Senior regulators arrive in Cambridge for inaugural C:\>DIR Cambridge Regulator Visiting Fellowship
17 senior policymakers, central bankers and regulatory leaders from around the world have arrived in Cambridge this week for the inaugural C:\>DIR Cambridge Regulator Visiting Fellowship, a new residential programme designed to strengthen regulatory innovation and cross-border collaboration in an era of rapid technological change.
C:\>DIR Cambridge Regulator Visiting Fellows 2026:
Philip Ikeazor, Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Central Bank of Nigeria
H.E. Fatma Al-Jabri, Assistant Governor for Financial Crime, Market Conduct and Consumer Protection, Central Bank of UAE
Somchai Lertlarpwasin, Assistant Governor, Supervision Group, Bank of Thailand
Josephine Okui Ossiya, Chief Executive Officer, Capital Markets Authority, Uganda
David Kemei, Director General, Competition Authority of Kenya
Jessica Rusu, Chief Data Information & Intelligence Officer, Financial Conduct Authority, UK
Adi Budiarso, Chief Executive of Financial Sector Technology Innovation, Digital Financial Asset, and Crypto Asset Supervision, OJK, Indonesia
Natalie Black CBE, Group Director, Infrastructure & Connectivity, Ofcom
Florabelle Santos-Madrid, Managing Director, Policy and Specialized Supervision, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Tumubweinee Twinemanzi, Executive Director, National Payment Systems, Bank of Uganda
Ronggo Yudha, Deputy Director, Central Bank of Indonesia
Rosemary Kisembo, Executive Director, National Identification and Registration Authority, Uganda
Syed Sohail Javaad, Executive Director, Digital Financial Services, State Bank of Pakistan
Bénédicte Nolens, Head Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre, Bank for International Settlements
Baker Birikujja, National Personal Data Protection Director, Personal Data Protection Office, Uganda
Muhammad Faisal, Head of Partnerships and Investment Ecosystems, Ministry of Communications and Digital Affairs of The Republic of Indonesia
Francisco Javier Duque Sandoval, Director of Research, Innovation and Development, Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia
A flagship programme of the Cambridge Digital Innovation and Regulation Initiative (C:\>DIR), delivered by Financial Innovation for Impact (Fii) in collaboration with the University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP), the week-long Fellowship brings together a highly selective cohort of regulatory leaders working across financial, data, communications, competition and related regulatory domains. The programme runs from 14 to 17 September in Cambridge, providing participants with dedicated time to reflect, learn and develop practical solutions to emerging regulatory challenges.
Throughout the week, Fellows will participate in masterclasses, seminars, roundtables and collaborative working sessions led by leading academics, policymakers and industry experts. The programme includes discussions on digital governance, regulatory innovation, innovation policy, central banking innovation and the future of digital regulation, alongside opportunities for peer learning and exchange across jurisdictions.
A central feature of the Fellowship is the development of regulatory innovation propositions, with Fellows working individually and in small groups to design practical ideas that address shared challenges at the intersection of digital innovation and regulation. These projects will be presented in Cambridge at the conclusion of the programme, creating a pipeline of actionable ideas that can be developed within participants' home institutions and through future international collaboration.
"The challenges facing regulators today increasingly transcend sectors, technologies and borders," says Bryan Zhang, Co-Creator of C:\>DIR and the Executive Chair of Financial Innovation for Impact (Fii), adding: "The Fellowship creates space for senior leaders to step outside their day-to-day responsibilities, engage with peers from around the world and explore new approaches to governing innovation in the public interest."
"The most valuable insights in policy often come from knowledge exchange and peer-learning, especially from a cross-regulatory perspective. CSaP has spent nearly two decades creating those exchanges between policymakers and researchers, and this Fellowship brings that experience to the governance of fast-moving digital technologies and innovations. It doesn't end when the Fellows leave Cambridge — they join a global network of policy leaders and researchers where the real learning continues.”
- Robert Doubleday, Executive Director of the University of Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy.
The Fellowship also connects participants directly to two of C:\>DIR's flagship global initiatives:
On 17 September, Fellows will join senior guests in evaluating submissions to the C:\>DIR Global 'Agentic Regulator' Hackathon, reviewing and voting on innovative solutions developed by teams from around the world. The Hackathon focuses on advancing regulatory innovation through technology-enabled approaches and provides a platform for new ideas addressing real-world policy and supervisory challenges, within six critical problem spaces. The Hackathon is supported by 48 partners including BIS, GFIN, DRCF, the Ethereum Foundation, Moneybox, Google and Swift.
The following day, Fellows will take part in the Annual C:\>DIR Summit, an invitation-only gathering of regulators, innovators and academics from across the globe. This year's Summit, titled Digital Regulation in the Age of Agentic AI, will explore how public authorities and market participants can respond to increasingly autonomous technologies while ensuring resilient, inclusive and effective regulatory systems.
In addition to participating in Summit discussions, selected Fellows will share insights from the Fellowship experience and contribute to conversations on the future of digital regulation, helping connect academic research, regulatory practice and technological innovation.
Upon completing the programme, Fellows will join both the CSaP Policy Fellowship Network and the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance's Regulator Knowledge Exchange (RKE), expanding their access to a global community of policymakers and regulators committed to advancing digital innovation and regulatory cooperation.
The Cambridge Regulator Visiting Fellowship forms part of C:\>DIR's broader mission to advance regulatory innovation, build regulatory capacity and foster international collaboration at a time when technological change is reshaping markets and societies worldwide.
Notes to Editors
The Cambridge Digital Innovation and Regulation Initiative (C:\>DIR) is a global policy convening platform that fosters high-level dialogue on issues at the intersection of digital innovation and regulation between policymakers, regulators and market innovators. It aims to cultivate collaborative communities and public-private partnerships to develop common solutions and shape the future of digital markets and economies, for the benefit of the many.
C:\>DIR is a strategic initiative of the Financial Innovation for Impact — an international not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the acceleration of regulatory, supervisory and infrastructure innovation in developing economies. Our mission is to enable more inclusive, sustainable, and effective financial systems, guiding their integration into public and private institutions through technical assistance, training and capacity building. We translate robust, independent research into actionable support for regulators and policymakers facing complex challenges – including digital assets and tokenisation, open finance and smart data, agentic AI, cybersecurity, digital public infrastructure, climate transition and regulatory innovation.
Media contact:
Katherine Selby
Communications Manager, Financial Innovation for Impact
katherine.selby@fii.international