Data, Technology, and Geopolitics: How the Global Economy Is Changing 2400-PL3SL337A

This seminar is devoted to the preparation of a BA thesis on contemporary transformations of the global economy under the impact of digitalization, new technologies, and geopolitical tensions. Its main purpose is to support students in choosing a research topic, formulating a research question, selecting relevant literature, working with data, and writing an independent thesis grounded in economic analysis.
The seminar starts from the premise that digitalization is reshaping the core mechanisms of the global economy. Data are becoming a strategic economic resource and increasingly function as a factor of production. Digital platforms are transforming trade, consumption, and market organization. Artificial intelligence is affecting productivity, innovation, and new sources of competitive advantage. States are competing more intensively over control of technologies, digital infrastructures, semiconductors, data flows, and regulatory standards. At the same time, globalization is becoming more fragmented: digital sovereignty, technological security, data regulation, cyber security, and the regionalization of economic cooperation are all gaining importance.
Within the seminar, students may prepare theses on how digital transformation affects international trade, investment, labor markets, economic development, the competitiveness of states and firms, and emerging forms of international dependence. The seminar examines not only the opportunities associated with the digital economy, but also its risks: widening digital inequalities, technological exclusion, concentration of power in digital platforms, dependency on foreign technology providers, regulatory conflicts, and the growing vulnerability of economies to cyber threats.
The seminar has a research-oriented and empirical character. BA theses will be based on data drawn from major international sources such as the World Bank, IMF, OECD, Eurostat, UNCTAD, WTO, DESI, ITU, and the WTO database on regional trade agreements. Students will learn how to transform a current economic issue into a feasible BA research topic, how to select indicators and datasets, how to structure an argument, and how to combine quantitative analysis with economic interpretation and literature review.
The seminar is intended for students interested in the digital economy, international economics, trade, geopolitical economy, public policy, and data analysis. It is particularly suitable for students who want to write a thesis on a current and policy-relevant issue while developing practical analytical skills.
Possible research areas include:
1. Digitalization and new divides in the global economy
Topics in this area focus on how digital infrastructure, skills, and technologies shape inequalities across countries and regions and contribute to new forms of global digital divides.
2. Digital trade
Digital trade may be understood as trade in goods and services that are ordered, delivered, or enabled through digital channels. It includes not only e-commerce, but also cross-border digital services, data flows, and the role of digital platforms and infrastructures in international exchange.
3. The digital balance of an economy
This topic explores whether a country benefits from the digital economy primarily as a producer, exporter, and owner of technologies, or rather as a consumer of foreign solutions, importer of digital services, and user of global platforms.
4. Digital platforms and new trade models
This area examines the role of platforms such as Amazon, Alibaba, Booking, Uber, or the App Store in organizing markets and international flows of goods and services.
5. RTAs and the new rules of the digital economy
RTAs, or Regional Trade Agreements, are trade agreements concluded between countries or groups of countries. Increasingly, they include not only tariffs and trade in goods, but also digital provisions related to data flows, e-commerce, consumer protection, e-signatures, data localization, and regulatory cooperation.
6. Artificial intelligence and new competitive advantages
Topics in this area investigate the impact of AI on productivity, trade, innovation, and the position of countries in the global economy.
7. Cyber security as a condition of economic development
Cyber security can be studied not only as a technical issue, but also as a condition for trust, trade, investment, and state stability in the digital economy.
8. Data geopolitics and digital sovereignty
This area focuses on tensions surrounding data, infrastructure, regulation, and technological dependence, including differences between the EU, the US, and China.
9. The geopolitics of semiconductors and strategic technologies
Topics may address the regionalization of production, export controls, and technological rivalry, especially in the context of US–China tensions and industrial policy.
10. Digitalization and economic resilience
This area examines whether more digitally advanced economies are better able to cope with crises and external shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic and other disruptions.
The seminar is led by the Director of DELab UW, an interdisciplinary research center focused on the impact of digital transformation on the economy and society. Her academic work concentrates on international economics, the digital economy, and the effects of new technologies on trade, investment, labor markets, and global processes. She combines economic analysis with institutional and regulatory perspectives, focusing on how data, algorithms, platforms, and artificial intelligence are reshaping the contemporary economy.
She is the author and co-author of academic publications and expert reports on the digital economy and technological transformation. Her major books include International Trade 4.0: Determinants of Economic Cooperation in the Age of AI, The Economics of Digital Transformation, and Digital Economy: How New Technologies Are Changing the World. Her research addresses the digital determinants of international trade, new divides in the global economy, the digital readiness of economies and firms, and the impact of AI on economic cooperation and public policy.
The seminar combines strong academic foundations with a close connection to real economic processes and current challenges of the digital world. Its teaching approach is based on developing students’ research independence, analytical precision, and the ability to build evidence-based economic arguments.