Banker to lead Sydney Fintech hub
Tim Stewart 16 April 2015
Australian-born Alex Scandurra has left his position in the UK to head Stone & Chalk, a collaborative not-for-profit centre for start-ups, financial institutions and technology companies. Mr Scandurra was most recently Barclays Bank's head of strategic partnerships, and also headed the 'Barclays Accelerator' program. He specialises in "innovation and entrepreneurial transformation", according to a statement. Stone & Chalk chair Craig Dunn described Mr Scandurra as a "leading driver of change in this field". "Alex is an ideal candidate for the job, given his unique leadership role in helping UK fintech start-ups and bringing about the Barclays fintech initiative with Techstars in London," Mr Dunn said. "London provides an excellent role model for Sydney to emulate – and Alex brings an invaluable understanding of this market, including a network of strong global relationships to help Australian fintech entrepreneurs." Mr Scandurra conceptualised and delivered the ‘Innovation Escalator’ entrepreneur hub in Europe, and was the major architect behind the Open Innovation Program which saw hundreds of start-ups pitch to win pilot projects with large organisations. Prior to his role at Barclays, he worked at Nokia for seven years and has also been a senior project engineer for Lend Lease. Mr Scandurra said he has worked closely with many fintech start-ups across multiple regions and industries over the past five years......read more http://www.mortgagebusiness.com.au/breaking-news/8379-banker-to-lead-sydney-fintech-hub
The start-up community has backed Treasurer Scott Morrison’s fintech reforms, announced today at Stone and Chalk in Sydney.
David Swan 21 March 2016
The raft of changes, including the establishment of a new fintech advisory group, could see Australia become the fintech Hub of Asia within years according to several start-up leaders who backed the reforms. The government package will help encourage some of Australia’s best and brightest bankers to leave the comfort of the ‘big four’ banks and venture out on their own with disruptive new ideas, according to Tyro Payments CEO Jost Stollman. Mr Stollmann said today marked a turning point, as political and regulatory barriers had been holding back Australia’s thriving fintech market for too long.........read more http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/treasurer-unveils-fintech-reforms/news-story/c23970f4d21bf6b7b21d3706581335f3
Australia must fight to become fintech hub of Asia
Stuart Stoyan November 13, 2015 9:16PM
Twenty-five million finance and legal workers around the world could find their roles being replaced by robots by 2020. That means computers will give you financial advice, do your credit checks, ensure against fraud and automate trading. The findings, revealed in a new Bank of America Merrill Lynch report, are startling, but not surprising - even the bank has recently announced it is developing a robo-advice product. The world is on the cusp of huge disruption and innovation, and the long-standing behemoths of the financial world are now being forced to take action. read more http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/business-spectator/australia-must-fight-to-become-fintech-hub-of-asia/news-story/dcf17a1f1fb392a4b04f89281085c3a3
Australian students lag Asia by three years
Biance Hall February 2012
A Grattan Institute report, to be released today, shows Australian performance has slipped since 2000, with maths students now more than two years behind children in Shanghai and one to two years behind children in Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea.
Australian students are still ahead of children in the United States, Britain and EU countries in reading, maths and science but results have dropped by 13 points on the OECD's Program for International Assessment score.
The report comes on the eve of the release of the biggest review of Australian schools funding in more than 30 years. On Monday, the government will release a review by businessman and academic David Gonski and its response to his report..........Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/australian-students-lag-asia-by-three-years-20120216-1tbt8.html#ixzz46Eu1ndnJ