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ACORN网络的使命是弥合目前存在于大学研究与金融服务业、消费者和监管机构需求之间的差距。ACORN希望发展到超过100个主要合作伙伴和1000个联合合作伙伴，提供一个包容，多元化和负责任的研究文化。以威尔士、苏格兰、英格兰东北部和伦敦的区域存在为基础，它将协调各地区的技术知识，并将区域合作伙伴与全国范围内的努力联系起来。金融服务的现实挑战是复杂的，包括应对技术创新、商业道德、绿色/环境考虑和人才短缺。这给金融系统带来了棘手的问题，这个行业不能忽视，这需要来自不同学科的人们和研究人员走到一起。ACORN旨在解决金融系统中与技术、数学和科学创新相关的棘手问题。ACORN提供了一些机制来成功完成这一任务。ACORN工作的核心是它的“委托框架”，它为学术界和合作伙伴之间的五种合作项目提供资助机制。ACORN提供种子项目资金，旨在通过共同设计沙坑，探索FS现实挑战的技术、数学和科学解决方案。然后，它为更大的多学科可行性项目提供资金，这些项目可能建立在种子项目的基础上，并扩展到考虑“邪恶的”多学科研究问题。与此同时，ACORN为敏捷项目提供资金，这些项目可以是任何类型的，例如地平线扫描、人口调查、软件原型或机器学习应用程序。这些项目都有预先确定的知识产权安排，因此可以以灵活的方式组织，并可以在ACORN期间的任何时间开始。此外，有影响力的项目可进一步推动研究项目（例如，影响政策制定者或启动商业化），而教育/参与项目则可扩大财政司的人才库和解决人才储备问题。为了支持这些项目中的研究人员和合作伙伴，ACORN建立了一些社区可以使用的服务。协同设计服务和企业数字责任服务帮助研究人员在他们的建议中考虑这些方面。安全的数据仓库、共享的代码库、实验沙箱和模板IP安排可用于改善研究，其影响和降低合作障碍。我们将这个网络命名为ACORN，以表明合作就像橡树一样可以从卑微的开始成长。

The ACORN network's mission is to bridge the gap that currently exists between the research in universities and the need of the financial services industry, its consumers and the regulator. ACORN wants to grow to well over 100 primary partners and 1000 associated partners, offering an inclusive, diverse and responsible research culture. Based on regional presence in Wales, Scotland, North-East England and London, it will harmonize technological know-how across regions and connect regional partners to nation-wide efforts. Real-life challenges in financial services are complex, combining responding to technology innovation with business ethics, green/environmental considerations and scarcity in the talent pipeline. This presents FS with wicked problems, which the industry cannot ignore, and which require people and researchers from across disciplines to come together. ACORN aims to address wicked problems in FS that are associated with innovation in technology, mathematics and sciences.ACORN provides a number of mechanisms to succeed in this mission. Central to ACORN's working is its 'commissioning framework', which provides the funding mechanisms for five types of collaborative projects between academia and partners. ACORN offers seed project funding, which aims to explore technological, mathematical and scientific solutions for real-life challenges in FS, prioritised through co-design sandpits. It then offers funding for larger multi-disciplinary feasibility projects, which may build on the seed projects, and expand to consider 'wicked' multi-disciplinary research problems. In parallel, ACORN offers funding for agile projects, which can be of any type, e.g., horizon scanning, population survey, a software prototype or a machine learning application. These have predetermined IP arrangements, so that they can be organised in agile manner and can start at any time for the duration of ACORN. Additionally, impact projects are offered to take any of the research projects further (e.g., to influence policy makers, or initiate commercialisation), and education/engagement projects allow to grow the FS talent pool and address the talent pipeline.To support researchers and partners in these project, ACORN establishes a number of services the community can use. The co-design service and the corporate digital responsibility service help researchers to consider these aspects in their proposals. The secure data vault, the shared code base, the experimentation sandbox and template IP arrangements are available to improve research, its impact and to lower collaboration barriers. We name the network ACORN, to signify that collaborations as majestic as an oak tree can grow from humble beginnings.