Our team - BSBI

Our team

Dr. Serhan Ünalan

overview When you watch an ant colony, you notice something striking: there is no leader shouting orders, no central plan. Yet, thousands of ants coordinate to build bridges, find food, and construct intricate networks—all by following the traces left by others. This simple, decentralized logic fascinated Dr. Serhan Ünalan and became the inspiration for his

overview

When you watch an ant colony, you notice something striking: there is no leader shouting orders, no central plan. Yet, thousands of ants coordinate to build bridges, find food, and construct intricate networks—all by following the traces left by others. This simple, decentralized logic fascinated Dr. Serhan Ünalan and became the inspiration for his PhD at the University of Portsmouth.

His PhD thesis, Stigmergic Innovation Systems Based on Blockchain, explored how humans might do the same. What if, instead of pheromone trails, we had digital trails? What if every action left behind a transparent, immutable signal that others could build upon? Blockchain, he argued, offers exactly that: a way to enable trust, collaboration, and democratization in innovation systems without the need for central control. Dr. Ünalan’s research combined theory with practice, producing both a novel academic framework and concrete policy recommendations for Germany on fostering digital ecosystems. But his work does not stop at theory. With more than 20 years of professional and academic experience, Dr. Ünalan has worked at the intersection of business, technology, and governance. He currently lectures on disruptive technologies—including artificial intelligence, blockchain, and digital transformation—at the Berlin School of Business and Innovation (BSBI), where he prepares students to critically engage with innovation and its societal impact. Beyond academia, he advises municipalities, industry partners, and international organizations on smart city strategies,digital governance, and innovation policies. And He is also preparing a forthcoming publication on the role of emerging technologies in public administration—continuing his exploration of how innovation can enhance transparency, efficiency, and participation in governance. Today, whether advising municipalities on smart city strategies or teaching students how to harness emerging technologies, Dr. Ünalan’s guiding principle remains the same: innovation is collective, and when signals are shared openly, even small contributions can grow into something far greater—just like in the world of ants.

courses

Blockchain, Metaverse, Digital Economy, Digital Transformation

Areas of expertise

Smart Cities, Digital Transformation, Digital Economy, Blockchain, Innovation Management, Strategy, Entrepreneurship

publications

  • Fuentes, S. et al. (2021). Composed Index for the Evaluation of Energy Security in Power Systems within the Frame of Energy Transitions—The Case of Latin America and the Caribbean. Energies, 14(2467).
  • Fuentes, S. et al. (2020). Composed Index for the Evaluation of the Energy Security of Power Systems: Application to the Case of Argentina. Energies, 13(15), 3998.
  • Fuentes, S. et al. (2020). Transition to a Greener Power Sector: Four Different Scopes on Energy Security. Renewable Energy Focus, 33.
  • Fuentes, S. et al. (2019). International Tendencies on Energy Security: A Review on National Energy Policies in the Electrical Sector. EnerLAC, III(1).

research interests

  • Unalan, S. (2025). AI in Public Administration: The Need for Training for the Successful Smart City Transformation. In The European Smart City Movement: Case Studies from Around Europe (pp. 133-140). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
  • Unalan, S., & Ozcan, S. (2024). Blockchain governance mechanisms for micro level innovation. Available at SSRN 4877274.
  • S. Ozcan, S. Unalan, (2020). Blockchain as a General Purpose Technology: Patentometric Evidence of Science, Technologies and Actors. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Blockchain Ecosystem Special Issue, 3, Q1.
  • S. Unalan & S. Ozcan (2020). Democratising Systems of Innovations based on Blockchain Platform Technologies. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 2, Q2.
  • S. Ozcan, S. Unalan. Blockchain as a General Purpose Technology: Scientometric Evidence of Science, Technologies and Actors, CINet Conference, 2019, Odense. · S. Unalan, S. Ozcan. 2018. Democratising Systems of Innovations based on Blockchain Platform Technologies, R&D Management Conference, Milan.
  • S. Unalan, S. Ozcan. 2018. Democratisation of Innovation Systems: Mapping New Elements, Interactions And Conditions, Triple Helix Conference, Manchester.

Conferences, Talks, and Speaking Engagements

  • R&D Management Conference, Milan, 2018
  • Triple Helix Conference, Manchester, 2018
  • CINet Conference, 2019, Odense