digital economy and society index. 3 source : le marche de la cyber - assurance : la revolution commence maintenant, pwc, january 2016. french and european cyber - insurance offering. second subject : data and big data, with the spread of connected objects that is triggering an exponential rise in the amount of data available on insurance policyholders. naturally this represents an opportunity : the traditional business of insurance consists precisely in collecting and exploiting data in order to quantify and put a price on risk. nonetheless, i would urge insurers to take a responsible approach : we need to strike the right balance between segmentation and the sharing of risk between policyholders – the basic principles of solidarity and risk - pooling that are intrinsic to insurance are at stake. and we must not lose sight of our collective values regarding individuals ’ right to privacy. 3. what are the challenges for the french and european economy? let me just remind you of two basic economic facts : there can be no lasting growth without a rise in productivity ; and there can be no productivity without innovation and its diffusion. there has been a lot of discussion among economists about the current slowdown in productivity and the threat, as some see it, of a “ secular stagnation ”. personally, i think that expression is going too far, and you here stand in proof. but for an economy to be competitive and to grow, it needs to increase innovation and its diffusion, not slow it down. the digitalisation of the financial sector can accelerate this positive process : it helps to disseminate technological advances such as electronic signatures, solutions to defend against cyber - attacks or distributed ledger technologies. innovative and secure payment solutions, such as tomorrow ’ s blockchains, are also helping to speed up the development of e - commerce and modernise physical trade. achieving this will require greater harmonisation at european level : in the precise application of the texts governing the financial industry ( definition and security of payment services ), in more recent fields ( crowd - funding ) or in the search for greater interoperability of technologies and standards. but, above all, it is vital that we define an overall strategy for european innovation in financial services. this strategy must cover all the issues raised by digital finance : from data protection to the fight against money laundering ; from it security to consumer protection ; from financial stability to the social challenges of banking inclusion ; from financial literacy to changes in jobs in the financial sector. it is a project currently being conducted by

in the increase of cross border flows in the international islamic financial system. the increased information flow would allow for the raising of funds in different jurisdictions and for the investor base to be broadened further. liberalisation has also brought greater foreign institutional presence in national jurisdictions resulting in diversity of players in the islamic financial systems. cumulatively, these developments have strengthened further the international financial linkages between different jurisdictions and have contributed towards the more efficient allocation of resources across borders. this recent global financial crisis has highlighted the risks associated with financial globalisation. equally important in the process of internationalisation is therefore the quality of this financial globalization in islamic finance. let me touch on two aspects of the financial globalisation of islamic finance. firstly, that islamic finance has been more inclusive in terms of its outreach to not only the participation from the developed world but also from the emerging world, particularly from asia and the middle - east. this leads to diversification and avoids risk arising from over concentration in particular jurisdiction. moreover, with the relatively better growth prospects in the emerging world, strengthening the economic and financial inter - linkages among the emerging world would mutually reinforce these prospects. the increasing role of islamic finance in bringing together different parts of the emerging world, and enhancing its links with the developed world would facilitate further this globalisation process. the second aspect relates to the current increased global engagement by the international community to drive the financial reform agenda. as part of this process, it is important for this engagement to be extended to the prudential standard setting entities for islamic finance as islamic finance becomes a growing component of the international financial system. while there needs to be recognition of the prudential standards that have been issued by the islamic financial services board, there also needs to be awareness by the international community of the implications of the new standards that is being introduced on the islamic financial system. this is important given the common interest of global financial stability. let me conclude by saying that today ’ s launch of the islamic finance gateway by thomson reuters marks another important milestone in the international development of islamic finance. such a comprehensive information and trading portal for foreign and domestic participation in the islamic financial system will contribute towards its efficiency and effectiveness as a form of financial intermediation. on this note, i wish to congratulate thomson reuters on the occasion of the official global launch of this islamic finance gateway.