessions respectively. The discussions featured presentations from the TechSprint 2022 competition winners along with experts and practitioners, including Policy Analyst, OECD, Iota Nassr; Advisor, BIS, Sonja Davidovic; Head of BIS Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre, Benedicte Nolens; Financial Research Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Antoine Martin; and Director-General of Digital Currency Institute, the People's Bank of China, Mu Changchun.
The discussions also reviewed appropriate CBDC design aspects to nurture the development and strengthen domestic payment systems and cross-border payments. Many central banks are conducting CBDC research to assess the technologies, technical designs and impacts on macroeconomic and financial stability. CBDC must be developed while taking into consideration the interactions between each policy, technology choice and economic impact.
The full list of jury members is available via the Appendix. To watch the finalists' presentations, as part of the judging process, please visit the BI YouTube channel. More information about G20 TechSprint 2022 is available via www.g20techsprint.id.
Congratulations winners!
Jakarta, 12th October 2022
Contact Person:
Bank Indonesia Communication Department
Junanto Herdiawan
Director
Information about Bank Indonesia
Tel. 021-131, Email: bicara@bi.go.id
