For most of the last century, critical advances in technology were happening inside large, well-funded industrial R&D machines that dotted the Western world. Today’s landscape, however, is very different. Even the largest and most sophisticated corporate leaders can no longer dominate their fields or dictate the pace of development. With companies across sectors seeking to harness the transformative potential of blockchain technologies, the blockchain ecosystem is an exemplar of new models of industry collaboration. In this course you will learn about various stakeholders in the blockchain ecosystem and the leadership roles they need to play in order to steward the blockchain revolution in global commerce.
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You will discuss various organizational models and best practices for industry consortia and will explore several examples of consortium projects that are at the forefront of the blockchain ecosystem. You will also explore the themes of standardization and interoperability—two major challenge areas concerning the scalability and throughput limitations inhibiting mainstream enterprise adoption of blockchain in global commerce.
Development of this course was made possible thanks to the generous support of FedEx. Dale Chrystie, Business Fellow & Blockchain Strategist at FedEx, delivers three of the course videos, bringing a real-world industry perspective to the course. The scripts for these videos have been written and/or reviewed by the Blockchain Research Institute and approved by INSEAD to ensure that this content is pedagogically sound, unbiased, and academically rigorous.
Course 3 of 4 in the Web3 and Blockchain in Global Commerce Specialization.
What You Will Learn
- Describe how blockchain consortia may vary with respect to their purpose, activities, membership models, beneficiaries, and governance models
- Describe some of the benefits and key considerations concerning shared standards for blockchain and digital assets
- Explain how blockchain design choices around privacy, user identity, security, notaries, block relays etc. influence interoperability implementations
- Explain how blockchain will transform the roles and functions of the C-Suite
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Leadership for the Next Era
Blockchain alone is just a tool. In order for this technology to fulfill its long-term promise, humans must lead. Rather than relying on state-based institutions, blockchain must be primarily self-governed through collaborations of civil society, private sector, government, and stakeholders in non-state networks. In this module, we discuss the idea of blockchain governance networks and explain how they can support blockchain stewardship at three levels: The platform level, the application level, and the ecosystem level. As well, you will learn about the conditions that are necessary for a blockchain-based hub of innovation to succeed.
WEEK 2
The Blockchain Ecosystem
Although blockchain technology emerged from the open source community, it quickly attracted many stakeholders, each with different backgrounds, interests, and motives. In this module, you will explore the roles and perspectives of nine categories of stakeholders within the blockchain ecosystem, including industry pioneers, venture capitalists, developers, governments, regulators, leaders, and end users.
WEEK 3
The C-Suite
Because blockchain changes the deep structures and architecture of the firm, it will consequently transform our models of management and the roles of the C-Suite. Navigating the balance between blockchain’s hype and its true potential is a key responsibility of an organization’s management team. In this module, you will learn about some of the decisions and changes that business leaders can anticipate when considering how the future of blockchain will unfold within their business.
WEEK 4
Consortia, Coalitions, and Coopetition
With companies across sectors seeking to harness the transformative potential of distributed ledger technologies (DLT), the blockchain ecosystem is an exemplar of new models of industry collaboration. Coopetition—the strategy of cooperating with competitors for defined purposes to cultivate a new economic ecosystem that benefits both—has become the new norm. In this module, you will learn what companies are trying to gain from consortia projects, and what industries and competitors need to accomplish to get to a win-win. You will discuss various design options, organizational models, and best practices for consortia projects, and will explore several examples of industry consortia that are at the forefront of the blockchain ecosystem.
WEEK 5
Toward Web3 Standards and Interoperability
While most professionals understand the potential of blockchain technology, not all of them understand its mechanics and the requirements for its success. In the last decade, thousands of blockchain projects have sprung up, all intending to become the dominant blockchain protocol. A clear winner has not yet emerged, leading to numerous attempts to communicate and transfer value between different blockchain networks. In this module, you will learn about two major themes concerning the exchange of data and value across blockchain protocols: standardization and interoperability. You will learn how various types of standards—including semantic standardization and technological standardization—can create powerful network effects and economic gains for members of a blockchain ecosystem. You will also learn about various approaches to interoperability among blockchain networks. You will explore a series of recent interoperability projects (e.g. Aion, Chainlink, Cosmos, Polkadot) and will discuss some of the implementation challenges and opportunities concerning blockchain interoperability solutions.
