Uri Shavit, Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer, Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE)
More speed, tighter security and continual innovation…CIO Uri Shavit shares the changes and challenges in IT that face financial services and stock exchanges. He also reveals how his people and partners are the keys to success.
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Tell us about Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and the IT challenges there
“We’re the only stock exchange in Israel. We offer equities and derivatives trading, clearing and settlement, indice calculations, data dissemination and more. The processes in stock exchanges, particularly clearing and settlement systems, are very different from other companies or organizations, so it’s quite a unique place to work. Speed has always been important for getting the best deal when trading, but now, with digitalization, we are required to accomplish things even faster. We are talking about micro seconds for transactions! So, data must be continually available and yet secure. We compete with other, larger stock exchanges so we are always looking at how to stay at the forefront of technology in order to reduce risk, improve capabilities, achieve non-stop operations and keep ahead of the game in cybersecurity."
What is the best thing about your job?
"One of the things I really enjoy about my role is being the link between business and technology; understanding what the business needs and how business processes work to find the best solution to address the challenges we face. It’s a really interesting and innovative place to be, working with different teams and across the stock exchange and keeping abreast of all the new technologies available."
How do you encourage innovation?
"Innovation is key – without it you just can't be competitive. We keep a really close eye on the market, always on the lookout for best-of-breed solutions for new challenges. I always encourage our staff and partners to come up with new suggestions and keep us aware of new products. Our team is really professional and has lots of experience, particularly in cyber security, which is one of the major challenges currently confronting stock exchanges and financial institutions around the world. In the last few months, we’ve signed an agreement with the new stock exchange in Kazakhstan, AIX, to share our knowledge and expertise. Our IT teams also have the freedom to try out new solutions - even if I’m not initially convinced, I like to keep an open mind and give them a chance to change it."
What are the keys to success for a modern data center?
"The modern data center needs skilled and passionate people that can be trusted and relied upon – whether those are employees or partners. The data center is right at the heart of everything we do and needs to keep evolving and improving our efficiency so that we can operate faster and without interruption. That’s one of the reasons we have been working with Hitachi for more than a decade. They have a great understanding of our business and systems and the latest Hitachi technology is providing greater automation and faster recovery times so that our data – and business - is protected no matter what."
Where do you come up with your best ideas?
"Most of the time, they come from our own staff in brainstorming sessions. The team also engages with their peers at other organizations, suppliers and counterparts who might have similar interests or special skills and they share views and ideas on where technology is going. Well, as much as anyone can predict technology as it’s evolving so fast! Following a great collaboration with several strategic partners, we recently launched a new securities lending platform based on cutting-edge blockchain technology. We’re the first player in the Israeli market to leverage this technology. The new platform will improve security and support growth."
How do you see stock exchanges evolving over the next few years?
"Well here at TASE, we’re currently focused on creating international collaboration. We operate in a highly competitive market, and by collaborating with other smaller and medium-sized stock exchanges, we can challenge the larger organizations. I think we’ll see changes in terms of the public interface - we have some projects running at the moment around digital behavior and API management. Through all of this, we are looking to monetize our data by delivering new analytical and reporting services.. By promoting our IT innovations and advanced digital tools we’ll be able to boost our competitive advantage and increase transparency in trading and accessibility of information to the public."
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To find out more about the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) and how it is achieving continuous availability around-the-clock with Hitachi solutions, read the story here - https://www.hitachivantara.com/en-us/pdfd/case-study/hitachi-case-study-tel-aviv-stock-exchange.pdf