The blockchain was chosen as one of the subjects at European School of Management and Technology. Other available options are digital strategy, cybersecurity, hacking and industrial 3D printing.

The new series of two-day booster programs announced by the prestigious international business school based in Berlin will take place in June, November and December 2016. Tuition fee for each program is €1,800.

The distributed ledger is, according to ESMT, a remedy against an ancient evil – the lack of trust between “individuals, businesses, institutions, and governments”, which has been complicating their cooperation. Blockchain will allow people to free themselves from traditional middlemen – not only banks, notaries and audit firms, but even shared platforms like Airbnb and Fairtrade.

“The bitcoin payment network showcased that it is possible to perform high-value transactions, that is, send money around the world as simply as an e-mail, without the need for complicated systems of settlement and clearing processes run by banks and payment processors. The past two years have seen significant replications of the technology. Our goal is to provide a practical introduction to the technology for executives across industries in order to understand its disruptive potential.”

The program is targeted at executives from various industries that may be affected by the blockchain. It will include interactive lectures, individual exercises, practical workshops to “gain a feeling for the potential and have a starting point for experimentation,” as well as a business model workshop and startup fair.

The school promises that by the end of the program the students will master the basics of blockchain, will be able to analyse its disruptive potential for their business and will be willing to experiment with it.

Last year, universities from all over the world started a number of educational and research programs on blockchain. Boston University launched a research group to study applications distributed ledger may find in conflict zones. Imperial College London recently opened the Centre for Cryptocurrency Research and Engineering. Pompeu Fabra University and Barcelona Bitcoin Community started a series of academic discussions on cryptocurrency. Blockchain seminars have been also held by Russian HSE Lab.

Alexey Tereshchenko