New interdisciplinary research institute for finance, tech and society launched

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) is launching a new interdisciplinary research institute to advance knowledge and practice across business, economics, finance, technology and society in the digital age.

The Global Institute of Finance, Technology, and Society (GIFTS), a university-wide institute jointly founded by NTU's Nanyang Business School (NBS) and College of Computing and Data Science (CCDS), will work with local and global partners to advance research, education, industry collaboration, and policy engagement in artificial intelligence (AI), digital economics, fintech, digital assets, and emerging business and social systems.

Led by Professor Lin William Cong, President's Chair Professor of Finance, Computing and Data Science with appointments in NTU NBS and CCDS, GIFTS aims to build research leadership in areas where AI, markets, institutions and society increasingly interact.

The institute was officially launched today at the finale of NBS30, a year-long series of celebrations that marks three decades of NBS, one of Asia's leading business schools. Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo was the guest of honour at the event, where she delivered a speech. The ceremony also featured a keynote speech by Economics Nobel Laureate Thomas Sargent.

NTU President Professor Ho Teck Hua said: "NTU's GIFTS is a truly interdisciplinary research institute. GIFTS takes pride in tackling the toughest challenges at the intersection of finance, digital technology, artificial intelligence, and society. By doing so, it aims to strengthen Singapore's position as a trusted, sound, and progressive financial hub."

NBS Dean Professor Jun Yang said: "As we mark 30 years of NBS, the launch of GIFTS signals a bold new chapter. For three decades, we have nurtured leaders who navigate complex markets; today, we are equipping them to master the evolving relationship between technology, markets and society. By anchoring this institute at NBS, we aim to translate research in AI, digital platforms and financial technologies into responsible, real-world economic solutions for Singapore and beyond."

Advancing interdisciplinary research in AI, finance and society

As an interdisciplinary research institute, GIFTS will collaborate with faculty across data science, computer science, economics, finance, business, social sciences, applied mathematics, law, sustainability, entrepreneurship and engineering.

The institute will advance research and infrastructure that link social science and business research with computing, data science and emerging technologies along three broad areas.

First, GIFTS will conduct research in how AI, data, digital platforms and financial technologies are transforming markets, organisations, and society. Its research will connect questions in business and social sciences with computing and data science in areas such as digital media and information economics, big data infrastructure, privacy-preserving computation, agentic and on-chain economies, economic world models and AI-powered simulations.

It will also organise working paper series, workshops, summer schools and educational programmes, including joint PhD pathways in business research and AI, to facilitate collaboration and talent development.

Second, GIFTS will work closely with industry leaders and policymakers to translate research into practice and public value. The institute will convene roundtables, produce policy white papers, incubate applied research and entrepreneurship projects, and support work on inclusive finance, AI ethics and safety, sustainability, health and wellness, and technology-powered wealth management. This industry- and policy-facing approach is intended to help firms, regulators and public agencies understand risks and opportunities in the digital economy.

Third, GIFTS is designed as a global platform rather than a local research group. With more than 40 world-renowned research and industry fellows and advisors, and as the headquarters of the AI, Digital Economics and Financial Technology (ADEFT) network, GIFTS will coordinate international research collaborations, conferences, visiting programmes and student exchanges with leading institutions around the world.

GIFTS Director Professor Cong, one of the world's leading scholars in financial economics, fintech and AI, said: "GIFTS' cross-college design is essential to its mission as a hub for technology, business and social science. Many of the most important questions today - from AI-enabled markets and digital finance to intelligent agents and the socioeconomic impact of technology - cannot be solved by one field alone. Through GIFTS, we hope to build a global platform where scholars from various fields, policymakers and industry leaders can jointly advance responsible innovation, create useful research infrastructure and translate frontier ideas into real-world impact."

GIFTS to launch two global research projects

GIFTS will launch with two large-scale global research initiatives in partnership with international collaborators.

The Economic World Models Initiative explores next generation virtual simulations of economies, markets, organisations and digital ecosystems.

Just as digital twins help engineers and city planners test physical systems, Economic World Models aim to create disciplined digital laboratories for business and policy decisions. They can simulate how firms, households, investors, regulators and AI agents interact under scenarios such as market stress, new regulations, scams, supply-chain shocks or programmable financial assets.

The initiative's simulation aims to understand how human and AI agents interact, how markets and institutions respond, and how risks may emerge before decisions are implemented.

The Global InferenceNet Initiative will train AI models and agents for advanced research in economics, finance, accounting, management, operations and information systems.

Early benchmarking suggests that current large language models are not yet able to perform professional-level economic research reliably, making InferenceNet a useful benchmark for measuring progress, improving reproducibility, and training both humans and AI agents.

Its initial database collects tens of thousands of tasks involving econometric and statistical analyses of social science problems drawn from publications in leading economic and business journals, and will pair research ideas with the data and code used to implement them.

This database is then used to evaluate and train AI agents that can plan and execute research workflows, from selecting methods and cleaning data to running analyses and interpreting results.

Together with the Economic World Models Initiative, InferenceNet forms part of GIFTS' broader agenda to understand, train, align and deploy AI agents safely and productively for research, industry and society.

Capping off 30 years of NBS

The launch of GIFTS is a highlight of the NBS30 celebrations, marking 30 years of growth, impact and community at NBS.

The two-day finale included public lectures and masterclasses by leading academics from NTU, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Chicago, exploring topics in the future of AI, fintech and sustainability; a keynote lecture by Nobel Laureate Professor Thomas Sargent from New York University; and a panel discussion by industry leaders on building digital infrastructure and trusted financial services for the age of AI.

The celebrations concluded with the NBS30 Gala Dinner that brought the NBS community, past and present, together in support of the NBS30 Fund, which enables students to partner with non-governmental organisations and social enterprises across the region.