PRESS RELEASES | NOV 05, 2017
HKU launches Asia’s First FinTech Online Course
As part of Hong Kong’s first FinTech Education Week following on Hong Kong FinTech Week last week, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) announced Asia’s first FinTech MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) at HKU FinTech Day on Monday, 30 October. FinTech – short for financial technology – is changing the world of finance faster than ever before, with the impact greatest across the Asia Pacific region. The course – Introduction to FinTech – will open for registration in January 2018 and commence in March 2018. Introduction to FinTech will be offered via the edX platform and will comprise 6 one-hour sessions running over a period of 6 weeks.
The MOOC will provide a foundational understanding of FinTech and is open to all. Structured in six modules, the course will cover: an introduction to FinTech; payment and infrastructure; traditional and alternative finance; data analytics, AI and monetization; RegTech; and customer interface. The MOOC will be taught by a combination of academic and practitioners as well as feature prominent guest speakers to illustrate the content with practical business examples. As with other HKU x edX MOOCs, the course will be free but with a charge of US$ 100 on completion for issuance of a certificate.
The original idea for the course came from discussions among Douglas Arner (Kerry Holdings Professor in Law, HKU), Janos Barberis (HKU PhD student and founder of one of Asia’s leading FinTech accelerators, SuperCharger) and Huy Nguyen Trieu (CEO of the Disruptive Group and Co-Founder of the Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship). The MOOC reflects deep engagement with FinTech at HKU. The course builds on existing teaching in the area: HKU launched the first course in FinTech in 2015, taught by Henri Arslanian (Adjunct Associate Professor, HKU and FinTech and RegTech Lead, China and Hong Kong, PwC). It is also based on world-leading research collaborations in the area with Ross Buckley (Scientia Professor and King & Wood Mallesons Chair of International Finance and Banking Law, UNSW Sydney) as well as with Cyberport via the HKU – Cyberport FinTech Nucleus.
In addition to Douglas Arner (HKU), Janos Barberis (HKU and SuperCharger), Huy Nguyen Trieu (CFTE), Henri Arslanian (HKU and PwC) and Ross Buckley (UNSW Sydney), the course will involve a range of experts, entrepreneurs and industry participants from around the world, including a number provided by Microsoft relating to underlying technologies. Production is being led by HKU’s Technology-Enriched Learning Initiative (TELI), with assistance from UNSW, SuperCharger and CFTE, all coordinated by Natalie Wong.
The announcement is part of a broader strategy of HKU to establish its leadership in FinTech and support the Human Capital development of Hong Kong. As a result the university continues to develop partnership with the startup eco-system and the professional services industry.
The MOOC will be available in English with both English and Chinese subtitles, with new additions of subtitles in other languages to be rolled out throughout the following few weeks.
The first promotional video as well as more details may be found on www.hkufintech.com
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