Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain for Social Impact
Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain for Social Impact provides an accessible overview of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technologies, and explores their applications for social enterprise and impact investing.
The opening chapter introduces the impact space, exploring different social business models, the role of technology, the impact investing market and general problems in the space. The remainder of this book falls into two paths: the first focusing on AI and the other looking at the blockchain technology. Providing introductions to each of these technologies and their histories, the author goes on to examine them from the perspectives of social business models and impact finance. A concluding chapter explores AI and cryptocurrencies in the impact space in the future. Readers are supported with international case studies and other student-friendly features.
Situated at the intersection between technology, fintech, social enterprise, impact investing and social impact, this book is a valuable resource for upper-level courses across all these areas. It also offers an introduction to this emerging topic for researchers and business professionals.
Online teaching resources to accompany this book include instructor lecture slides and data sets.
Wolfgang Spiess-Knafl is Co-Director of the European Center for Social Finance at the Munich Business School and Managing Director of Next Generation Impact in Vienna. Since completing his doctorate on ‘financing social enterprises’ at the Technical University of Munich, he has worked on the development of the social finance market for the European Commission and written studies on social finance for the European Parliament or the European Liberal Forum, among others. In 2017, he co-authored a book on impact investing. He regularly advises social finance intermediaries and is currently developing AI and blockchain-based concepts for the impact sector.