New Rubric: Integrity Report 2017
Citibank invites tech firms from around the world to help fight corruption
Global banking giant Citigroup is trying to eliminate public sector corruption and improve transparency, in a new global challenge that has drawn thousands of entries from around the world.
The so-called “Citi Tech for Integrity Challenge (T4I)” offers technology companies an opportunity to innovate in the areas of financial transactions, cyber security or financial education. The aim is to commercialize as many ideas presented as possible.
“We wanted to encourage technology innovators from around the world to help public sector entities increase transparency and promote integrity building,” says Citibank Korea head of corporate banking, Myung-Soon Yoo.
Corruption costs at least 2 trillion US-Dollars a year, according to the International Monetary Fund, affecting more than 1 billion people.
“That’s why we drew on the expertise in the public and private sector to find solutions to pain points which the public sector identified,” Yoo adds.
The response was overwhelming: There were more than 1059 registrations and participants from over 70 countries and 300 cities.
The tech solutions received through the challenge have been evaluated by a jury in summer 2017, and selected finalists had an opportunity to showcase their innovations to a wide audience at ‘Demo Day’ events in Abu Dhabi, Dublin, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Singapore, and Hyderabad.
“There were many great ideas in each of the demo days,” remembers Myung-Soon Yoo. “One example from Buenos Aires was a solution that minimizes the risk of identity theft by capturing biometrics, personal documents, and GPS locations, offering a comparison of an ID photograph with a live detection feature.”
For more information on the “Citi Tech for Integrity Challenge”, please see https://www.techforintegritychallenge.com/ or contact OpenInnovation@citi.com .