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Center for Research toward Advancing Financial Technologies (CRAFT)

The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the Center author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Center Overview

The Center for Research toward Advancing Financial Technologies (CRAFT) is devoted to research on finance and technology, a combination known as fintech. The fintech industry is growing as a result of advances in computer science and in hardware, software, and applications that affect all other industries and economic sectors.

CRAFT brings together industry partners, academic researchers, federal agencies, and students to conduct and advance interdisciplinary fintech research, innovation, and workforce training in support of new technologies often associated with innovation and growth, including new products, services, and ventures. CRAFT aims to contribute to a more vibrant economy through research projects that will allow policymakers and industry participants to better understand the benefits and risks of potentially disruptive technologies — and thus manage those risks, reducing the possibility of unintended consequences. Its projects will also lead to technologies and processes that can be used in education and training.

Universities

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stevens Institute of Technology

View Center Website

Center Personnel

George Calhoun
Center Managing Director
+1 201 216 8160
gcalhoun@stevens.edu

Aparna Gupta
Center Co-Director
+1 518 276 2757
guptaa@rpi.edu

Steve Yang
Center Director
+1 201 216 3394
steve.yang@stevens.edu

Research Focus

CRAFT combines its existing fundamental technological research with finance and management knowledge to focus on fintech. Cross-disciplinary teams work with industry to define challenges and search for solutions, supporting innovations in core financial services such as trading, investing, payments, lending, and insurance, and develop innovations in important segments of the real economy, such as health care, supply chains, energy sustainability, and green finance.

The technological research draws from machine learning, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, network analytics, information systems, quantum computing, distributed ledgers, and associated smart contract technologies. CRAFT strives to discover technologies and processes that can be used to help industry participants build new services and applications to support policy and regulatory needs.

Awards

2113850

IUCRC Phase I RPI: Center for Research toward Advancing Financial Technologies (CRAFT)

This project establishes the Center for Research toward Advancing Financial Technologies (CRAFT) devoted to research on fintech, the conjunction of finance and technology. The fintech industry is growing as a result of advances in computer science coupled with practical advances in computing hardware, and it affects almost all other industries in the broader economy. The vision of CRAFT is to bring together industry partners, academic researchers, federal agencies, and students to conduct and advance interdisciplinary fintech research, innovation, and workforce training in support of new products, services and ventures. CRAFT @Rensselaer brings a range of complementary capabilities combining Rensselaer’s well-established strengths in computer science, data sciences, and quantitative finance, and focusing on specific methodological thrusts in machine learning, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, distributed ledger technologies, and network analytics. The center will support innovations in core financial services, such as, trading, investing, payments, lending, and insurance, and develop innovations in important segments of the real economy, such as, health care, supply chains, sustainability & green finance. CRAFT @Rensselaer will also conduct research on developing and evaluating financial technologies innovations and their applications to support policy and regulatory needs. CRAFT will have a broad impact on the economy by helping to better understand the benefits and risks of potentially disruptive technologies. The research projects will allow policy makers and industry participants to better understand and manage risks, thus reducing the possibility of unintended consequences and disruptions. Since new technologies are often associated with innovation and growth, CRAFT may contribute to a more vibrant economy. With respect to education, the projects will lead to technologies and processes that can be used in education and training. The proposed workshops for high school students will broaden participation in all disciplines. The center repository will be hosted at Stevens library. The data, code, and the results of projects will be well organized and maintained on the CRAFT server according to the Center data management policy for at least ten years or longer. After the training modules and software packages are documented and tested, they will be released and made available through popular public code hosting services such as GitHub. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. Read More >

2113906

IUCRC Phase I Stevens: Center for Research toward Advancing Financial Technologies (CRAFT)

This project establishes the Center for Research toward Advancing Financial Technologies (CRAFT) devoted to research on fintech, the conjunction of finance and technology. The fintech industry is growing as a result of advances in computer science coupled with practical advances in computing hardware, and it affects almost all other industries in the broader economy. The vision of CRAFT is to bring together industry partners, academic researchers, federal agencies, and students to conduct and advance interdisciplinary fintech research, innovation, and workforce training in support of new products, services and ventures. CRAFT at Stevens Institute of Technology will focus on financial technology through combining its existing fundamental technological research with finance and management knowledge. The technological research will draw from artificial intelligence, information systems, quantum computing, distributed ledgers and associated smart contract technologies. With respect to each of these technologies, cross-disciplinary teams will work with industry to define challenges and search for solutions. The site research will strive to discover technologies and processes that can be used to help industry participants build new services. CRAFT will have a broad impact on the economy by helping to better understand the benefits and risks of potentially disruptive technologies. The research projects will allow policy makers and industry participants to better understand and manage risks, thus reducing the possibility of unintended consequences and disruptions. Since new technologies are often associated with innovation and growth, CRAFT may contribute to a more vibrant economy. With respect to education, the projects will lead to technologies and processes that can be used in education and training. The proposed workshops for high school students will broaden participation in all disciplines. The center repository will be hosted at Stevens library. The data, code, and the results of projects will be well organized and maintained on the CRAFT server according to the Center data management policy for at least ten years or longer. After the training modules and software packages are documented and tested, they will be released and made available through popular public code hosting services such as GitHub. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. Read More >

Member Organizations

IUCRC affiliated member organizations are displayed as submitted by the Center. Non-federal organizations are not selected, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the National Science Foundation.

4Thought Tech
Altonomy
Bank of America Corporate
Bank of America Securities Trading
Capgemini
Charles Schwab
CME Group Inc.
Elevance Health (Formerly Anthem)
Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC)
Fintech Connector
Goldman Sachs
Government Blockchain Association
IBM
Park Avenue Finance
SWIFT
The Vanguard Group
UBS
Wells Fargo