How to Use These Pillars
Each pillar distills the storyline, research highlights, and interdisciplinary framing for a major theme. When you want the full readings, datasets, and lecture notes, follow the callouts into the Module Library. Keeping the in-depth narrative here lets the homepage stay focused on quick navigation while still giving you one place to understand how the course fits together.
Foundations of Digital Economy
Understanding scale, structure, and foundational concepts
Key Statistics
- • Global digital economy: $24 trillion (2025)
- • Share of global GDP: 21%
- • Annual growth rate: 10-12% (3× traditional economy)
- • Projected by 2050: $50 trillion+
Learning Objectives
- • Understand digital economy scale and growth trajectory
- • Master the 6-layer infrastructure framework
- • Identify regional dynamics and key trends
- • Grasp foundational concepts and terminology
Core Frameworks
Atoms to Cloud (6-Layer Framework)
Physical Infrastructure → Network Infrastructure → Logical Layer → Application Layer → Economic Layer → Governance Layer
IBCDE Research Framework (Rong, 2022)
Infrastructure • B2B Platforms • Consumer Platforms • Data Ecosystem • Economic Contexts
Physical Infrastructure
Semiconductors, hardware, and the material foundation
Critical Chokepoints
- • TSMC: 90% of advanced logic chips (<7nm)
- • ASML: 100% monopoly on EUV lithography
- • China: 98% of gallium, 70% rare earth mining
- • NVIDIA: 92% of AI accelerator market
Supply Chain Stages
- 1. Raw materials (rare earths, silicon)
- 2. Materials processing & purification
- 3. Equipment manufacturing (ASML, LAM)
- 4. Chip design (ARM, AMD, NVIDIA)
- 5. Fabrication (TSMC, Samsung, Intel)
- 6. Advanced packaging (CoWoS, HBM)
- 7. Testing & quality assurance
- 8. Distribution & integration
Key Insights from Research
• Geographic Concentration: Taiwan Strait controls 90% of advanced logic production - single point of geopolitical failure
• AI Hardware Boom: Global AI chip market projected to reach $227B by 2030, driven by LLM training demands
• Water Crisis: TSMC consumes 600,000 tons of water daily amid regional water scarcity
Digital Services Layer
Cloud platforms, services, and application ecosystems
Cloud Market Share
- • AWS: 31% ($90B annual revenue)
- • Microsoft Azure: 20% ($60B)
- • Google Cloud: 11% ($32B)
- • Others: 38% (Alibaba, IBM, Oracle)
October 2025 AWS Outage
- • Duration: 3.5 hours
- • Economic impact: $4.15 billion
- • Affected services: EC2, RDS, S3, Lambda
- • Demonstrates systemic infrastructure risk
Platform Economics Principles
• Network Effects: Value increases exponentially with user base (Metcalfe Law)
• Winner-Take-Most: Dominant platforms capture disproportionate market share
• Multi-sided Markets: Platforms connect multiple distinct user groups
• Data Feedback Loops: More users → more data → better services → more users
Critical Challenges
Environmental, security, and geopolitical risks
Environmental
- • 7% global electricity
- • 2.1-3.9% GHG emissions
- • 480 TWh data centers (2022)
- • 62M tons e-waste/year
Cybersecurity
- • 220+ major breaches (2023)
- • 2.5B+ records exposed
- • $8M avg breach cost
- • 40% increase YoY
Geopolitical
- • US-China tech decoupling
- • Export control regimes
- • Supply chain reshoring
- • Digital sovereignty disputes
Research Gaps Identified
Sustainability Integration
Limited research on systematic use of digital tools for environmental goals
Regulatory Frameworks
Rapid digitalization outpacing legal frameworks for data privacy and platform governance
Digital Divide
Persistent inequality in infrastructure access and digital literacy
Resilience Strategies
Insufficient research on diversification and crisis response mechanisms
Research & Frameworks
Academic perspectives and methodologies
Key Research Frameworks
- IBCDE Framework (Rong, 2022)
5 perspectives: Infrastructure, B2B, Consumer, Data, Economic - Three-Level Framework (Zhang, 2023)
Technology → Innovation → Governance hierarchy - Measurement Models (Guo, 2024)
DEA models, blockchain integration, regional indices
Research Priorities
- • Standardized global measurement metrics
- • Digital-environmental policy integration
- • Platform regulation and antitrust frameworks
- • Inclusive digital economy models
- • Empirical validation of theoretical frameworks
Course Research Papers
Rong (2022) - Digital Economy Research Framework
Journal of Digital Economy • IBCDE comprehensive framework
Zhang et al. (2023) - Three-Level Framework
Information (MDPI) • Hierarchical categorization model
Emerging Issues & Gaps (2024)
Synthesis of 50+ papers on critical research gaps