##sidencies. the italian presidency has also promoted the development of a global baseline for disclosing and reporting sustainability information ; it has focused on metrics for classifying and verifying sustainable investment ; and it has called on international financial institutions to align their operations with the aims of the paris agreement. other initiatives to further promote sustainability include : the request to the imf and the international organisations of the interagency group on economic and financial statistics to consider climate - related data needs in preparing a new data gap initiative ; the work carried out by the financial stability board to both address data gaps on climate - related financial risks and enhance disclosures ; the proposal to examine how to scale - up digital finance to promote sustainable growth ; and the analytical review of specific solutions to achieve climate neutrality, including carbon pricing. digitalisation also received ample consideration in our agenda. in july the g20 menu of policy options on digital transformation and productivity recovery was endorsed. it provides an overview of measures to revive productivity growth, with a particular focus on digital platforms, digital skills and intangible assets. this menu will contribute to future discussions within the g20 and will eventually serve as a guide for effective policies and regulations, to ensure that the benefits of digitalisation and innovation are fully exploited and evenly shared. as part of our drive to foster the development of new technologies, in may the bank of italy and the bank for international settlements ( bis ) innovation hub, through its singapore centre, launched a new g20 techsprint, following an analogous initiative last year by the saudi arabian presidency. our international hackathon received about 250 draft proposals and 99 full applications from 25 countries ; 21 teams advanced to the final stage and the 3 most promising solutions for the proposed challenges, which concerned green and sustainable finance, won the competition. these 3 teams are now competing in the global fintech hackcelerator organised by the monetary authority of singapore at this festival. i am recording this message before the announcement of the winners, so i wish them all the best of luck. our attention to the opportunities offered by digitalisation has gone hand in hand with a focus on the challenges that it poses to financial inclusion. the digitalisation of payments and financial services has accelerated sharply during the pandemic. in lower income countries, many citizens can access basic financial services only through online providers. without comprehensive financial awareness and better consumer protection, consumers, not only in less developed countries, may find themselves exposed to risks due to digitalisation. the

global partnership for financial inclusion, co - chaired by italy and russia, has therefore 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches delivered a menu of policy options, focusing on two complementary areas, financial consumer protection and financial education. the menu distils best practices as well as practical examples from different countries ’ experiences during the pandemic. other initiatives will need to be realised to continue carrying out the g20 financial inclusion action plan established last year, including on micro, small and medium - sized enterprises and on the collection of more granular and gender - disaggregated data to inform policymaking and best support the transition towards a more inclusive financial system, attenuating the risk of a “ digital divide ”. another related work stream is the roadmap for enhancing cross - border payments, a detailed multi - year plan for making transactions cheaper and faster, endorsed by the g20 saudi presidency last year. currently, cross - border payments are considerably more expensive, slower and less accessible than domestic ones. yet, in recent years, they have become increasingly important for the global economy, reflecting the expansion of international trade, especially e - commerce, international tourism and business travel, migrations and remittances. this year, advancing the implementation of the roadmap, we have developed a set of quantitative targets necessary for measuring progress in the main areas of intervention, strengthening our commitment to deliver on our goals. in this regard, i take this opportunity to share with you that the bank of italy will participate in the bis innovation hub ’ s “ nexus proof - of - concept ” to develop a model for connecting multiple national instant payment systems. in dealing with innovative payment arrangements, we have paid special attention to two important challenges : global stablecoins and central bank digital currencies. on the former issue, the financial stability board has defined ten recommendations for the regulation, supervision and oversight of global stablecoin arrangements which jurisdictions need to implement ; the g20 has reiterated that no stablecoin project can be started until these tools meet the necessary legal, regulatory and oversight requirements. on the latter issue, we have initiated an exchange of views within the g20, even if the issuance of a digital currency is, ultimately, a national choice that does not require explicit international cooperation. indeed, many central banks are already conducting their own experimentations in this area. however, we believe that openly discussing the economic and financial effects stemming from the potential cross - border use of central bank digital cu