Next Generation Professional and Financial Services: National Online Consultation

Hosted by Innovate UK AI for Services Network

This session will seek input from a broad set of stakeholders across Financial and Professional Services, exploring the current landscape, barriers to research, innovation and adoption, as well as future directions and opportunities.

About the event

The session will be held online using a digital workspace designed to guide delegates through a series of short workshop exercises that encourage virtual collaboration in small groups. Following the session, delegates will be able to arrange a 1-2-1 virtual meeting with the Innovate UK and ESRC teams, and UK-wide representatives from Professional & Financial Services working in R&D and innovative projects.

Please feel free to share this invitation across your organisation and contacts. If you are unable to attend and would still like to share your views, please complete this short Survey by Monday 5 April 2024.

Current Programme Overview

Innovate UK and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) are investing £26.5 million in the Next Generation Professional and Financial Services programme. This programme helps professional service sectors, including accounting and law, and the financial service sectors, including insurance, lending, advisory and payment services, develop and use digital technologies.

This programme aims to transform UK professional and financial services by responsibly developing and deploying digital technologies to deliver world-leading services through five strands of activities:

• Adoption – Support for adoption in demand side firms through two new dedicated Innovation Adoption Accelerators.
• R&D support – Collaborative R&D innovation support programme for lawtech, accountech, fintech and insurtech.
• Data access – Data access in cross sectoral areas of professional and financial services.
• Networking – Connecting, disseminating learning and building community through the AI for Services network.
• International – Support to develop international collaboration opportunities.

This programme builds on the £20 million UKRI Next Generation Services Challenge Fund, which supported a wide range of projects that have developed new technologies, products and services to make the UK’s legal, accounting and insurance sectors more effective.

Launched in 2019, AI for Services is the Innovation Network underpinning the programme and delivered by Innovate UK Business Connect. The network brings together over 1,500 members including leading professionals and academics, high growth entrepreneurs and investors participating in events, receiving monthly email updates, and contributing to content publication.