Book Series

TIME OF CHANGES:

DIGITALIZATION FROM ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES

The global pandemic of Covid-19 in 2020-21 spectacularly demonstrated the importance of digitalization, which was the central idea of the fourth OBIC Conference - which took place online in May 2021 after a one-year postponement. In spite of the delay, the main message of the conference was still timely as it can be drawn from its title: "'Megatrends in Asia': Digitalization-Security and Foreign Policy Implications".

The present book - which is the eleventh volume of the OBIC Book Series - is a selection of studies of researchers, including PhD students, who presented their most up-to-date results of their researches at the conference. As it can be seen, the issue of digitalization had significant impacts on the international relations of the world, and security and foreign policy implications have come into the forefront in Asia since the emergence of the pandemic. The range of new challenges is really wide: hectic and fluctuating energy prices, the disruption of global supply chains, the critical stage of tourism, and several other commercial sectors-all these symbolize that we are at the threshold of a new age in which definitely the need for security and digitalization will play leading roles.

This edited volume contains eight chapters that cover a variety of topics from economic development, foreign policy, and culture, but with a special focus on digitalization. Among others, the esteemed reader can learn about the application of digital tools in foreign policy in Thailand, the rise and spread of the digital yuan as well as the Japanese linguistic solutions in the new age. We believe that the results and conclusions of the studies provide the reader with new ideas that could be starting points for further discussions and research.

Finally, we wish to express our gratitude for the support received from the Budapest Business School, University of Applied Sciences (BBS) and the Magyar Nemzeti Bank (Central Bank of Hungary, MNB) whose continued trust, support, and guidance enabled us to organize the mentioned conference and publish the present book of studies.

Online available form of the book: