Preface

Recently, there has been a significant change in capital markets and competitive business environment. This change stems from advances in data science and communication technologies. In this new digital era, recent issues shape our understanding of the business and financial ecosystem. Individualized products, cyber-physical systems (CPS), Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and cognitive computing are some of the key components in this transformational change, the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0. Additionally, blockchain technologies are redefining rules of the game in traditional finance. It also shapes traditional business operations and their connectedness with capital markets. Therefore, centralized characteristics of the financial ecosystem need to adapt to these transformational changes. Banks as intermediaries today seek new ways to transfer values with more efficiency and less amount of time. Throughout its blockchain ecosystem, some projects are financed with initial coin offerings without any intermediaries. It is more accurate, less costly, and promising. However, the risks are tremendous as there are no monitoring or regulatory bodies in this decentralized network activity. Therefore, we need to develop a clear understanding of transformational change in the financial ecosystem in the new era. Moreover, a decentralized network economy should also be evaluated from a holistic perspective with the contributions of international scholars