Thursday, March 24, 2022 – Twenty-five British Virgin Islands’ professionals began the first of its kind Fintech Training Programme on March 21, as the first cohort to nurture the BVI’s FinTech ecosystem.
During the launch of the Programme, Director of the HLSCC Robert Mathavious Institute for Financial Services, Dr. Derry A. Hodge, expressed excitement about the programme coming to fruition stating, “This evening is the culmination of many long hours of planning, thinking, strategising, overcoming obstacles, but all for a very good cause. I do not have to tell you that the world is changing and changing very quickly, and in order to remain relevant, we need to be up to speed with technology. It will help us to serve our customers better and also to maintain our competitive advantage.”
Dr. Hodge continued, “We have a fantastic cross-section of students, and that’s what you are from this point on, from very diverse backgrounds from both the public sector and the private sector.”
Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs Fisheries and Agriculture, Dr. the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley who also gave remarks said, “This Government has taken bold steps towards one of our goals which is e-government. With the passage of multiple pieces of legislation and the digitalisation of some of our processes, I see the realisation of these FinTech courses as the shot in the arm that we need, to advance the process of digitalisation in the public, private and even the civic sectors.”
Dr. the Honourable Wheatley then highlighted the support of the Ministry of Education stating, “I want to thank you Derry, Elise and Keith for keeping the fire burning and not allowing hurricanes or pandemics to deter us from reaching this very important goal. I am proud to partner with this effort by providing a donation of $60,000 on behalf of the Ministry of Education and the Government of the Virgin Islands. I ask that this historic first cohort of these Fintech courses, these 25 belongers make good use of this opportunity, and proudly present themselves as the ‘Vanguard’ of the movement to take the BVI’s economy, our governmental processes and our way of life to the next level.”
Dr. Chan Mun Kitt, Senior Director, Advanced Computing for Executives, at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) School of Computing, also was present and explained that Fintech courses are very popular in Singapore and that they are strongly supported by the Singapore government.
“I am happy that the BVI government has gone out of their way to bring this programme to the BVI and I am also happy with the support given by BVI’s Minister of Education to this programme. The facilitators are both faculty members and practitioners in the field of Fintech. I am very confident that you will benefit a lot from them. This is a course that is tailored and customised for you, and I hope that you will treasure this time with us and learn seriously on this, and the time that you invest is all worth it and I look forward to see all of you at the end of this programme benefiting from all the learning and graduating as proud graduates of this programme,” said Dr. Chan.
Associate Professor Keith B. Carter from NUS School of Computing also thanked the students for joining the programme saying, “You are going to be learning about what real artificial intelligence is, where we are with it and what is important about something called actionable intelligence. You are also going to be able to try out new technologies like robotic process automation…and of course how fintech is transforming business, but we want you to have the core tools. Ideally, technology, ways of thinking, [and how you can] bring it right back into your offices, whether its government or a business, they will provide a benefit.”
Due to the overwhelming interest and applications received, a second cohort is slated for later in 2022 and all participants will receive certification by the NUS School of Computing upon completion.
The programme is a collaborative project of the HLSCC: Robert Mathavious Institute for Financial Services; the National University of Singapore: School of Computing (FinTech Lab and Advanced Computing for Executives); BVI Finance Ltd.; and the Government of the Virgin Islands: Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture.
For further information please contact:
Adrianna Soverall
Marketing and Media Relations Coordinator
asoverall@bvifinance.vg |Tel: 284-852-1957