4th Academia-Industry Exchange

IIBG Symposium 2020

International Business, Innovation & Governance:
Shaping the Futures of Smart Economy

4 December 2020, Hong Kong SAR
(Online/Virtual Presentation Only)

CALL FOR PAPERS

About the Symposium

Digital technology has revolutionised the development of cities and transformed the lives of billions of people. Data-centric networking has made urban infrastructure progressively interconnected, enhancing the overall efficiency of transportation, water supply and power grids, whereas the wider applications of artificial intelligence have improved the analyses and decision-making processes in finance, public policy, national security and various business sectors. New businesses such as eBanking, eTourism and eSports, have emerged, while a growing range of products and services are now integrated in mobile devices, including banking services, P2P money transfer, voice command, online collaboration and social apps, appointment management and food ordering, among many others. All these technologies have been given a new and transversal goal of managing our business continuity and finance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amidst celebrations for the various opportunities digital technology has created, the adoption of smart city technologies is compelled to further accelerate to build resilience and new digital solutions for survival and success so that entrepreneurs and companies can bounce back quickly from the collapse of markets and broken supply chains. Such a proliferating penetration into the many facets of our lives also raises important policy, regulatory and ethical issues. A plethora of academic research has studied the impacts of digital transformation on the efficiency of governments, businesses, financial institutions and non-government organisations, while other studies have analysed how organisations should structure themselves, both within and across organisational boundaries, to embrace digitalisation and innovation at various levels of their operations in order to stay sophisticated and competitive. However, the applicability and generalizability of the rules for survival and success derived from these studies may no longer be as valid as they once were.

With the growing concern about how human rights could be safeguarded in the digital age, cybersecurity and network surveillance is playing a more significant role in information technology. A growing number of studies have also enriched our understanding of the drastic changes brought by disruptive innovations and the major barriers preventing consumers from adopting digital services in different social, economic, political, technological and legislative environments. At the heart of these discussions is the question of why, how, and under what conditions digitalisation, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence could help shape a business ecosystem that guarantees the quality of life across time and conditions.

The Institute of International Business and Governance (IIBG) of The Open University of Hong Kong has organised the Annual Academia-Industry Exchange since 2017. The conferences were widely acclaimed for its contributions to the dialogues between the academia and industry practitioners, meanwhile laying down various research agendas in business innovation and sustainability. Building on the success of the past exchanges, IIBG is organising its 4th Annual Academia-Industry Exchange ‘International Business, Innovation & Governance: Shaping the Futures of Smart Economy’ on 4 December 2020.

We invite competitive papers and posters which respond to the theme of the symposium. The sub-themes can be found here .