到商學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)區(qū)塊鏈

David Yermack is a man in great demand. In 2014, the professor of finance at the NYU Stern School of Business helped it become the first major university to launch a course in the nascent field of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

大衛(wèi)•葉馬克(David Yermack)如今是個(gè)紅人。2014年，這位紐約大學(xué)斯特恩學(xué)院(Stern School at New York University)的金融學(xué)教授幫助該校成為率先在區(qū)塊鏈和加密貨幣這個(gè)新生領(lǐng)域開(kāi)辦課程的主要大學(xué)。

Since then the course has taken off and as well as teaching it in New York, Prof Yermack now travels the world as a visiting professor to lecture on the fast-moving field of cryptocurrencies at universities in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Basel and Stockholm.

這門(mén)課程一炮打響。如今除了在紐約授課以外，葉馬克還被阿姆斯特丹、鹿特丹、巴塞爾和斯德哥爾摩的高校聘為客座教授，講授快速發(fā)展的加密貨幣領(lǐng)域。

“I attended some events in New York and there was huge demand for people trained in the compliance and tax aspects of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, so we set up the course in 2014, the first of its kind,” he says. “Since then it has taken on a life of its own.”

他說(shuō)：“我參加了紐約的一些活動(dòng)，發(fā)現(xiàn)各方對(duì)在加密貨幣和區(qū)塊鏈的合規(guī)和稅收方面受過(guò)訓(xùn)練的人員有巨大需求，因此我們?cè)?014年開(kāi)辦了這個(gè)課程，那是首個(gè)此類課程。從此一發(fā)而不可收。”

Blockchain is a shared ledger technology that powers cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, the value of which recently rose above $10,000, up almost 13 times in the past year.

區(qū)塊鏈?zhǔn)潜忍貛诺燃用茇泿疟澈蟮囊环N共享分類賬技術(shù)——比特幣的價(jià)格一度上升到1萬(wàn)美元以上，在過(guò)去一年里上漲了近13倍。

The technology allows encrypted data on anything, from money to medical records, to be shared between many companies, people and institutions. This protects data from fraud while instantly updating all parties concerned. Experts say the demand for expertise is coming from all sectors — from financial services to retail — and it is far outstripping supply.

該技術(shù)使得從資金到病歷的很多數(shù)據(jù)都能被加密，并在眾多公司、人員和機(jī)構(gòu)之間共享。這可以保護(hù)數(shù)據(jù)免遭欺詐，同時(shí)還能立即更新所有相關(guān)方的數(shù)據(jù)。專家們表示，對(duì)這方面專長(zhǎng)的需求來(lái)自各行各業(yè)，從金融服務(wù)到零售，而需求遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過(guò)供應(yīng)。

“It is a fast-moving topic with tokenomics and cryptocurrencies changing whole industries,” says Oliver Bussmann, former chief information officer at the Swiss bank UBS who now advises blockchain start-ups. “The more people can learn about it and what potential it has, the more understanding they will have of what financial services will look like in five years.”

瑞銀(UBS)前首席信息官、如今為區(qū)塊鏈初創(chuàng)企業(yè)提供咨詢服務(wù)的奧利弗•布斯曼(Oliver Bussmann)表示：“這是一個(gè)快速發(fā)展的主題，令牌學(xué)和加密貨幣正在從整體上改變一些行業(yè)。人們?cè)搅私饧用茇泿偶捌錆摿?，就?huì)越容易弄明白金融服務(wù)在五年后的面貌。”

Big companies have steered clear of bitcoin, fearing its links to fraud and criminality. But now they see vast potential in the underlying technology to improve the efficiency of everything from tracking food products to processing financial transactions.

由于擔(dān)心比特幣牽扯到詐騙和犯罪，大公司一直回避這種加密貨幣。但現(xiàn)在它們看到了其基礎(chǔ)技術(shù)在提高各種操作的效率方面的巨大潛力，從追蹤食品產(chǎn)品到處理金融交易。

Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, summed up the mood of big business last month by describing bitcoin as “a fraud”, while also saying: “Blockchain is a technology that is a good technology. We actually use it. It will be useful in a lot of different things.”

摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)首席執(zhí)行官杰米•戴蒙(Jamie Dimon)把比特幣描述為“一種欺詐”，這代表了大企業(yè)的態(tài)度，但他還說(shuō)：“區(qū)塊鏈作為一種技術(shù)是很好的技術(shù)。我行其實(shí)在使用它。它會(huì)在許多不同領(lǐng)域都很有用。”

Prof Yermack at NYU Stern says blockchain technology “is really changing every industry”. Describing its potential as “probably as important as the introduction of double-entry bookkeeping”, he says there is “enormous student interest for this, for the jobs it offers”.

紐約大學(xué)斯特恩學(xué)院的葉馬克表示，區(qū)塊鏈技術(shù)“真的在改變每個(gè)行業(yè)”。他形容其潛力“很可能和復(fù)式簿記的推出一樣重要”，他表示，“鑒于它提供的工作機(jī)會(huì)，學(xué)生們興趣極大”。

The NYU Stern cryptocurrencies course had a few dozen students when it started out. That has now grown to more than 100 students this year, with a waiting list, and as many as 300 expected next year. “We are moving it to our largest auditorium, with capacity for 350 students,” he says.

紐約大學(xué)斯特恩學(xué)院的加密貨幣課程在起步時(shí)有幾十名學(xué)生。2017年學(xué)生人數(shù)增至100多人，還有一份等候名單，預(yù)計(jì)2018年學(xué)生人數(shù)將達(dá)到300人。他說(shuō)：“我們將上課地點(diǎn)改到我校最大的禮堂，那里可以容納350名學(xué)生。”

The subject matter is so fast-moving that it is hard for academics to keep up. Prof Yermack says the advent of “initial coin offerings”, which have allowed blockchain-based companies to raise more than $2bn this year, forced him to rewrite much of the syllabus this year.

這門(mén)課的內(nèi)容發(fā)展如此迅速，以至于學(xué)者們很難跟上其步伐。葉馬克表示，“首次代幣發(fā)行”(initial coin offerings，簡(jiǎn)稱ICO)的問(wèn)世，迫使他在今年改寫(xiě)了很大一部分課程大綱。ICO讓采用區(qū)塊鏈技術(shù)的公司今年募集資金超過(guò)20億美元。

“Year over year we’ll change well over half the course material,” he says. “It keeps you young to be reading half the night just to keep up with the latest innovations.”

他說(shuō)：“我們每年都會(huì)調(diào)整一半以上的課程材料。僅僅是為了跟上最新的創(chuàng)新就需要每天花半個(gè)晚上閱讀資料——這讓你保持年輕。”

NYU Stern, which charges MBA students more than $70,000 a year and undergraduates more than $50,000, is planning to launch an undergraduate course in blockchain and cryptocurrencies. But like many universities it is running into a shortage of teachers. “Our biggest challenge is finding enough people to teach the courses,” says Prof Yermack.

紐約大學(xué)斯特恩商學(xué)院的MBA學(xué)生每年學(xué)費(fèi)超過(guò)7萬(wàn)美元，本科生學(xué)費(fèi)超過(guò)5萬(wàn)美元。該商學(xué)院正計(jì)劃開(kāi)設(shè)區(qū)塊鏈和加密貨幣的本科課程。但與許多大學(xué)一樣，它面臨教師短缺的問(wèn)題。葉馬克表示：“目前我們最大的挑戰(zhàn)是找到足夠的人來(lái)教這些課程。”

Stanford University launched a bitcoin and cryptocurrencies course two years ago, but it stopped this year after losing some key staff. Joseph Bonneau left Stanford to join NYU Courant, where he teaches a blockchain course as part of its computer sciences faculty.

斯坦福大學(xué)(Stanford University)在兩年前開(kāi)設(shè)了比特幣和加密貨幣課程，但在今年失去關(guān)鍵教員后停辦了該課程。約瑟夫•博諾(Joseph Bonneau)離開(kāi)斯坦福大學(xué)，加入紐約大學(xué)科朗校區(qū)(NYU Courant)，作為一名計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)副教授講授一個(gè)區(qū)塊鏈課程。

“I’m pretty sure that every university will have a blockchain course in five years,” he says. “More institutions would like to teach it now, but it’s a question of having a professor around to do it.”

他說(shuō)：“我相當(dāng)確信，5年后所有大學(xué)都會(huì)開(kāi)設(shè)區(qū)塊鏈課程。很多學(xué)府現(xiàn)在就想開(kāi)這門(mén)課，但問(wèn)題是得有一個(gè)教授講課。”

The rapid spread of blockchain courses is being driven by the red-hot jobs market in the sector, with the best engineers in the field commanding a starting salary above $250,000.

區(qū)塊鏈課程的迅速增多，是由該領(lǐng)域炙手可熱的就業(yè)市場(chǎng)驅(qū)動(dòng)的，該領(lǐng)域最優(yōu)秀的工程師起薪超過(guò)25萬(wàn)美元。

Jens Martin, programme director at the University of Amsterdam, says that after its new blockchain and cryptocurrencies course became the most popular module on its international finance masters this year it plans to add a second, more practical, course on the subject next year.

阿姆斯特丹大學(xué)(University of Amsterdam)的課程總監(jiān)延斯•馬丁(Jens Martin)表示，在新開(kāi)設(shè)的區(qū)塊鏈和加密貨幣課程今年成為其國(guó)際金融碩士課程中最受歡迎的模塊后，該校計(jì)劃在明年就該主題開(kāi)辦第二個(gè)更加實(shí)用的課程。

Chris Knoll left a job as an equity analyst in South Africa to take the course in Amsterdam and soon after graduating this year he got a job at a private equity group in the Dutch city.

克里斯•諾爾(Chris Knoll)辭去了南非股票分析師的工作，去阿姆斯特丹攻讀該課程。他在今年畢業(yè)后不久就在阿姆斯特丹的一家私人股本集團(tuán)獲得了工作。

“I don’t have the computer programming background to make it in fintech, but I’m really interested in it and if ever an opportunity came up in that area I’d take it with both hands,” says the 28-year-old. “Blockchain is going to change the world.”

28歲的諾爾表示：“我沒(méi)有計(jì)算機(jī)編程背景，因此無(wú)法在金融科技領(lǐng)域出人頭地，但我真的對(duì)它很感興趣，如果有該領(lǐng)域的機(jī)會(huì)，我會(huì)緊緊抓住它。區(qū)塊鏈將會(huì)改變世界。”

“There is a big demand for computer science students that have a good understanding of blockchain right now,” says Aggelos Kiayias, chair in cyber security and privacy and director of the blockchain technology laboratory at the University of Edinburgh, which launched a cryptocurrency course this year. “It serves as a very nice use case that the students can apply in a lot of other domains, like cyber security.”

英國(guó)愛(ài)丁堡大學(xué)(University of Edinburgh)今年開(kāi)設(shè)了加密貨幣課程。該校網(wǎng)絡(luò)安全和隱私主管兼區(qū)塊鏈技術(shù)實(shí)驗(yàn)室主任安格羅斯•凱亞雅思(Aggelos Kiayias)表示：“當(dāng)前，深入了解區(qū)塊鏈的計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)專業(yè)學(xué)生面臨極大需求。加密貨幣提供了一個(gè)極好的用例，學(xué)生們可以把它應(yīng)用在其他很多領(lǐng)域，如網(wǎng)絡(luò)安全。”

There are already scores of internet tutorials, many of them available free as massive open online courses (Moocs). Coursera, an education-focused tech company, has joined with Princeton University to offer an 11-week online cryptocurrency technologies course.

目前已經(jīng)有幾十個(gè)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)教程，其中許多是免費(fèi)提供的大規(guī)模開(kāi)放在線課程(MOOC)。專注于教育的科技公司Coursera與普林斯頓大學(xué)(Princeton University)合作提供一個(gè)為期11周的在線加密貨幣技術(shù)課程。

At the other end of the spectrum is B9lab, a fee-charging institution based in London and Hamburg offering a 40-hour online course in blockchain for technical executives and analysts spread over nine weeks at a cost of €2,350.

而在市場(chǎng)的另一頭是總部位于倫敦和漢堡的收費(fèi)機(jī)構(gòu)B9lab，該機(jī)構(gòu)面向技術(shù)主管和分析師提供一個(gè)40小時(shí)的區(qū)塊鏈在線課程，在9周內(nèi)完成，費(fèi)用為2350歐元。

Elias Haase, co-founder of B9lab, says demand for the course has been steady, if unspectacular, with about 40 people expected to take part this year. But he expects interest to grow, saying: “There is definitely a disconnect between the willingness of companies to invest in talent and the amount of money being raised in the system, which will eventually have to be rectified.”

B9lab聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人伊萊亞斯•哈斯(Elias Haase)表示，該課程需求穩(wěn)定(即便不算火爆)，預(yù)計(jì)今年有大約40名學(xué)員。但他預(yù)計(jì)人們對(duì)該課程的興趣將會(huì)上升，他說(shuō)：“企業(yè)投資人才的意愿和該體系籌集的資金之間肯定存在脫節(jié)，最終不得不予以糾正。”

This feature is taken from our European Business Schools special report 譯者/裴伴