Westminster Business School Debates | Digitalisation and Disruptive Technologies

The Westminster Business School Debates concept seeks to bring together an interdisciplinary panel of speakers who bring a variety of perspectives to make for a stimulating and insightful debate around the topic under discussion. All events are online free and open to the public.

For our inaugural debate of 2021/22 we focussed our attention on Digitalisation and Disruptive Technologies. It was broadcast a live, interactive webinar event to a global audience on 1 November 2021. Digital themes are interwoven into many of our Postgraduate degree courses. Participants learnt how you can prepare for life and work in a digitalised world through studying at Westminster Business School.

Our expert panel examined cutting-edge developments in the digital world: blockchain technology, FinTech and Digital Twins. We began by exploring the impact of digitalisation on data management in the context of the built environment. Digital replicas of a physical asset – “Digital Twins”, a term that originated from NASA – can collect large amounts of data and be used to predict maintenance issues and potentially save lives. We then turned our attention to FinTech and Financial Inclusion where new technology has improved access to financial products and services for those on low incomes who were previously excluded. Finally, the session looked at the emerging area of decentralised finance (DeFi) as well as the underlying blockchain technology infrastructure. Will this new approach to finance, independent of central financial intermediaries, shake up the banking sector to the same degree as we have seen with cryptocurrencies?

Our Panel Line-up:
• Professor Sergio De Cesare - Digital Twins in the Built Environment
• Dr Abdelhafid Benamraoui - FinTech Evolution and Financial Inclusion
• David Coker – DeFi (Decentralised Finance)
• Dr Karen Jackson – Moderator

The round-table format saw each speaker give a brief presentation after which the moderator opened the floor to questions from the live audience.