Dear COST FinAI members!

COST has celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2021, 50 years of science without borders throughout the year. Our COST FinAI Action has seen a successful first grant period and has been become a vital member of this community of currently 45.000 researchers across Europe. We have grown from 20 member countries in our proposal to now more than 40 participating countries and from 100 researchers to more than 200 researchers.

Thanks to everyone who has actively contributed to our COST FinAI Action, with more than 100 conferences, research events, seminar talks, counting more than 3000 participants, as well as numerous ways of co-operations and academic output, it is impossible to thank everyone personally.

We can be proud of ourselves that, despite the difficult times, which we probably all faced in one way or the other, we have contributed to a successful European cooperation over the last 18 months, advancing the field of Fintech and Artificial Intelligence in Finance.

The year will begin with the new Research & Innovation Framework Program “Horizon Europe” and a very substantial number of proposed activities. In January, our Work and Budget plan will be approved, we have submitted our first year report and we will have several new leadership positions. Research and conference activities will start in February.

Wishing everyone good health and spirit for 2022, confident that the future of COST FinAI will be even brighter.

May you see all the happiness, peace and prosperity in the coming year and beyond!

For now, I wish you and your loved ones a wonderful and restful seasonal break and very much look forward to seeing you all again next year.

With kind regards,

Jörg (Osterrieder), COST Action CA 19030 Chair