G53DDB Developments in Digital Business

Spring 2007

Last lecture cancelled due to illness!

Overview


Literature

The book E-Commerce: Business, Technology, Society [LT06] by Laudon and Traver provides a good background to e-commerce in general as well as to many of the topics that are going to be touched upon in the guest lectures. To get the most out of the lectures, it is recommended that the indicated parts of Laudon and Traver are read in advance as a preparation.

The book The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More [And06] by Chris Anderson, Editor in Chief of Wired Magazine, provides a very interesting and readable outlook on what the future of digital business might be like. The coursework (an essay) is based on the issues discussed in this book. However, there is lots and lots of articles, discussions, opinions, etc. on-line, so, while warmly recommended, it is not (and should not be) the only reference, nor even an absolutely essential reference.

The Victorian Internet [Sta99] by Tom Standage is an almost unputdownable account of a technical revolution of a magnitude and impact that in many ways arguably was larger than that of the Internet: the development of the telegraph in the mid 19th century. Interestingly, there are also a lot of striking similarities between these two developments: nothing new under the sun! The video How the Victorians Wired the World, which will be shown as part of the module, is based directly on this book. A useful and very rewarding backdrop to the subjects treated in this module and highly recommended reading for anyone!


Lectures

This is a somewhat preliminary lecture overview. Some of the titles of the invited guest lectures are still to be determined. But the dates should be mostly stable.

Lecture# Date Title/Content Speaker Reading
1 1 Feb Administrative Details and Introduction [LT06, Ch. 1 & 3]
2 2 Feb Video: How the Victorians Wired the World [LT06, Ch. 3] [Sta99]
3 8 Feb Description of the Coursework [And06]
4 9 Feb Trends in Digital Payments Jim Woodworth, ACI Worldwide [LT06, Ch. 6]
5 15 Feb Video: How the Victorians Wired the World (If you missed it the first time round.) [LT06, Ch. 3] [Sta99]
-- 16 Feb --
6 22 Feb The Impact of Technology on the Media Industry Andrew Skinner, Accenture
7 23 Feb Information Security Joe Dauncey, Scottish and Southern Energy [LT06, Ch. 5 & 9]
8 1 Mar Advances in Digital Identity Steve Plank, Microsoft [LT06, Ch. 6]
-- 2 Mar --
9 8 Mar The Past, Present & Future of Computer Games Development Nick Burton, Rare, and
Kieran D'Archambaud, Rare
[LT06, Ch. 3]
-- 9 Mar --
-- 15 Mar --
10 16 Mar Business Model Analysis for Digital Businesses Duncan Shaw, Nottingham University Business School [LT06, Ch. 2, 7 & 10] [And06] [HK03] [OPT05]
11 22 Mar On Demand Business Infrastructures Kevin Malone, IBM
12 23 Mar The Semantic Web Steve Cayzer, HP
13 26 Apr CANCELLED DUE TO ILLNESS!
The Business of Web Design:
Latest trends in web design and web-based applications
Sophie Dennis, Cayenne Web Development [LT06, Ch. 3 & 4]
-- 27 Apr --

Copies of electronic slides or any other electronic material used during the lectures can be found here.


Essay

The coursework, an essay, counts for 25 % of the total mark.

Detailed coursework description: See slides lecture 3

Deadline: Friday 16 March


Examination

Some basic information about the exam:

Past examination papers can be found here.


References


Last updated 25 April 2007.