The course will present sharing economy fundamentals and give training in tools to develop a business model and a approproate sharing community. It provides an introduction to the emergence of the sharing economy and comparison of different sharing economies. The major part of the course is practical work with business modelling and social media tools. The students will enhance their understanding of the complexities involved in identifying business opportunities for a sharing economy company. The course provides learning opportunities about ways and skills required to mobilize and allocate scare resources from non-compatible sources.

The sharing economy has been around for a while, in open source software communities, consumption and brand tribes, and social entrepreneurs' networks. However, the global reach of the sharing economy is made possible by the influence of accessible cyber-material technologies like smart-phones and apps. This technology has disruptive effects and extends opportunities for economic participation to consumers and to remote areas. In this lies its potential to fuel economic and social growth, but there is as yet a fair number of hurdles for entrepreneurs who want to start and run sharing economy companies. The course will give the students the concepts and tools to identify business opportunities and business models based on different combinations of financial, technological and social resources.