Issues on Digital Economy

This course on Digital Economy addresses the impact of digital technology on businesses and the economy, i.e. how the revolution in information and communication technologies affects, changes and transforms the economic activities. We discuss definitions of Digital Economy and we present the features and peculiarities of information goods. We explain the basic architecture of the Internet and the World Wide Web and the fundamental ICT technologies in use today, while we discuss how they affect every day life and businesses by presenting studies for their economic impact. E-business, e-commerce and different models of digital enterprises are analyzed using specific case studies, while students are trained in building a mock-up of a networked business (using HTML and CSS). Cryptocurrencies and their theoretical concepts (complexity, cryptographic hash functions, hash pointers and digital signatures) are explained as the background for the analysis of bitcoin operation. Finaly, we present intellectual property rights in the digital world, with emphasis on “Openness”, Open Data, Creative Commons, Open Source Software and we discuss their impact on economic growth.

Objectives

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: Form definitions for Digital Economy Describe the features and peculiarities of digital goods Present the Internet and WWW architecture and discuss about their impact on every day life and businesses Form definitions of E-business and E-commerce Present the operation of different models for e-commerce (B2B, B2C, B2G, C2C, C2B και P2P) and digital enterprise. Create webpages using HTML and CSS and build a mochup of the website of a digital enterprise Understand Cryptocurrencies and their theoretical concepts: algorithm complexity, cryptographic hash functions, hash pointers and digital signatures Present the operation of bitcoin Define Intellectual property rights Discuss about “Openness”, Open Data, Creative Commons, Open Source Software and their impact on economic growth.

Prerequisites

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Syllabus

Definition of Digital Economy Information goods Internet and the World Wide Web: computer networks, architecture and basic technologies for the Internet and WWW. Their impact on every day life and businesses. Studies for their economic impact. E-business and e-commerce: Definition, models and the digital enterprise. Case studies. Mock-up of a digital enterprise: Creating webpages using HTML and CSS. The features of a website for building a digital enterprise. Cryptocurrencies and their theoretical concepts: algorithm complexity, cryptographic hash functions, hash pointers and digital signatures Concepts and operation of bitcoin Intellectual property rights in the digital world. “Openness”, Open Data, Creative Commons, Open Source Software and their impact on economic growth.