The Monetary Authority of Singapore has announced the March formation of a Data Analytics Group to help unlock crucial insights in big data.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is focusing on positioning the Singaporean financial sector for changes in the digital economy, with the introduction of a Data Analytics Group (DAG) which is aiming to unlock data insights to better enhance supervision of financial institutions.

The appointment of Dr David Roi Hardoon to the position of chief data officer and head of the DAG was announced in conjunction and would see Hardoon join the regulatory authority from his role as co-founder and executive director, chief of analytics, at Azendian Solutions.

MAS managing director, Ravi Menon, said the DAG under Hardoon’s leadership would help the nation harness the power of data analytics to improve workflows across organisations and develop analytical models for business improvement.

“Our new Data Analytics Group will work with the financial industry to sharpen the surveillance of risks, and with the various departments within MAS to transform the way we do our work,” he said.

“The digitisation of information and the harnessing of data from multiple platforms have created the opportunity to use data analytics to understand the economy and the financial system with a depth that was not possible before.”

The DAG would consist of three units:

•          A Data Governance & Architecture Office to develop data management policies, manage data collection and quality, and publish statistics. 
•          A Specialist Analytics & Visualisation Office to conduct data analyses in partnership with other MAS departments. 
•          A Supervisory Technology Office to conduct data analyses on supervisory and financial sector data, promote data analytics capabilities within the financial industry, and to work to make regulatory compliance more efficient and effective.