On April 9 in Washington, D.C., Women in Housing and Finance (WHF) hosted their annual symposium, with CoreLogic proudly serving as this year’s sole Gold Circle Sponsor. Discussions throughout the day centered around the theme of revolutionary times in housing and finance. Speakers and panelists drew attention to many of the emerging technologies shaking up the industry – touching on issues ranging from the potential uses of blockchain in data storage/transmission, the role of artificial intelligence in algorithms & decision-making, and future cybersecurity concerns for the financial services industry.
Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL-11) opened the symposium with a morning keynote highlighting several areas within the housing and mortgage industries where these technologies could be used to modernize systems and accelerate processes. His first case in point involved some of the issues that localities face in answering the question: “who actually owns this land?” Representative Foster singled out the Ontario province in Canada as a prime example, as their government recently converted to a digital land registry, and he noted the potential of blockchain to bring real estate ledgers into the 21st century. The Congressman also brought up the current tax filing season, discussing how new technologies – including blockchain – could be used by the Internal Revenue Service to identify and deter fraud.
Representative Foster’s comments on innovation and modernization set the tone for the day-long symposium; while the following panels and discussions addressed the current state of our nation’s housing system, they also projected to the future, highlighting the emerging technological trends that will shape the next decade and beyond.
Left to right: WHF President Lindsey Johnson, CoreLogic Principal Data Scientist Felicia Douglis, CoreLogic Executive of Public Policy & Industry Relations Pete Carroll.
Representing CoreLogic at the symposium was Felicia Douglis, Principal Data Scientist, who spoke on a panel titled “Artificial Intelligence in Housing & Finance”. Throughout the conversation, Felicia was able to touch on a number of subjects, including the uses of artificial intelligence in fraud identification and credit risk assessment; technological advancements in the valuation industry; ethical requirements for big data; and more. She was joined on the panel by representatives from RiskSpan, Mayer Brown, and Ernst & Young.
The afternoon focused on the increasing need for cybersecurity in the financial services industry. The afternoon panel highlighted the ways in which companies need to prepare for the litany of evolving threats & attacks that they are certain to face. A separate conversation brought attention to the various legislative and regulatory issues that both state and federal governments face in ensuring consumer data privacy in the housing and finance industries.
CoreLogic is proud to have been the premier sponsor for this year’s iteration of the WHF symposium. At CoreLogic, diversity and inclusion are common threads that are intentionally woven into every aspect of our business and workplace culture, and we look forward to future partnerships with WHF and like-minded organizations.
About Women in Housing & Finance: WHF is a premier association of women and men that actively promotes its members in the fields of housing and financial services while retaining a focus on its women members. For more than 35 years, WHF has provide its members with a dynamic forum for national policy leaders to address key issues and cultivate career growth through ongoing education, networking and professional development. To learn more about Women in Housing & Finance, visit their website.
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