Having now been at UK Finance for four months, I often get asked by friends what it is I and the Digital, Technology and Cyber team do. The growing role of technology in our lives bring about many opportunities and benefits but, at the same time, this growth is also making certain risks to consumers, business and governments increasingly more likely.

One example of this is the increasing interconnectedness of smart home devices, which can expose consumers to privacy and surveillance risks - risks which open up a treasure trove of data for hackers. Another issue is that the low-cost proposition of cloud-based services moves data from consumers and businesses, pooling it into entities that remain unregulated.

Artificial intelligence (AI) complexity also continues to intensify. Without controlled development and documentation of design, its architects may not be able to fully explain subsequent automated decisions. Examples of this problem and the human consequences based on incorrect AI decisions are well documented. The government is also taking a greater interest in this plethora of issues with the formation of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, as well as Parliament's investigations into the effects of increasing automation on the national economy.

The Digital, Technology and Cyber team weighs in on these kinds of policy issues as they increasingly attract the interest of the financial sector and regulators. The team approaches these issues with an agnosticism towards the specific technology through cases studies that focus on the effect on consumers and our members. The team works at a national, EU and international scale. We interact with multiple national and international regulators and legislators, some of which are not typically associated with the financial services sector. For example, we work not just with the Information Commissioner in the UK, but also the European Data Protection Board and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The team is also involved in some national projects which are aimed at bettering consumer experiences and the cyber resilience of the UK financial sector. Figures show cybercrime cost the UK economy approximately £3.38 billion in 2016, and is projected to cost the global economy £1.65 trillion by 2020, so the team is trying to create a collaborative cyber ecosystem between banks, industry and authorities in the UK. To do so, we will be following the principles defined by the Bank of England's Cross Market Operational Resilience Group. The aim is to create an initial ?cyber collaboration fusion core? where Critical National Infrastructure organisations can share threat intelligence and techniques freely, while disseminating trend analyses to both the sector and smaller financial services organisations. The collective defence of its members and the financial sector is at the core of its mission.

We also have been involved in a digital identity initiative that seeks to replicate the success of other northern European countries. Surveys consistently rate banking entities as having high levels of consumer trust in keeping personal and identifiable information secure. However, the idea of this initiative is to produce a more efficient method for determining identity, a more frictionless experience for consumers and clients which reinforces their control over their data, and also to improve financial crime mitigation. In time, it could also provide a better method for non-banks to establish identity for their customers and additionally to improve their services.

We have cross-cutting work that supports all product services boards across UK Finance. This partnership and support includes blogs, podcasts and webinars, summits, round tables, thought leadership reports, project workstreams, technology workstreams within larger policy efforts. The purpose of these is to educate and encourage open and frank discussions on the risks and opportunities facing the sector in the digital age. For example, we recently held a Cyber Symposium with Oliver Wyman and the Association of Banks in Singapore, discussing cyber collaboration and information sharing and noting areas that the industry internationally could improve on.

The variety of work we do is a lot longer than this blog can contextualise, but I hope you have found my highlights as thought-provoking as I have while working at UK Finance.