Beyond Fintech: Technology Applications For The Islamic Economy

Book excerpt: Beyond Fintech: Technology Applications for the Islamic Economy is a follow-up to the first-ever Islamic Fintech book by the author (published in 2018) that provided linkages between Islamic Finance and disruptive technologies like the blockchain. In the wake of fintech as a new trend in financial markets, the ground-breaking book stressed the relevance of Islamic finance and its implications, when enabled by fintech, towards the development of the Islamic digital economy. While the earlier work discussed the crucial innovation, structural, and institutional development for financial technologies in Islamic Finance, this new research explores the multiple applications possible in the various sectors of the economy, within and beyond finance, that can be significantly transformed. These revolutionary applications involve the integration of AI, blockchain, data analytics, and Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices for a holistic solution to tackle the bottlenecks and other issues in existing processes of traditional systems. The principles of accountability, duty, justice, and transparency are the foundation of shaping the framework in achieving good governance in all institutions — public or private, Islamic or otherwise. Technologies like AI, blockchain, and IoT devices can operationalize the transparency and accountability that is required to eradicate poverty, distribute wealth, enhance micro-, small- and large-scale initiatives for social and economic development, and thus share prosperity for a moral system that enables a more secure and sustainable economy.