The yearly tech conference took place in Luxembourg on 9 and 10 May and gathered more than 5000 participants from around 500 companies and 70 countries, according to the organizers. Every year, the event celebrates technology and its powerful potential, and creates a forum for exchange, thought-provoking discussions and technological revelations of different kinds.

Deloitte Digital was one of the main sponsors of the event and organized two half-day sessions; one dedicated to blockchain and the other to the rise of RegTech.

Regulation meets technology
“The increased level of regulation has multiplied the cost of compliance over the past years. In parallel, RegTech companies recently rose at an exponential rate and now offer ways to effectively and efficiently deal with regulatory challenges. Regtech companies may even open up the possibility of transforming the compliance function into a competitive advantage,” explains Francois Kim Hugé, Partner at Deloitte Luxembourg, and responsible for the RegTech session.

Over the last months, Deloitte has analyzed 150 RegTech companies and identified 5 categories of services: compliance, identity management and control, risk management, regulatory reporting and transaction monitoring. “RegTech companies embed different types of technology in their solutions, including data analytics, Blockchain, cloud computing and machine learning and the potential efficiency gains are enormous,” adds Francois Kim Hugé. Deloitte has gathered the RegTech analysis in a detailed overview named the RegTech universe, available on Deloitte Luxembourg’s website and presented at the event.

Kick-start with Blockchain  
At the ICT Spring, Deloitte Digital also organized a half-day session dedicated to Blockchain. After the launch of its EMEA Blockchain lab in Dublin last year, the firm has aligned its many Blockchain teams and initiatives across Europe, and has developed a series of use cases for different industries. One of the latest developments, a proof of concept named KYCstart, was revealed at the conference.

“With this proof of concept, we demonstrate the benefits of using Blockchain and smart contracts to considerably reduce the costs of one of the most important burdens for many organizations today, namely the KYC process and customer on-boarding,” comments Thibault Chollet, Blockchain Leader at Deloitte Luxembourg and responsible for the Blockchain session at ICT Spring.

David Dalton, Consulting Partner at Deloitte Ireland, moderated a panel where different Blockchain specialists explained the potential of this technology and Julien Kopp, Senior Manager at Deloitte France, spoke about Robotic Process Automation, which is gaining traction within organizations developing innovative, operational strategies.