The 9th international scientific conference "New Challenges of Economic and Business Development – 2017". The conference took place on May 18th – 20th, 2017, Riga, Latvia.

The main theme of the conference was digital economy, which is growing seven times faster than the rest of the economy and nowadays is one of the main driving forces of innovation, competitiveness and productivity. The digital economy has a huge unutilized potential for the development of small and medium sized enterprises in Latvia and European Union.  

The conference had a plenary session and the following sessions:

  • Challenges of global economy in the digital era
  • Contemporary management and business innovations
  • Digital economy and innovations
  • Digital marketing
  • Finance, banking and accounting
  • Human development in digital era
  • Modelling economics and business
  • Regional development and cohesion 

The conference was organised with the support of Latvian Information and communications technology association and European Commission Representation in Latvia.

 

Prof. Trond Randøy (University of Agder, Norway)

Trond Randøy is Professor of International Business at the School of Business and Law, University of Agder, Norway. Professor Randøy has a PhD from the Norwegian School of Economics and a MBA from the University of Oregon, USA. His research focuses on international business, corporate governance, and entrepreneurship in emerging economies. Trond Randøy is currently serving on three boards and has co-founded businesses in Norway, USA and Africa.

"How can professors enhance student entrepreneurship?"

Can business school student-professor cooperation be leveraged to produce successful business ventures? We investigate how business schools can improve their social mission performance by promoting academic entrepreneurship, and outline four routes to implementing such activities. Specifically, Professor Randøy will give explore this phenomena by showing how a Norwegian business school professor, a recently gradated PhD student from Sweden, and two graduated PhD students from Tanzania in a Scandinavian-Tanzania private equity venture which invests in African firms.

Prof.Guntis Barzdiņš (University of Latvia, Latvia)

He is senior researcher at Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, University of Latvia, IMCS  and the Head of Innovation Lab at the national news agency LETA. After returning from the post-doctoral studies in USA, New Mexico University, he established the first Internet connection to Latvia in 1992. Since then worked primarily on natural language processing for Latvian and English, coordinated several national and international projects.  Teaches Deep Learning and Computer Networking courses at Computer Science department, UL.

"Benefits and drawbacks of the BigData era"

We have voluntarily surrendered our private data to BigData companies like Google and FaceBook in hope that our data there will be safe and will be used only for ethical machine learning purposes to further advance artificial intelligence capabilities we already use daily: smart search, machine translation, speech recognition, guessing our interests etc. But alongside these positive BigData uses, unexpectedly the world was recently astounded by the success of the DataScience killer-application: microtargeting, discussed in this presentation.

Prof. Bruno Sergio Sergi (University of Messina, Italy)

Bruno S. Sergi is Professor of Political Economy at the University of Messina, Italy. He is also an instructor of the Economics of Emerging Markets Asia and Eastern Europe and Political Economy of Russia and China at Harvard University. Sergi's primary research interest is international macroeconomics and the political economy of transition countries. He is the founder and Editor-In-Chief of International Journal of Trade and Global Markets; International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies and International Journal of Monetary Economics and Finance.

"Banking competition: a case study"

Conference organizing committee

Dr. Signe Bāliņa, Vice Dean for Research, Professor, Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, University of Latvia 

Dr. Gundars Bērziņš, Dean, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, University of Latvia 

Dr. Ērika Šumilo, Professor, Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, University of Latvia  

Dr. Biruta Sloka, Professor, Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, University of Latvia

Dr. Andrejs Cekuls, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, University of Latvia 

Dr. Ramona Rupeika-Apoga, Professor, Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, University of Latvia 

Dr. Janis Priede, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, University of Latvia 

Sofija Kristele, Executive Director, Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, University of Latvia

Evija Ansonska, Public Relations Manager, Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, University of Latvia

 

Scientific Programme Committee

Chairperson, Dr. Signe Balina, Professor, University of Latvia (Latvia)

Dr. Vitali Alexeev, University of Guelph (Canada)

Dr. Jean David Avenel, Professor, University Paris-Est Créteil (France)   

Dr. Anda Batraga, Associate Professor, University of Latvia (Latvia)

Dr. Leszek Bohdanowicz, Professor, University of Lodz (Poland)

Dr. Andrejs Cekuls, Associate Professor, University of Latvia (Latvia)

Dr. Ilan Cooper, Professor, Norwegian Business School (Norway)

Dr. Alessandro Danovi, Associate Professor, University of Bergamo (Italy)

Dr. Rasa Daugeliene, Associate Professor, Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania)

Dr. Vida Davidaviciene, Professor, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Lithuania)

Dr. Dzineta Dimante, Associate Professor, University of Latvia (Latvia)

Dr. Nicolas Gavoille, Associate Professor, Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (Latvia)

Dr. Simon Grima, University of Malta (Malta)

Dr. Hansen Jens Ørding, Associate Professor, Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College, (Denmark)

Dr. Arto Haveri, Professor, Tampere University (Finland)

Dr. Mihails Hazans, Professor, University of Latvia (Latvia)

Dr. Viesturs Pauls Karnups, Professor, University of Latvia (Latvia)

Dr. Gundars Kaupins, Professor, Boise University (USA)

Dr. habil. Natalija Kuznecova, Professor, Saint Petersburg State University (Russia)

Dr. Tatjana Muravska, Professor, University of Latvia (Latvia)

Dr. Shin’ya Nagasawa, Professor, Waseda University (Japan)

Dr. Tiiu Paas, Professor, Tartu University (Estonia)

Dr. Gunnar Prause, Professor, Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia)

Dr. Alari Purju, Professor, Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia)

Dr. Trond Randoy, Professor, University of Agder (Norway)

Dr. Inna Romanova, Associate Professor, University of Latvia (Latvia)

Dr. Uldis Rozevskis, Associate Professor, University of Latvia (Latvia)

Dr. Ramona Rupeika-Apoga, Professor, University of Latvia (Latvia)

Dr. Arild Sæther, Professor, Agder University (Norway)

Dr. Priit Sander, Professor, Tartu University (Estonia)

Dr. Bruno S. Sergi, Professor, University of Messina (Italy)

Dr. Ligita Simanskiene, Professor, Klaipeda University (Lithuania)

Dr. Biruta Sloka, Professor, University of Latvia (Latvia)

Dr. Inna Steinbuka, Head of Representation of the European Commission in Latvia (Latvia)

Dr. Erika Sumilo, Professor, University of Latvia (Latvia)

Dr. Eleftherios Thalassinos, Professor, University of Piraeus (Greece)

Dr. Inesa Voroncuka, Professor, University of Latvia (Latvia)

Detailed Conference Programme PDF

Thursday, 18 May, 2017

12:00 - 18:00 The Workshop in Finance (Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, Aspazijas blvd. 5, Room 322)

18:30 – 20:30  Welcome cocktail and participants networking (EU Home at Riga, Aspazijas blvd. 28)

Friday, 19 May, 2017 

From 08:00   Registration for conference (University of Latvia, Raiņa blvd. 19, The Small Hall)

09:00 – 11:00  Plenary session (University of Latvia, Raiņa blvd. 19, The Small Hall)  

Conference plenary session will star with opening speeches from University of Latvia rector Prof. Indrikis Muiznieks (Indriķis Muižnieks), Head of European Commission Representation in Latvia Inna Steinbuka (Inna Šteinbuka) and President of Latvian Information and communications technology association Prof. Signe Balina (Signe Bāliņa).

11:30 – 13:00  Parallel sessions – Part I (Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, Aspazijas blvd. 5) 

13:00 – 14:00  Lunch (cafeteria in Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, Aspazijas blvd. 5)

14:00 – 15:30  Parallel sessions – Part II (Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, Aspazijas blvd. 5) 

15:30 – 16:00  Coffee break 

16:00 – 17:30  Parallel sessions – Part III (Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, Aspazijas blvd. 5).

18:00 – 21:00  Reception of conference participants ("Cafe Film Noir", Inside of cinema Splendid Palace, Elizabetes 61, Riga)

Saturday, 20 May, 2017 

Field trip will start and end at Faculty of Business, Management and Economics, Aspazijas blvd. 5.

Meeting time 10.00

11.00 Excursion around Riga Motor Museum (S. Eizenšteina street 8, Riga)

Next to one of the largest racetrack complex of Baltic countries is Riga Motor Museum. The museum showcases more than a hundred unique antique vehicles and the collection is enriched with several significant acquisitions.

The Riga Motor Museum was founded in 1989 and after a major reconstruction that began in 2013, the museum has gained modernized exposition space and enjoyable environment. Visitors can explore the story using modern and diverse multimedia and design features, as well as participating in several interactivities.

The new exposition tells fascinating stories about unique vehicles, renowned individuals and important milestones that helped to shape world’s automotive history.

13.00 Brief walking excursion through The Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia and lunch in open-air (Brīvdabas street 21, Riga)

The Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia alongside the shore of Lake Jugla is one of Europe’s oldest and largest outdoor museums. Since its establishment in 1924, the museum has collected 118 historical buildings from all over Latvia.

At the Open-Air Museum you can find farmsteads of Latvian farmers, craftsmen, and fishermen. They all contain permanent exhibitions – household and working tools, interior furnishings – which characterize the time period, the district, and the owner’s vocation.

If you plane to stay in Riga till Sunday you are welcome to visit international Museum Night. More information and programme you can find here http://muzeju-nakts.lv/lv/programma/museum-night-programme-in-english