The Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub (BISHB) for 2025-2026, with the first two new projects to explore artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools supporting supervision and green finance
The current work program reflects the start of a more mature phase of the Innovation Hub after it marked its fifth anniversary, with seven centers operating worldwide. At the start of 2025, the Innovation Hub’s project portfolio consisted of 26 active projects and 31 projects completed since its establishment in 2019. It started 16 new projects in 2024.
BISHB wrote in a statement: “Our work programme is focused on strengthening horizon scanning activities to track new technological developments and identify gaps for further central bank innovation,” The BISHB wrote in a statement. “”We will look to identify synergies among our existing project portfolio (and) we will deepen collaboration on technological innovation among our network of central bank experts.”
Highlights include:
- Enhancing horizon scanning capabilities to identify trends and developments in financial technology that could have a meaningful impact on central banks
- Exploring synergies between different projects and themes, focusing on developing solutions to support central banks in their core responsibilities of the provision of money, monetary policy, payments infrastructure, financial stability, and regulation and supervision
- Launching two new projects using AI-enabled tools:
- Project AISE (Artificial Intelligence Supervisor Enhancer) proposes to develop a virtual assistant for financial supervisors capable of automating key tasks and enhancing on-site supervision.
- Project Gaia will build on the already developed proof of concept, which addressed the specific use case of climate-related risk analysis, by extending it to other uses cases within and beyond the theme of green finance
- Further developing ongoing projects such as Project Agora in which partners from seven central banks and over 40 private sector financial institutions are exploring how tokenization can enhance wholesale cross-border payments.
- Exploring the potential of central bank community-driven ecosystems in the creation of code and other solutions that can add value to the central banking world
Some of the more advanced projects have shown they may hold promise for deployment beyond the conceptual work undertaken with the BIS. With all BIS projects, implementation is ultimately a decision for partner central banks.
In 2024, the Innovation Hub announced that two significant projects developed with central bank partners would be handed over to those partners. Project Nexus moved towards live implementation by the partner central banks together with their countries’ instant payment providers. Project mBridge, which has successfully reached the minimum viable product stage, is being handed over to the central bank partners.
“Our work programme underscores our commitment to explore the art of the possible, building on the experience gained in the first five years. We will continue to share insights with the central banking community and help them to harness technology to fulfil their vital role in maintaining economic and financial stability for the public good,” said Cecilia Skingsley, head of the BIS Innovation Hub, in a statement.