BTF3111 · Technology: Risk and regulation in the digital age

Overview

As digital technologies continue to evolve, there is increasing pressure on Executives to consider how the adoption of new technologies can improve business efficiency and reduce business and transaction costs. Some of these efficiency gains require digitising functions common to all businesses, such as financial and human resource management, stakeholder and customer engagement, risk management and regulatory compliance. Other efficiency gains arise from the use of technology to improve how a business produces the goods and services they bring to market. In both the operations and production context, the use of technology involves the consideration of a complex range of ethical and legal issues. Executives charged with understanding and addressing these issues must exhibit knowledge not just of the technology itself, but also of the regulatory regimes and compliance mechanisms that govern its use. This unit introduces you to ‘big data’, machine learning, rules-based decision-making, natural language processing, ‘RegTech’, blockchain, ‘smart contracts’, cloud computing, cyber-security, and electronic instruments and digital signatures. You will gain an understanding of the conceptual principles underpinning these technologies, their associated benefits and limitations and their application in various business contexts. The unit also examines the existing and proposed regulatory regimes and instruments (within and outside of Australia) governing the deployment of these technologies and the use, collection and storage of personal data. A range of case studies from different industries will be used to illustrate how new technologies can be applied to address a range of business needs, and to provide context for considering the practical, legal, ethical and regulatory issues that must be managed before, during and after technology deployment.

Offerings

The Handbook publishes no offerings for this unit.

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

Learning outcomes

1. communicate understanding of a variety of different technologies used in the business context, extrapolating key features and identifying how these technologies inter-relate
2. describe the various international regulatory frameworks governing the use of technology in business operations and specify their purpose
3. critically discuss the value of new technologies within different business contexts, and identify the relevant practical, legal, ethical and regulatory issues that must be considered before, during and after technology deployment
4. apply knowledge to evaluate how certain technologies might best address particular business needs, distinguishing between competing options by assessing the legal, ethical and regulatory issues that each alternative presents.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities. You are expected to complete all pre-class activities prior to your scheduled class, and post-class activities should be completed after your scheduled class. Learning activities may include a combination of teacher directed, peer directed and online engagement activities.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.