What the Network Built to Last
Platforms, Databases, and Infrastructure That Outlive the Funding Period
COST Actions end, but their outputs shouldn't. When CA19130 concluded in October 2024, it left behind more than publications and memories. The network had built three knowledge platforms, four major databases, and a 2,000+ member community that continues collaborating. This is what sustainable research infrastructure looks like - tools and data that remain useful long after the funding stops.
For the SNSF Narrative Digital Finance project, this infrastructure proved immediately valuable. Rather than building research tools from scratch, the project could leverage platforms already populated with code, data, and active users. The databases provided research material; the platforms provided dissemination channels; the community provided collaborators.
The network didn't just produce research - it built the infrastructure to make that research reproducible, accessible, and usable by others. Three platforms emerged that continue serving the global research community:
QuantLet - Reproducible Research Repository
When Wolfgang Hardle and his team at Humboldt-Universitat Berlin created QuantLet, they addressed a fundamental problem: published papers describe methods, but code makes them reproducible. QuantLet hosts thousands of code snippets linked to published research, allowing any researcher to replicate and build upon network findings.
quantlet.com - Thousands of reproducible code pieces
Quantinar - Peer-to-Peer Knowledge Exchange
Research networks often struggle to share tacit knowledge - the insights that don't fit in papers. Quantinar addresses this through structured P2P knowledge exchange: recorded seminars, interactive tutorials, and Q&A sessions. The platform captures expertise that would otherwise exist only in conference corridors.
quantinar.com - Knowledge exchange beyond papers
Explainable AI for Finance - Interactive Applications
WG2's focus on explainability produced more than papers - it produced working tools. This platform hosts interactive applications demonstrating XAI methods in financial contexts: credit scoring explanations, algorithmic trading transparency, risk model interpretability. Users can experiment with real methods, not just read about them.
explainableaiforfinance.com - Working XAI demonstrations
Research questions require data. The network invested significant effort in curating databases that didn't exist elsewhere - data that researchers would otherwise spend months collecting individually. These databases continue serving the research community:
1 ICO Database
Comprehensive data on Initial Coin Offerings spanning the 2017-2023 period. Includes token characteristics, funding outcomes, team composition, and long-term performance. Used by researchers studying cryptocurrency markets, fraud detection, and investor protection.
2 Crowdfunding/P2P Database
Data from major crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending platforms across Europe. Enables research on alternative finance market dynamics, default prediction, and platform design. The database answers questions that individual platforms wouldn't share.
3 ICO Evaluation Papers
Methodological papers establishing frameworks for evaluating ICO quality and viability. These papers provide the analytical tools that researchers use alongside the database - not just data, but methods to analyze it.
4 Digital Assets Position Paper
The flagship policy output: 33 co-authors from 15 countries produced comprehensive recommendations on digital asset regulation. Shared with European regulators during MiCA development. This paper demonstrated that networks can speak with unified voice on policy matters.
When COST Action CA19130 was approved, it committed to eight specific objectives in its Memorandum of Understanding. Four years later, every objective was met at 76-100% completion - a rare achievement for research networks:
Standards for algorithmic transparency in fintech
Explainable AI tools for financial applications
Frameworks for evaluating digital investment products
47 countries connected in research network
53% ITC participation with leadership roles
7 training schools, 97 young researchers active
ING, Deutsche Borse, OTP, iFactor partnerships
Digital Assets Position Paper for regulators
Action Successfully Concluded - October 2024
COST Action CA19130 completed its 4-year term as the second-largest COST Action in Europe with all MoU objectives achieved. The infrastructure, databases, and community it built continue operating beyond the funding period.
The true test of a research network isn't what it produces during funding - it's what continues afterward. As of late 2024, the COST FinAI community remains active through multiple channels:
COST FinAI Wiki
wiki.fin-ai.eu
Complete documentation of Action activities, member profiles, publication records, and event archives. The wiki serves as the network's institutional memory - preserving knowledge for future researchers.
Meetup Community
2,000+ members
The network's Meetup group continues organizing events, seminars, and informal gatherings. With over 2,000 members, it has become a self-sustaining community that no longer depends on COST funding.
"The funding ended, but the network didn't. Researchers who met through COST continue collaborating - now as established partners rather than new acquaintances."
- Illustrative quote reflecting the network's sustainability
The infrastructure built by CA19130 demonstrated important lessons about sustainable research investment:
Platforms Outlast Projects
QuantLet, Quantinar, and the XAI platform continue serving researchers worldwide. Unlike project websites that go dark after funding ends, these platforms were built to persist.
Databases Enable New Research
The ICO and crowdfunding databases continue generating new publications - from researchers who never participated in the COST Action but benefit from its data collection.
Communities Self-Sustain
With 2,000+ Meetup members organically continuing, the network proved that well-designed communities develop momentum that doesn't require ongoing institutional funding.
Documentation Preserves Knowledge
The wiki ensures that future researchers can understand how the network operated, what it discovered, and how to contact alumni - institutional memory that most projects lose.
For the SNSF Narrative Digital Finance project, these resources represented immediate infrastructure leverage: platforms already built, databases already curated, communities already formed. The project didn't need to start from zero - it could build on a foundation four years in the making.