Why "free" comes at a price: the costs of free internet services in terms of privacy, cybersecurity, and the growing market power of technology giants.The upside of the internet is free Wi-Fi at Starbucks, Facetime over long distances, and nearly unlimited data for downloading or streaming. The downside is that our data goes to companies that use it to make money, our financial information is exposed to hackers, and the market power of technology companies continue...

In the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, corporate collapses, accounting scandals, and concerns around competition and auditor choice, the European Commission (EC) promoted the preparation of various reports on audit policy to support a harmonisation process of European auditing regulation. Consequently, the European Union (EU) Audit Regulation and Directive was implemented from 2016.This book provides a timely picture of the audit sector and how it responds to regulatory a...

A practical guide to the new economy that is transforming the way we live, work, and play.Uber. Airbnb. Amazon. Apple. PayPal. All of these companies disrupted their markets when they launched. Today they are industry leaders. What’s the secret to their success?These cutting-edge businesses are built on platforms: two-sided markets that are revolutionizing the way we do business. Written by three of the most sought-after experts on platform businesses, ...

The definitive pioneering blueprint covering the what, why and how of the blockchain.Blockchains are new technology layers that rewire the Internet and threaten to side-step older legacy constructs and centrally served businesses. At its core, a blockchain injects trust into the network, cutting off some intermediaries from serving that function and creatively disrupting how they operate. Metaphorically, blockchains are the ultimate non-stop computers. Once launche...

Can we master the technologies we create before they master us? A "punchy and provocative" assessment by one of Silicon Valley's sharpest observers ( Financial Times).WTF? can be an expression of amazement or of dismay—and today's technology elicits both reactions. In this book, Tim O'Reilly, dubbed "the Oracle of Silicon Valley" by Inc. magazine, explores the upsides—and potential downsides—of today's WTF? technologies.What is the future wh...

A trio of experts on high-tech business strategy and innovation reveal the principles that have made platform businesses the most valuable firms in the world and the first trillion-dollar companies.Managers and entrepreneurs in the digital era must learn to master digital competition and live in two worlds—the conventional economy and the platform economy. Platforms that operate for business purposes usually exist at the level of an industry or ecosystem, bringing together individu...

A guide to platform businesses that shows how they work, how to replicate the success of some of history's best platforms, and how to handle disruption."[A] stimulating book . . . The authors are particularly interesting on how modern platform companies are able to outsource much of their innovation." — The Financial Times" Modern Monopolies brilliantly lays out the formula for how to get rich in the platform economy...

The world's leading expert on the global software industry and coauthor of the bestseller Microsoft Secrets reveals the inner workings of software giants like IBM, Microsoft, and Netscape and shows what it takes to create, develop, and manage a successful company -- in good times and bad -- in the most fiercely competitive business in the world.In the $600 billion software industry it is the business, not the technology, that determines success or failure. This fact -- one that thou...

In Information Rules, authors Shapiro and Varian reveal that many classic economic concepts can provide the insight and understanding necessary to succeed in the information age. They argue that if managers seriously want to develop effective strategies for competing in the new economy, they must understand the fundamental economics of information technology. Whether information takes the form of software code or recorded music, is published in a book or magazine, or even posted on a websi...

Offering real-world insight and explanations, this book provides a roadmap for organizations looking to develop a profitable big data strategy and reveals why it's not something they can leave to the I.T. department.Big data--the enormous amount of data that is created as virtually every movement, transaction, and choice we make becomes digitized--is revolutionizing business. Sharing best practices from companies that have implemented a big data strategy including ...

“A fascinating book about how platform internet companies (Amazon, Facebook, and so on) are changing the norms of economic competition.”—Fast CompanyShoppers with a bargain-hunting impulse and internet access can find a universe of products at their fingertips. But is there a dark side to internet commerce? This thought-provoking exposé invites us to explore how sophisticated algorithms and data-crunching are changing the nature of market competitio...

As we move into an era of unprecedented volumes of data and computing power, the benefits aren't for business alone. Data can help citizens access government, hold it accountable and build new services to help themselves.Simply making data available is not sufficient. The use of data for the public good is being driven by a distributed community of media, nonprofits, academics and civic advocates.This report from O'Reilly Radar highlights the principles of data in the publi...