Danske Bank has announced a new partnership with Northern Ireland’s leading business and technology event, Digital DNA.

Taking place in Belfast’s St George’s Market on June 19 and 20, Digital DNA brings together experts and delegates from different industries and sectors to help them realise the potential of digital technology in their organisations, share knowledge and overcome challenges. 

Danske Bank will become the event’s only financial services partner for 2018, a move which the bank’s Chief Digital Officer Søren Rode Andreasen says is timely because banking is currently undergoing its biggest ever digital transformation.

Mr Andreasen said: “We are excited to be working with Digital DNA in a pivotal year for the banking sector. Open Banking has been introduced across the UK, so banks must now be able to share data freely, collaborate with third parties and reinvent their approach to security. This is a big change in mind-set for banks, but Danske Bank has embraced the new environment.

“With customers having more choice than ever, digital will become the big differentiator between high street banks. At Danske Bank we have amplified our focus on innovation and are looking for disruptive new ideas and technologies that could change our sector for the better.”

Danske’s Chief Digital Officer will speak at the event, sharing his technical expertise and experience from more than 10 years in the Nordic financial sector, which is viewed as being ahead of the UK in its approach to digital. Danske is currently sharing data with more than 100 partners in its home markets and has invested in new solutions for mobile partners and digital investment.

Also presenting at Digital DNA will be Danske Bank’s Head of Data, Marion Rybnikar, whose talk will be called Supercharge your Business with Automation and Robotics. With 20 years’ experience in the technology sector with the likes of the New York Stock Exchange and Chain Reaction Cycles, Marion is now leading the design and implementation of the bank’s data strategy in the UK, with a focus on Big Data, advanced analytics and data science.   

Danske Bank recently launched the Open Banking Challenge with its partner TechstartNI, inviting fintech companies to pitch Open Banking ideas to win a £60,000 investment grant. The forward thinking strategy, which has led the bank to collaborate with the UK fintech community, is exactly why Digital DNA chose to partner with Danske Bank, says Commercial Director Simon Bailie.

He said: “Digital DNA have always been keen to promote the innovative thinking of new companies who are disrupting the status quo. Danske Bank is working with those disruptors in a partnership with the financial community instead of being in competition with them. This collaboration is paramount to the success of the industry and something that Digital DNA champions across all industries.

“Danske Bank has demonstrated how our six themes of Marketing, Data, Cybersecurity, Fintech, Innovation and Devops are all intertwined and need to work together to be successful. This is why we’re thrilled to have the team from Danske Bank on board showcasing the importance of inter-departmental strategy, something Digital DNA is keen to promote.

“As open banking becomes the latest step in the digital finance revolution, we’re excited to have one of Northern Europe’s largest banks taking to the stage to share the future of banking for businesses and consumers alike.”