The Transformation of the Economy

Our economy is undergoing a paradigm shift. It is characterized by key concepts such as Industry 4.0, platform economy, the transition from process automation to the use of decision-enabled machines, and blockchains. IT, as a core component of this transformation, redefines nearly all processes and procedures: how we do things, how we approach problem-solving, and how value creation takes place. Traditional boundaries between industries are becoming blurred, individual companies grow, by traditional standards, from start-up to global player in a very short time. Powerful innovation is no longer the privilege of the big players. Established corporations are faced with the choice of either fundamentally changing or disappearing. It is not the big that eat the small, but the fast that eat the slow. Cryptographic blockchain technologies are shaking up traditional currency systems. However, their impact goes far beyond crypto money. They accelerate the decentralization of the economy and present traditional intermediaries, central service providers, recording instances, and regulatory “watchdogs” with new challenges.