Business Development and Digitalisation

Introduction

The course will give students practical knowledge and an understanding of how businesses can apply digital technologies to strengthen their value creation. Our perspective is that the right focus and good use of digital technologies can make businesses more efficient and constitute an important factor in innovation processes or a key element in products and services the business delivers.

Value creation is increasingly data-driven, through streamlining of processes and as a basis for faster and better decisions. The course, therefore, provides a perspective on how data is created, structured, refined, analyzed, and used. Data exists inside and outside the companies and added value can be created by combining data from different sources and by sharing data with others. This sharing entails challenges regarding data integrity, security, and privacy, and these challenges are also discussed in the course.

Students will learn how business processes are developed, improved, and utilized using digital technologies. They will also learn how digital services are developed through a structured innovation process. The course also includes the hands-on experience working with well-known business systems in the market and working analytically with various data sets.

Course content

Digital technology in organizations

• The role of digital systems in a business
• Different types of digital systems (business systems)
• Different forms of digitalization
• The digital revolution - business and technology understanding

Information Systems and Technology

• Information systems (digital systems)
• Hardware and infrastructures
• Technological development

Business systems and digital platforms

• Processes, technology and people
• Technology platforms, cloud services and ecosystems
• Internet of Things
• Data integration and interfaces
• Data security and vulnerability

 Business development with digital technology

• Strategic, tactical and operational changes
• Situation analysis
• Business processes: description, analysis, and change
• Data structures and information flow

 Data-driven organizations

• The role of small and big data in value creation
• Use of artificial intelligence and machine learning
• Insights, analytics, and data-driven decisions
• Data-driven business models

 Privacy and ethics

• Privacy and GDPR
• Digital dilemmas
• Sustainability
• Circular economy

 Digital innovation

• Innovation processes and uncertainty
• Digital service development
• Prototyping