18 February 2016: Professor Bhimani delivered a plenary talk at a conference at Bocconi University’s conference to celebrate Professor Franco Amigoni’s distinguished academic career.
Professor Bhimani addressed the question of the future of accountancy and management education in the face of the challenges presented by the digital economy. He noted the impact of macro-social and economic global shifts which are altering the volume and forms of data being produced and consumed and the consequent options for business models and enterprise design.
Professor Bhimani discussed demographic changes, the extending economic influence of Eastern economies, the growth of regulatory requirements and the advent of communicative technologies on data expansion over the next decade. He noted that investments were being made into higher resolution smart devices which are accelerating digital data growth in developed countries whilst there exists fast paced ongoing penetration of mobile platforms in developing nations. He suggested that accounting’s historical focus solely on formal structured data processing and reporting is increasingly untenable and information expertise is reshaping the finance function whether or not accountants participate in that process.
He discussed Big Data, analytics, blockchain, artificial intelligence, robotics, 3-D printing and the ‘internet of things’ as technological innovations driving organisations through an information transformation of epochal significance. He articulated a number of measures which need to be addressed by professional financial expertise bodies, accountancy institutes and business schools.
Professor Bhimani highlighted the need to train information professionals who are adept in co-mingling IT skills with finance expertise alongside corporate strategy understanding while honing communicative capacities to service managers’ and wider stakeholders’ information needs.
Source: LSE Accounting
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