Technology and data associations serving the financial markets are doing their part to curb the spread of the coronavirus by conducting activities remotely, replacing live conferences with virtual events, and providing members with advice on how to tackle the Covid-19 disease’s effect on their work.

For example, the Wall Street Technology Association has taken a number of initiatives to expand the offerings available to help financial technology and business professionals stay educated and connected. These include adding livestreaming to all WSTA educational events to enable fintech professionals to participate remotely and still be able to exchange ideas and best practices to keep abreast of new technology tools and to tackle business challenges. Even when it is deemed safe to hold live events again, WSTA executive director Jo Ann Cooper says the organization will continue to offer livestreaming for those who cannot attend in person.

In addition, WSTA will produce on-demand webinars and educational videos, and has announced that participation in WSTA virtual educational events will now qualify for CPE (Continuing Professional Education) credits, the same as its in-person events. Finally, WSTA will continue to work with vendor affiliates and event sponsors to find new ways to share relevant content in a timely and accessible manner. “Without the financial support and flexibility they have shown, especially during this time, we would not have been able to quickly add livestreaming and enhance the way we offer educational content and opportunities to stay connected,” Cooper says.

Data industry association FISD canceled and postponed some events close to the start of the outbreak, and switched other issue brief meetings to online-only events, including one hosted by parent organization the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) about the US Covid-19 stimulus package. SIIA has also launched its own website dedicated to monitoring Covid and its impact on the software and data industries, where it will provide resources to help the industry prepare and respond to the disease.

FISD is also making the exams for its FIA (Financial Information Associate) and Level 2 Data Licensing available for candidates to complete at home, rather than in a dedicated testing center. This option will be available until the end of June. All FISD members who sign up to take the test at home by the end of June will also have access to free online training from eLearning Modules.

In addition, the organization has conducted a Covid-19 Business Issues Survey of members, the results of which will help inform FISD’s events programming in response to the disease, and “will be critical in shaping new offerings that help members lead their companies beyond the crisis.”

Industry technology benchmarking body STAC (the Securities Technology Analysis Center) has combined separate conferences originally intended to be held in New York, Chicago, and London into a three-day, online event held from June 2-4, which—among other topics—will include discussions on the impact of Covid-19 and its effects on the financial markets and technology strategy.

STAC is currently talking to members of its community about their priorities during the ongoing outbreak, and how its technology research can best meet their needs, which STAC founder and director Peter Lankford says will include increasing the agility of their strategies to be able to reposition themselves quickly in changing markets, and modernizing their infrastructures.to expand the capacity and elasticity of systems, and reduce cost and latency.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (Sifma) has updated the BCP section of its website to include Covid-related updates from its monitoring of the ongoing situation. These include links to Sifma’s Emergency Crisis Management Command Center and its Emergency Site for industry alerts, as well as links to useful resources, ranging from government directives about how to respond to the Coronavirus, SIFMA’s own regulatory actions, the reaction of key industry utilities, and SIFMA podcasts outlining Covid-related government actions, and explaining the US government’s stimulus packages.

Meanwhile, the World Federation of Exchanges has created a portal that lists all the Covid-related measures taken by its member exchanges around the world, ranging from publication of Q&As detailing exchanges’ response to the virus, to notices of precautionary measures, such as exchange floor closures or adjusted trading hours.