Track 15

Financial Technologies (FinTech) and Blockchain

In recent years we have witnessed a fascinating array of potentially disruptive technologies that have gained increasing traction in financial services. Among those are machine learning, internet-of-things, and especially advanced cryptographic technologies such as blockchain or more generically speaking, distributed ledger technologies (DLT).

 

The availability and increasing use of these technologies leads to various technology-based innovations. On the one hand, completely new products and services are being created, on the other hand, existing offers and solutions are being displaced.

Fintech has received attention in various contexts: as analytics in financial services, anti-money laundering assisted by innovative IT, robo-advisory, as well as digital payments, for example. The use of analytic tools has empowered users to extract useful information from heterogeneous, large, and previously unused data sources.

 

Distributed Ledgers, and especially Blockchain, have received much attention, primarily driven by their use for cryptocurrencies, but also beyond. Tokenisation came into focus, when physical and digital artwork was tokenised and sold at price levels far beyond expectations. While blockchain drives innovations in different sectors, it certainly propels new business models within FinTech, for making financial services more accessible, efficient, and affordable. They have already resulted in fundamental changes to businesses in areas such as economic exchange systems, costs of networking and verification, transaction costs, trust, Initial Coin Offerings and governance. Their full impact, however, is yet to be unleashed. This track calls for FinTech and DLT & blockchain research that fosters a better grasp of these topics through rigorous research. We invite innovative and relevant empirical (qualitative and quantitative) studies as well as design-oriented research and conceptual/theoretical papers.

 

 

Potential topics

General Topics in FinTech:

  • Digital transformation of the financial services industry
  • Digital innovation in financial products and processes
  • Digital business strategies in the financial services industry
  • Impact of digital technologies on financial markets and intermediaries
  • Performance differentials of FinTech companies

FinTech solutions:

  • Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)
  • Crowdinvesting and crowdfunding
  • Smart trading strategies and high-frequency trading
  • Digital and mobile payments
  • Digital financial advice, such as robo-advisory
  • Data analytics in financial services (e.g., fraud detection)
  • FinTech and privacy
  • InsurTech – innovative technology for insurance
  • RegTech – regulatory Technologies
  • IT for AML & KYC (anti money laundering, know-your-customer)

Topics in Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies:

  • Cryptocurrencies and Tokenisation
  • Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and Security Token Offerings (STOs)
  • Decentralised Finance (DeFi)
  • Generic strategies and core design principles in a token economy
  • Value creation and value capture in a blockchain economy
  • Digital forensics for blockchain
  • Blockchain and trust, accountability
  • Blockchain in the context of decision-making and decision-making authority
  • Blockchain governance and incentive structures
  • Blockchain and institutional aspects
  • Blockchain and privacy and security
  • Blockchain and its effects on transaction costs
  • Blockchain and competitive advantage
  • Ecological impact of Blockchain
  • Blockchain and its impact on organizational functions

Prof. Dr. Jan Muntermann

University of Göttingen

Jan Muntermann is a professor of Electronic Finance and Digital Markets at the University of Göttingen. His research interests include (big) data analytics and managerial decision support, digital business strategy development and execution, and the conceptual and methodological foundations of theory development in information systems research. He has published in outlets such as Information Systems Research, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Journal of Information Technology, Decision Support Systems, and the European Journal of Information Systems.

Prof. Dr. Gilbert Fridgen

Université du Luxembourg

Gilbert Fridgen is professor and PayPal-FNR PEARL Chair in Digital Financial Services at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability, and Trust, University of Luxembourg. In his research, he analyzes the transformative effects of digital technologies on individual organizations as well on the relationship between organizations. He addresses potentially disruptive technologies like Distributed Ledgers, Verifiable Credentials, Artificial Intelligence, or the Internet-of-Things. His research involves information systems engineering, IT strategy and (risk) management, as well as regulatory compliance. In his projects and partnerships, he collaborates with partners in financial services, energy, mobility, manufacturing, consulting, as well as with public bodies and governments.

Prof. Dr. Roman Beck

IT University of Copenhagen

Roman Beck is professor at IT University of Copenhagen and Head of the European Blockchain Center. He is interested in institutional logics of organizations, organizational mindfulness, and awareness. Roman has published in outlets such as Management Information Systems Quarterly, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, European Journal of Information Systems, and many others. Roman is co-conference chair for ECIS 2022 and ICIS 2022. He serves as department editor at BISE, and senior editor at JAIS and MISQE.

Associate Editors

 

  • Michael H. Breitner (Leibniz Universität Hannover)
  • Claudio di Ciccio (Sapienza University of Rome)
  • Peter Gomber (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt)
  • Bernhard Lutz (Universität Freiburg)
  • Fethi Rabhi (University of New South Wales)
  • Ryan Riordan (Queen’s University)
  • Philipp Sandner (Frankfurt School)
  • Jens Strüker (Universität Bayreuth)
  • Horst Treiblmaier (Modul Universität Wien)
  • Andranik Tumasjan (Gutenberg-Universität Mainz)
  • Nils Urbach (Frankfurt UAS & Fraunhofer FIT)
  • Liudmila Zavolokina (Universität Zürich)