Over the last decade, the speed of technological change has accelerated. New technologies appear and disappear every few months. Exotic new technologies – initial coin offerings, cryptocurrencies, blockchains, smart contracts, AI, P2P platforms, – are being introduced (and in some cases, disappearing) rapidly. How should we make sense of all these changes? How can we adapt to a rapidly changing world? This online program explores the challenges and opportunities in a post-covid world: there will have to be new ways of working, and new types of technology will replace what we have done in the past.
The biggest change underlying all these technologies is how it affects our ability to coordinate. Economists have been discussing how humans coordinate since Adam Smith’s “the invisible hand” of the market. Markets are one way to coordinate; a decentralized way that reduces all our preference choices to one number: price. But markets are not the only way. The second way is a completely centralized hierarchical structure: the firm. Markets and firms coexist and coordination mechanisms shift back and forth depending on what is more effective at any time or in any country. For example, Amazon, one of the biggest disrupters across a huge number of industries, is almost completely centralized with all information flowing up to Jeff Bezos.
This online course demonstrates how technology is changing the way we coordinate. It documents how boundaries between firms and markets are shifting, disrupting entire industries in the process. We will discuss how firms and employees need to adapt, how they can avoid being disrupted, and what new technologies and innovations are on the horizon.
How you will benefit
- Understand why finance is being disrupted by technology
- Understand what areas of your own organization might be at risk from automation
- Brainstorm on ways to effectively implement the disruptive effects of technology into your own organization
- Understand when and why you might need blockchains
- Understand when AI is most likely to be effective
Program length
3 days
| Day 1 | 09:30 – 17:00 (CET) |
| Day 2 | 09:30 – 17:00 (CET) |
| Day 3 | 09:30 – 17:00 (CET) |
Lunch break: 1 hour
Day 1
Analyzing information
Understanding information flows in firms and markets
- Imperfect information, asymmetric information, and behavioral biases
- Digitalization and information flows within firms and markets
- Capturing multi-dimensional preferences and data from stakeholders
- Deciding between firms and markets
- Case study: Walmart’s Workforce of the future
- Case study: Netflix Inc.: The disruptor faces disruption
Day 2
Distributed Ledgers, Blockchain, and P2P
- What is bitcoin?
- What is a distributed ledger? When is it useful?
- When are blockchains useful?
- Mining blocks in class
- Understanding smart contracts
- The problems with poor smart contracting
- Case study: R3 Corda: A distributed ledger technology for financial services
- Case study: From Crowdfunding to Digital Banking: The Evolution of Funding Societies
Day 3
Robo-advising, AI, and Machine Learning
- How are AI systems created?
- Do AI systems help understanding employees and customers better?
- Can deep learning help detect fraud?
- The problems of AI systems
- The dark side of technology
- Case study: A Chairman’s Decision: Launching A Robo-Advisor in CCB Principal Asset
Using information to transform the financial firm
- Case study: Telenor: Revolutionizing Retail Banking in Serbia – Digital Transformation of the Customer Experience
This training will be beneficial to any professionals who would like to develop an integrated view of how technology is disrupting different industries.
