Course Syllabus
Obiettivi
WELCOME!
The course Digital Economy is designed to understand the economic foundations of the new digital world. Moreover, it wants to support students to confidently conceive, lead and execute digital innovation initiatives and develop new business models for existing and insurgent organizations.
The digital revolution is rapidly transforming the fundamental nature of many companies in a wide range of industries: students need to understand the economics, technology paradigms and management practices of innovating in digital-centric businesses to ensure corporate and personal success.
The course is intended for students pursuing careers in which digital technologies will be critical to the development of new products and services, e.g., entrepreneurial start-ups, consulting, and R&D, as well as positions in marketing, operations, and strategy inside larger enterprises.
Contenuti sintetici
Specifically, the course will help students learn:
- the economic and technological factors that are at the heart of the digital revolution taking place in the economy
- examining the nature of information as an asset, and defining the laws that govern its behaviour as an economic good
- the clash between existing business models and new digitally enhanced and led business models emphasizing platforms and ecosystems
- the competitive interactions among firms with different digital business models
- how to best organize and lead product and service innovation initiatives in the digital space and how to leverage on what you learnt to be successful in the professional world.
Programma esteso
Course introduction, methodology and assessment methods
The Basics of (Digital) Economy
- What is an investment?
- The balance sheets
- Tangible & Intangible Assets
- Current & Fixed Assets
- The Goodwill
- Case studies
Measuring the value of Information: an asset valuation approach
- Moody & Walsh - "7 Laws” governing the behaviour of the information as an economic good
- Max Boisot
- Varian & Shapiro
- Jeremy Rifkin
The Intangible Economy (Part 1)
- The emergence of the intangible economy
- How to measure intangible investments
- The four S’s of intangibles
- Scalability
- Sunkenness
- Spillovers
- Synergies
The Intangible Economy (Part 2)
- Intangible assets and secular stagnation
- Intangible and the rise of inequality
- Intangible infrastructures
- Financing an intangible economy
- Managing and investing intangibles
Datafication- Reinventing Capitalism in the age of Big Data
- The impact of Big Data on the Capitalism structure
- Datafication
- Markets and Money
- Data Rich markets
- Key technologies essential to reconfiguring the markets
The Platform Economy (Part 1)
- Platforms Business models: Two basic Types
- Platforms key components
- Platforms and network effects (direct and indirect network effects)
- Platforms vs pipelines
The Platform Economy (Part 2)
- Architecture: Designing a successful platform
- Monetizing the network effects
- Factors affecting platforms
- The future of Platform Revolution
Rethinking strategy and operating models in the age of AI
- Traditional vs digital operating model
- Transforming value creation, capture, and delivery
- New competition and market structure
- Case studies
The Economy of the Metaverse
Part 1
•Metaverse: Centralization or Decentralization?
•The 3 Ages of the Web
•A brief Hystory of the Metaverse
•Augmented vs Virtual Reality
•Definitions
•Cathy Hackl’s «decentralized» approach
•Matthew Ball’s «more centralised approach»
Part 2
•Payment Rails
•Blockchains
•Cryptocurrencies
•Bitcoin
•Ethereum
•DAPPS
•NFTs
•DAOs – Smart Contracts
•The Metaverse Economy
Designing Innovative Business with Business Model Canvas
- What is a business model?
- The Business Model Canvas (BMC)
- Mapping the BMC
- Methodology for building a BMC
- Case studies
** Presentation and discussion of the Group Projects
Prerequisiti
Successful attendance to the Course “Juridical and Social issues in Information Society”
Modalità didattica
Lectures, elearning platform, take home assignments
Materiale didattico
Suggested readings
- Batini, C; Cabitza, F; Cherubini, P; Ferrari, A; Masiero, R; Maurino, A; Palmonari, M; Stella, F, “La scienza dei dati, Cap. 13” La Scienza Dei Dati (unimib.it)
- Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake – Capitalism without Capital – The Rise of the Intangible Economy. Princeton University Press, 2018
- Michael A. Cusumano, Annabelle Gawer, David B. Yoffe, “The Business of Platforms”, Harper Collins, 2019
- Hal R. Varian, Josef Farrel, Carl Shapiro, "The Economics of Information Technology. An Introduction" (Raffaele Mattioli Lectures), Cambridge University Press, 2005
- Daniel Moody & Peter Walsh, "Measuring the value of Information: an asset valuation approach", ECIS 99, Copenhagen 1999 (available at )
- Viktor Mayer-Schonenberg and Thomas Ramge, "Reinventing capitalism in the age of Big Data", John Murray Publishers, London 2018
- Matteo Fusco, Business Design per le PMI, Edizioni LSWR, Milano, 2017
- Marco Iansiti, Karim R. Lakhani, “Competing in the Age of AI – Strategy and Leadership when Algorithms and Networks Run the World”, Harvard Business Review Press, 2020
Periodo di erogazione dell'insegnamento
Second semester
Modalità di verifica del profitto e valutazione
The exam will consist of an oral exam, and can be taken in English or Italian at the student's choice.
Optional take-home project, that will be evaluated from 0 to 3 additional points to the written exam. Students, in teams of 2/3 people, are expected to deliver by May 31 a Report of no more than 5 pages (plus tables and figures) and a Powerpoint presentation. The projects will be presented at the end of the course on June 5th at h. 14.30 during a public session.
Orario di ricevimento
Please contact the teacher via email
Sustainable Development Goals
Aims
The course Digital Economy is designed to understand the economic foundations of the new digital world. Moreover, it wants to support students to confidently conceive, lead and execute digital innovation initiatives and develop new business models for existing and insurgent organizations.
The digital revolution is rapidly transforming the fundamental nature of many companies in a wide range of industries: students need to understand the economics, technology paradigms and management practices of innovating in digital-centric businesses to ensure corporate and personal success.
The course is intended for students pursuing careers in which digital technologies will be critical to the development of new products and services, e.g., entrepreneurial start-ups, consulting, and R&D, as well as positions in marketing, operations, and strategy inside larger enterprises.
Contents
Specifically, the course will help students learn:
- the economic and technological factors that are at the heart of the digital revolution taking place in the economy
- examining the nature of information as an asset, and defining the laws that govern its behaviour as an economic good
- the clash between existing business models and new digitally enhanced and led business models emphasizing platforms and ecosystems
- the competitive interactions among firms with different digital business models
- how to best organize and lead product and service innovation initiatives in the digital space and how to leverage on what you learnt to be successful in the professional world.
Detailed program
Course introduction, methodology and assessment methods
The Basics of (Digital) Economy
- What is an investment?
- The balance sheets
- Tangible & Intangible Assets
- Current & Fixed Assets
- The Goodwill
- Case studies
Measuring the value of Information: an asset valuation approach
- Moody & Walsh - "7 Laws” governing the behaviour of the information as an economic good
- Max Boisot
- Varian & Shapiro
- Jeremy Rifkin
The Intangible Economy (Part 1)
- The emergence of the intangible economy
- How to measure intangible investments
- The four S’s of intangibles
- Scalability
- Sunkenness
- Spillovers
- Synergies
The Intangible Economy (Part 2)
- Intangible assets and secular stagnation
- Intangible and the rise of inequality
- Intangible infrastructures
- Financing an intangible economy
- Managing and investing intangibles
Datafication- Reinventing Capitalism in the age of Big Data
- The impact of Big Data on the Capitalism structure
- Datafication
- Markets and Money
- Data Rich markets
- Key technologies essential to reconfiguring the markets
The Platform Economy (Part 1)
- Platforms Business models: Two basic Types
- Platforms key components
- Platforms and network effects (direct and indirect network effects)
- Platforms vs pipelines
The Platform Economy (Part 2)
- Architecture: Designing a successful platform
- Monetizing the network effects
- Factors affecting platforms
- The future of Platform Revolution
Rethinking strategy and operating models in the age of AI
- Traditional vs digital operating model
- Transforming value creation, capture, and delivery
- New competition and market structure
- Case studies
The Economy of the Metaverse
Part 1
•Metaverse: Centralization or Decentralization?
•The 3 Ages of the Web
•A brief Hystory of the Metaverse
•Augmented vs Virtual Reality
•Definitions
•Cathy Hackl’s «decentralized» approach
•Matthew Ball’s «more centralised approach»
Part 2
•Payment Rails
•Blockchains
•Cryptocurrencies
•Bitcoin
•Ethereum
•DAPPS
•NFTs
•DAOs – Smart Contracts
•The Metaverse Economy
Designing Innovative Business with Business Model Canvas
- What is a business model?
- The Business Model Canvas (BMC)
- Mapping the BMC
- Methodology for building a BMC
- Case studies
** Presentation and discussion of the Group Projects
Prerequisites
Successful attendance to the Course “Juridical and Social issues in Information Society”
Teaching form
Lectures, elearning platform, take home assignments
Textbook and teaching resource
Suggested readings
- Batini, C; Cabitza, F; Cherubini, P; Ferrari, A; Masiero, R; Maurino, A; Palmonari, M; Stella, F, “La scienza dei dati, Cap. 13” La Scienza Dei Dati (unimib.it)
- Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake – Capitalism without Capital – The Rise of the Intangible Economy. Princeton University Press, 2018
- Michael A. Cusumano, Annabelle Gawer, David B. Yoffe, “The Business of Platforms”, Harper Collins, 2019
- Hal R. Varian, Josef Farrel, Carl Shapiro, "The Economics of Information Technology. An Introduction" (Raffaele Mattioli Lectures), Cambridge University Press, 2005
- Daniel Moody & Peter Walsh, "Measuring the value of Information: an asset valuation approach", ECIS 99, Copenhagen 1999 (available at )
- Viktor Mayer-Schonenberg and Thomas Ramge, "Reinventing capitalism in the age of Big Data", John Murray Publishers, London 2018
- Matteo Fusco, Business Design per le PMI, Edizioni LSWR, Milano, 2017
- Marco Iansiti, Karim R. Lakhani, “Competing in the Age of AI – Strategy and Leadership when Algorithms and Networks Run the World”, Harvard Business Review Press, 2020
Semester
****Second semester
Assessment method
The exam will be a written exam.
Optional take-home project, that will be evaluated from 0 to 3 additional points to the written exam. Students, in teams of 2/3 people, are expected to deliver a Report of no more than 5 pages (plus tables and figures) and a Powerpoint presentation. The projects will be presented at the end of the course during a public session.
Office hours
Please contact the teacher via email
