Blockchain Technologies: Business Innovation and Application

This online program draws on the work of leading MIT faculty and cryptoeconomics expert, Professor Christian Catalini, to examine blockchain technology from an economic perspective. You’ll be offered a foundational overview of how blockchain technology works, in order to demystify the technology and to understand its possibilities and limitations. Over the course of six weeks, you’ll be guided to understand blockchain technology beyond the fundamentals, and to appreciate its application and promise in the context of your own organization.

Blockchain technology has the potential to fundamentally change the way business is conducted, and to transform the foundations of our economic and social systems. Despite its far-reaching potential, there remains a level of uncertainty around blockchain technology and the breadth of its application as an economic catalyst. This program draws on economic theory to offer participants a deep and practical understanding of blockchain technology, and to effectively demonstrate its meaningful capacity for innovation and efficiency in business.

Blockchain Technologies: Business Innovation and Application explores parallels between blockchain technology and other general purpose technologies, highlighting its capacity to enable widespread, transformational change. You’ll examine how blockchain technology can cheaply verify, under certain conditions, the attributes of a transaction. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of the cost of networking, and learn how blockchain technology can bootstrap and facilitate a marketplace without traditional intermediaries. Using an engaging mix of resources, you’ll be guided to explore the effects of blockchain technology on market power in digital platforms, privacy, and trust.

The program looks toward the future of blockchain technology, exploring its longer-term implications for business and its relationship with other emerging technologies, including AI and IoT. You’ll be offered the opportunity to apply your learnings to your own context, walking away with a proposal for a blockchain-based solution to a problem within your current or future organization.

Learn more about the self-paced online experience.

Learn more about GetSmarter technical requirements.

The recommended weekly time commitment for core content is 4-5 hours, taking into account the busy lifestyles of working professionals, with an additional 2-3 hours recommended for non-compulsory weekly extension activities, should you have the time. Each module is released weekly, allowing a flexible but structured approach to learning. You’ll be supported as you engage in individual activities and group discussions, ensuring you feel confident to submit your best work at each weekly deadline.

Upon successful completion of your course, you will earn a certificate of completion from the MIT Sloan School of Management. This course may also count toward MIT Sloan Executive Certificate requirements.

Upon completion of this program, you will be able to

• Examine blockchain technology through an economic lens
• Discover the possibilities and limitations of blockchain technology, and evaluate its long-term implications for your business
• Develop a sound understanding of two key costs significantly lowered by blockchain technology: the cost of verification and the cost of networking
• Propose a blockchain-based solution to address a business problem within your own context

This program is designed for professionals seeking a deeper knowledge of the impact and applications of blockchain technologies in an economic environment. Whether you’re an entrepreneur looking to integrate blockchain into your business plan, or you’re in an industry such as retail or finance and wanting to understand the current and future developments of this new technology, this program will be relevant to you.

If you’re working directly within the strategic, operational, or managerial function, this program will equip you with the knowledge necessary to discover opportunities for efficiency and innovation using blockchain technology.

GetSmarter™, a brand of 2U, Inc., partners with the world's leading universities to select, design and deliver premium online short courses with a data-driven focus on learning gain.

Technology meets academic rigor in our people-mediated model which enables lifelong learners across the globe to obtain industry-relevant skills that are certified by the world’s most reputable academic institutions.