• - Understand the underlying principles, which make Blockchain a trustless peer-to-peer sys-tem that is immutable and censorship resistant, and why this is important for business.
• - Have and overview over different Blockchain implementations ranging from private and permissioned Blockchains, to public and open Blockchains, and their implications for stra-tegic business choices and outcomes.
• - Have an overview over current Blockchain implementations that are relevant for specific sectors, firms and lines of business.
• - Demonstrate of when a Blockchain could be a useful solution, and when it is not so. In other words: ability to demystify Blockchain in the context of specific business cases!
• - Be able to demonstrate their understanding of the challenges and opportunities for business, particularly in designing domain-specific sustainable digital infrastructures that are interop-erable with existing infrastructures, and that allow for the further development of applica-tions by a broad range of actors.
• - Understand the complexities of building a Blockchain infrastructure that is constantly in the making and does not have a final state, and the implications of these complexities on busi-ness opportunities and challenges.
• - Understand the importance of community and ecosystem development (e.g. consortia and collaborations) for Blockchain solutions to be viable, hereunder the importance of using the right incentive structures both within and outside the chosen Blockchain protocol.

Overview:

In 2008 an anonymous person or group under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto unleashed the Bitcoin protocol on the Internet, which allows for peer-to-peer exchange of digital cash without the need for a trusted third party. The technical underpinning of this system, known as Blockchain has uses that extend far beyond the realm of cryptocurrency and finance, and well into the domain of sustainability broadly defined. In fact, it is argued that Blockchain can be seen as an emerging open protocol layer on the internet on which a whole range of innovative solutions can be created ranging from supply chain, trade finance, sustainability reporting, and crowdfunding, to distributed energy production, digital carbon markets, and local exchange platforms. There is almost not a day without a new use case for blockchain being announced: Blockchain is indeed the new black! … or is it simply at the stage of overinflated expectations?

Blockchain is technologically complicated to wrap one’s mind around, and its implications for societal structures is profound. While the specific technical components of Blockchain have been known for a long time, i.e. distributed databases, cryptography, and consensus protocols, their specific combination has generated a new type of technology that could allow for radically new ways of doing business, as well as potential disintermediation of established actors in virtually every industry. Rather than jumping on the band wagon, or dismissing the technology as a fad, this course will allow future business leaders to demystify the technology, and get a nuanced understanding of the opportunities as well as challenges associated with this emerging technology for the private sector. Particularly, business students will acquire valuable knowledge when it comes to designing sustainable digital infrastructures that promote the emergence of a new sort of global public good (or commons), on which new software applications and disruptive business models can emerge.

The course places itself at the intersection of technology and business, and while being theoretically framed draws on specific empirical cases that will be explored in depth both in term of understanding the related industry and challenges, as well as getting insight into the specifics of designing technological solutions that both contributes to business success as well as the creation of new collaborative digital infrastructures that can promote sustainability agendas in an open and democratic fashion. Not a straight-forward exercise as we will see!!  

This is not an exclusive class where programmers can develop new Blockchain applications. Instead, this is a strategically designed business class for professionals looking to demystify what is the notion of Blockchain and how it can be applied to various types of firms, industries and business cases. 

Who is this class for:

This course is for business students who have a clearly expressed interest in emerging technologies and the opportunities that such technologies might create in terms of future business models, governance models and sustainability practices. Students should take this course if they believe that business can be a force for good, and they are interested in applying technology as a driver for change in that direction. 

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