Neural Technologies, vendors of risk and analytical software, will be holding their annual user forum in the historic British city of Windsor, between September 29th and October 1st. The get-together will have heightened significance this year, because Neural are also celebrating their 25th year in business. As a consequence, they have pulled together an especially strong agenda for the event. I have the honor of serving as the forum’s guest chairman, so let me share some of the highlights I am looking forward to.
One of the key learning experiences will occur when Achmad Nusjirwan Sugondo of BTPN Bank will talk about financial inclusion and branchless banking in Indonesia. Indonesia has a vibrantly competitive economy, especially when it comes to providing technology-based services to retail consumers. It is also the fourth most populous country in the world, and its diverse people are spread across varied islands. Living circumstances range from megacities like Jakarta, to tourist hotspots like Kuta, to life amidst the tropical forests of Kalimantan. There is great potential to use telecoms technology to provide banking services in a market like this, but there will be plenty of risks too. Achmad’s CV boasts a lot of experience of dealing with the interface between banking and telecoms, and I expect fellow attendees will ask him plenty of questions.
Turkey is another country with a large population and growing economy, and so I was pleased to see a presentation from Turkcell on the agenda. Asli Karatay will present a case study on how Turkcell uses predictive analytics to mitigate fraud and bad debt. This will cover risk evaluation, implementation, the setting of variables, and the efficiency of results obtained. As Turkcell has over 30m subscribers, I am sure we will all gain insights from their analysis of customer data.
Other customer presentations include Telkom SA, UPC and Safaricom. Attendees will benefit by learning from, and exchanging experiences with a broad international range of telcos.
Neural are not the kind of business that snubs other vendors, and it was pleasing to see Revector’s Andy Gent will be speaking at the forum. Neural’s customers will appreciate what Andy will teach them about bypass and simbox fraud. I also expect that Andy will be revealing more details about how Revector intend to tackle the new problem of OTT bypass.
The final highlight on my list is the first speaker I will be introducing on stage: Hayley Daniels, who works as a senior consultant at Neural. Hayley is much more than an eloquent spokesperson for her company. She has also been an active force in the GSMA Fraud Forum and the Telecommunications UK Fraud Forum. Recently I was delighted that Hayley agreed to join the organizing committee for the Risk and Assurance Group (RAG), the new name for the long-running Revenue Assurance Group. Though I had not worked alongside Hayley before she joined the RAG committee, I have long been conscious that Hayley is an excellent conference speaker and utterly dedicated to her profession. Hayley is a great choice to open the event – and will be a very tough act to follow!
If those were not enough reasons to attend, the location of the event should also be a big draw. Windsor dates back to the 11th century, when William, the invading Norman King, constructed a castle there. Since that time it has benefited from the patronage of English monarchs, making it one of the richest and most important towns during the Middle Ages. Windsor Castle has been greatly extended over its long life, and is a major tourist attraction as well as being one of the Queen’s favorite residences. Other nearby attractions include the 5,000-acre Windsor Great Park, the Runnymede meadow where Magna Carta was signed, and a Legoland theme park!
I look forward to seeing many of you at Neural’s user forum. This should prove to be an excellent opportunity to share insights and gossip with peers from around the world, amidst a historic and beautiful English setting.
For more information about the event, or if you wish to attend, please email [email protected].
