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Ivan Angelov
Impact of Industry 4.0 on the Foreign Direct Investment Attraction Factors
Summary:
The tendency towards increasing digitalization, automation and robotics in numeral branches of the economy reflects on different aspects of the international business affairs. The paper examines the impact of the upcoming fourth industrial revolution on the foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction and realization processes. It studies the specific features of Industry 4.0, stressing their importance for the stakeholders in FDI.
The main problem examined in the article is the shifting of the key FDI attraction factors that is expected due to the industrial revolution. The analysis of the FDI attraction factors amendment finds that we can expect changes in the behaviour and priorities of FDI stakeholders, but not a decrease in the international capital flows.
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Nataliya Marinova
Information Society in European Union and Bulgaria – Situation and Trends in Information and Communication Technologies Usage
Summary:
The European Union has long recognized the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as key factor to greater competitiveness and integration of business organizations of the continent into the global economy. Currently, the transition to the Information Society has no alternative. Matter of national choice of each Member State, including Bulgaria, is not whether to build such, but manner and forms of its realization. Development of Information Society is a cross-border and transnational process in which individual countries implement their national policies.
The theme of this paper is to investigate legislation, condition and trends in European Information Society. The aim of the study is a comparative analysis of indicators characterizing the Information Society in Europe as a whole and Bulgaria in particular. An empirical data from the websites of Eurostat, National Statistical Institute and the survey with the participation of the author are used for achieving the objective.
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Penka Shishmanova
The Key Challenges of Knowledge-based Economy Facing Some Countries of the Balkan Region (Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey)
Summary:
This paper analyzes the progress of three Balkan countries – Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey, in building a knowledge-based economy. For this purpose we employ the Knowledge Assessment Methodology – KAM/ of the World Bank and, in particular, a system of indicators integrated into four supporting “pillars” – economic initiative and institutional environment, education, innovations, information and communication technologies.
Based on that, we compare the accomplishments of the respective countries, uncover the common ground and the differences between them, outline their weaknesses and comparative advantages, high-light their particular problems and lay down their potentials. All of this in the long run is intended to outline the key challenges of knowledge-based economy facing each of the three countries and the Balkan region at large.
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Karim Naama
The State of Information Technology in the Arab World
Summary:
Information technology has become extremely important in the post-Cold War world. Developments in information technology have been described as a revolution due to their role in spurring human communities into a higher stage of development based in on knowledge and information. Information capital has become an essential resource given that information technology, which refers to both information networks and telecommunications, is now considered a form of capital. The growing importance of information capital arises from the shift towards economic globalization, the growing need for diversifying sources of information to achieve sound decision-making, as well as the overall impact of information technology on the individual politically, socially, and culturally.
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Elitsa Lazarova
The Technological Audit as a Tool for Development of Innovation Strategies
Summary:
The article focuses on some important planning aspects of the development of business innovation strategies. An emphasis is put on procedural specifics of the technological audit of companies in the cosmetics sector. The possible parameters for utilization of their innovative potential have been outlined.