We are experiencing “new lives” day by day when Uber changed the way we move, Airbnb changed the way we live during tour, Wikipedia/Google changed the way we solve a problem, and Bitcoin changed the definition of “money”. These new lives we enjoy (or suffer) could hardly be imagined in an industrial society in the twentieth century, not very long time ago. What’s the hidden force drove such a quick transformation and how they came true?

Since the late 1980s, the economies of the advanced countries have gradually entered a new stage that the information and knowledge-based sectors become significant while the traditional manufacturers had relatively poor performance or even shrink. Such a phenomenon has been characterized as the emergence of “new economy”. Meanwhile, the dramatic development of information and communication technology (ICT) could be one of the powerful engines behind the transformation that the traditional private property system and hierarchical relationship has been challenged seriously. Accordingly, the ICT-driven network mechanism, sharing economy, and the common wealth society will be the three aspects on which we focus in this course.

This course shall enable students to understand the features and reasons of new economy from the media-centered perspective. After that s/he will have a vision to see through the development and grab the opportunities beforehand. Via case-studies, it could also help students to acknowledge the challenges that the media and business have nowadays and propose solutions for them.