When theory meets practice and business meets technology

Tonight I’m stepping back into a classroom after more than five years away from teaching any classes and even longer for classes with a face-to-face component. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the applied research and analysis I’ve been doing in the meantime, but even preparing for this course has reminded me how much fun it is to pull back and take a broader view of a topic and all that surrounds it. And tonight I’ll get to experience the thought-provoking pleasure of hearing perspectives on the topic from many smart people who have different professional and life experiences from mine.

The topic of the course is: ICT and Global Commerce, and it’s part of a Master of Information Management degree offered by Victoria University of Wellington. Most of the students have IT backgrounds and want to deepen their understanding of business and management. While I’ve approached it from the opposite direction, I believe that intersection between technology and business is fascinating as well as essential to the success of an increasing number of businesses.

The reason I’m telling you all of this is that I’m asking the students to choose a topic at the intersection between technology and global business to dive into throughout the course and to post about here in Medium (within this Global Intersection publication). Some have already shared their topics with me, so I’m looking forward to reading their thoughts on issues such as:

· The potential of new forms of payment to expand financial inclusion

· How business models are changing as a result of ICT and global commerce

· Ride sharing services

· IT security

I can’t wait to see what other topics are selected.

The reason I wanted the students to post here rather than within a closed platform, such as Blackboard, is that I believe theory and practice are at their best when they come together just as technology and business are. Rather than just discussing their ideas among themselves and with me, I want the students to share them with others who have similar interests, whether from an applied, academic, public policy, or personal perspective.

I hope the internet will come to the party. Please share your thoughts — respectfully and constructively — about the students’ posts. Do you agree? Disagree? Have personal experience or theoretical perspectives that support or refute a particular point of view being expressed? Suggestions about what issues the students should examine more closely? Please share them. We look forward to meeting you at this global intersection.