AGENDA

The risks of foreign expansion

• Types of risk on remote markets – general and specific features of culture and geography
• Restrictions and acceptance. Available risk reduction tools, tested methods. Knowledge, co-operation, diversification
• A role of the administration and economic diplomacy in minimising the risk and the consequences of failure
• Right in time or a decision to disinvest. Experience as valuable capital
• Giving up is not disaster. Should we give it one more try?

The future of the local government in Poland – the system

• The division of competence between the government, central administration and local governments
• The role of new metropolises and voivodeship governments after the end of the EU financial framework 2014–2020
• Funding for services for citizens and the manner of providing such services (including schools and hospitals) as well as delegated tasks
• The framework for consultation and responsible dialogue between the government and local governments
• Citizen participation in the local government

The coal-based energy industry

• The European anti-carbon faction. Arguments and figures versus doctrine
• The national energy mix determines awareness? Structural differences between the energy systems of the EU Member States
• The energy industry in a new form. Fuel and energy companies. Capital and trade connections between the energy sector and the mining industry
• Energy security and independence vs. environmental policy – how to reconcile their contradictions?
• National Raw Materials Policy – the current state of play

Automotive industry in Poland and Europe

• Main trends in the European automotive industry. Are we manufacturing a car for the future?
• Co-operation or competition? Standardisation or car customisation? 
• The automotive industry and the transfer of technologies 
• The automotive industry – a Polish speciality? The role of the sector in the economy
• Electromobility – an important trend in the automotive sector

Polish ports – in the global market and in the system of European transport corridors

• A boom in maritime transportation and its impact on the activity of Polish ports. Alliances between container ship owners
• Year 2016 – new loading records in Polish seaports. Sources of success
• Completed and planned investments in ports (agro products, gas and liquid fuels). Break bulk cargo in containers. A range of loading and unloading services
• Seaports as elements of the Baltic-Adriatic transport corridor. Interconnections between the road and rail infrastructure with the port infrastructure
• Competition for transit goods. Advantages of Polish ports and operators
• The role of seaports in foreign trade and increasing energy security
• The “Ports 24” programme. Western standards are within reach. What is still missing?

The circular economy

• Communal waste and the economy. The assessment of current waste management law
• A world without waste. The idea of a “circular economy” and the associated practical challenges
• A need to verify the quantity and type of waste processing installations. Have billions invested in incinerators gone down the drain?
• Using waste in the energy sector and the cement industry, and also in the chemical industry (e.g. the recycling of plastic)
• Knowledge and awareness. How to create a fashion for effective waste sorting
• New jobs, new investments, new innovations: circularity at the service of the economy

Energy security of Central Europe*

• The energy industry as the critical area of regional co-operation – common goals
• The role of the North-South Corridor
• What hampers the implementation of joint energy projects in the region?

Culture and municipal development

• The quality of life as a parameter of transformation in urban centres
• ‘Soft’ pro-development elements (the cultural offer, leisure and entertainment, education, mobility, accessibility, and attractive public space). Their impact on the development of regions, towns, cities and the economy
• Attractive location as a component of business and investment offers. The fashionability and image of towns and cities
• An environment friendly to creative industries. Traditional versus modern or inspiring confrontations. Freedom, diversity and tolerance
• Preferences of younger workers who appreciate the balance between work and private life

E-citizens in the e-office

• The information society and computerising offices
• Changes in the way offices work – how business and technology can help
• Cities opening their public data, the uniform control file, mobile documents
• The Integrated State Computerisation Plan until 2020

Space industry as a carrier of innovation

• The value and prospects of the space industry in Poland and Europe 
• Activities, requirements and plans of the European Space Agency 
• The space industry as a pillar of the innovation economy in Poland?
• The “Support Programme for Space Technologies in Poland” – the role of the administration and government agencies
• Incubators, start-ups and acceleration programs – young entrepreneurship and the space industry
• Together we can tap the space boom – consortia and co-operation

Renewable energy sources

• Renewable energy sources in Europe and Poland – their state, role in energy systems, determinants and development trends
• Our preferences: move away from wind, bet on biomass, biogas and photovoltaics? Scenarios, opportunities, risks. Energy clusters. Opportunities for success
• Renewable energy auctions. Mechanism assessment
• Regulations governing support for renewable energy sources in Europe – diversity of solutions and their consequences. Opportunities for standardisation?
• Cheaper, more effective and lacking negative side effects for the system. Towards “better” renewable energy sources?
• Renewable sources in national energy mixes from the perspective of 2030

Is the steel industry under siege?

• The situation of the steel industry in Europe. Under pressure: energy prices, climate policy and aggressive competition
• The steel industry and steel trade worldwide. Global economic agreements. Protectionism and dumping
• Steel distribution and processing – the sector is in the throes of change and faces new challenges
• The steel industry keeps investing. The steel sector as a vector of innovation. Towards specialisation?

Business-friendly law

• The quality of law and its impact on economic activity
• The instability of regulations and multiple interpretations as a source of costs for companies
• An efficient justice system – what changes do entrepreneurs expect?
• Preference packages. Will businesses trust politicians? The role of a dialogue with the representatives of the community

Higher education – from quantity to quality

• Education in Poland. Less means more. Changes in higher education
• The educational reform versus education quality – challenges faced by teachers
• The role of industry-specific schools in the future of the job market
• Will a lower number of students improve the situation on the job market? Polish and European experience
• Dual education – current trends and good Western models

Challenges of modern management

• Leader or dictator? Optimal models of HR management
• Three generations in one company – a new challenge. Diversity as a value in business and management
• Motivating the team – how to improve work efficiency?
• Business changes fast. Employee assessment is on its way out, what we need is feedback right here and right now
• Management of the future. Turquoise companies in practice. An opportunity or a trap?
• Mere gadgets or actual support tools for communication and decision-making? Technology in management

Active investors in Polish towns and cities

• How investors change the face of Polish towns and cities. Necessary tools: imagination, audacity and money
• Local government and capital, or effective partnership in practice. Models of relations, transparency, responsibility
• Informed spatial management for people. The role of creative architects and urban planners
• How businesses make profit, how the town benefits. The image is priceless. Good practices worth spreading

Local companies go global

• Large Polish food companies on the edge of key decisions – will they be forced by a generational change and succession?
• Consolidation and scale. Dilemmas of co-operation
• The Polish food industry – technologically advanced and ready for change
• Growth stimulators for Polish food companies: financing, promotional funds
• Legal, economic and political barriers to business growth and expansion

Industry 4.0 – faces of the industrial revolution

• Technologies, digitisation and information in production. Where are we? What are we to expect?
• Tools of change: machine-machine dialogue, Big Data, robots and automatic machines, and artificial intelligence
• Examples of projects and cases of implementation as part of Industry 4.0 – a review of best practice
• Humans in the factory of the future: Is this vision coming close to fulfilment?
• Specialisation and co-operation, that is management and education in the age of revolution

Public transport

• Efficient, comfortable, clean and cheap? The ideal public transportation system and its universal features
• Public transportation as an element of enhancing the quality of life in Polish towns, and giving a competitive edge to towns and regions
• Automation of public transportation, electromobility
• Prosumers in transportation, sharing economy – a remedy for the transportation issues of contemporary towns and cities

Efficient energy management

• Energy efficiency in practice: What have achieved? What point are we at?
• The potential for efficiency in the economies of European countries
• Energy-efficient technologies and rational energy consumption management technologies
• How to be efficient? The market for services and consulting. Comprehensive solutions available on request

Investments undertaken by local governments – a new prospect

• What do local governments invest in and how? Experience and limitations
• Are Polish local governments back in the game? Hopes of a recovery after a period of slowdown
• Investment in the future – effective, pro-development and promising projects
• Bold plans and their consequences – facility maintenance costs
• The future of financing municipal and regional investments. What to expect after 2020? 

What will come next in the East? Economy in the shadow of politics

• Economic prospects in an adverse political environment. Prospects, scenarios, riddles
• Embargoes and prohibitions – a catalogue of restrictions. In search of an alternative: viable possibilities, a correction to business strategies
• Examples of economic activities and strategies immune to political upheavals
• Actual risk level versus stereotypes and irrational fears
• Belarus – a promising destination for exports. Will economic pragmatism prevail?
• Business first, politics second. Economy at the vanguard of normalisation

Sports, business, infrastructure

• How to use the sports infrastructure. Stadiums after the Euro Championships – still a problem and a burden? 
• Large sports arenas and stadiums – the art of managing the sports infrastructure. Foreign and domestic experiences
• Who has ideas and who has the money? In search of a sponsor. The state? The commune? The business sector?
• Sport as a common interest and promotional tool for regions and towns. The leisure industry as a mainspring of development
• Health and lifestyle. Business and advertising. The long-term role of sports and physical culture in society

Product Concept, or a product from scratch

• More than marketing – a comprehensive approach to the product.
• The role of economic analyses and business models in product market strategy.
• Brand strategy and creativity.
• The crucial questions: the competitive potential of a product.

Employees and employers in the light of new technologies

• The role of ICT and digitisation in modern companies
• New technologies and new possibilities – their business potential
• The generation ‘Y’ in an enterprise. How to harness the skills of the youngest employees?
• Knowledge as an investment. Wider competences and their importance
• Management and technology. Models of relations and the art of co-operation

Demographic challenges

• Demographic trends and their potential social and economic consequences
• The future structure of society as a challenge to civilisation. How to prepare for the inevitable?
• Economic forecasts in the context of demography. Productivity, labour and public finance
• The role of the government and local governments in stimulating the fertility rate
• Immigrants from the East (Ukraine and Belarus) in the Polish labour market. Conditions, concerns and benefits

The Three Seas Initiative - prospects of co-operation*

• The changing political environment in Europe and worldwide as a context for the Initiative of ‘Trójmorze’
• Overarching objectives, common aspirations, and an acceptable co-operation format
• From ideas to practical actions – the shortest path and effective scenarios

Domestic cargo transport market 

• Rail freight services in Poland. Market evolution
• Challenges that the Polish railway is facing. The European ambitions of Polish carriers and forwarders
• Competition versus the business model. Advantages of the holding structure based on a comparison of the Polish railway with that of Germany
• Development of the logistics base and the cargo services infrastructure
• Air cargo – untapped potential

Women in business

• The share of women among business leaders in the sphere of technology and in the media. Their importance to the efficiency of an organisation
• The causes of inequality between women and men on the road to promotion
• The glass ceiling, prejudices, and stereotypes. A map of barriers and external constraints
• Towards a gender-neutral structure. Building alliances
• Personalities, role models, and support – it is them that blaze a trail
• Tactics, practice, and examples. How to be promoted in the circles unfavourable to women?
• Steadfastness versus the art of compromise: Where to set the limits? How to survive in one’s heyday?

Exporting Polish food in the new global economic reality

• CETA, TTIP, TTP – what is the future of the global free trade agreements?
• Asia, Africa, South America: opportunities for Polish producers
• The foreign expansion of Polish exporters – global political and economic determinants
• “Consumer nationalism” in the EU and the dynamics of exports
• Better together. Consolidating and creating exporting consortia

The gaming and e-sport industry in Poland

• The potential of the global and Polish gaming market. The balance of power, customer profile and value 
• Creative companies and their resounding success in the global market
• Innovations with a high potential for commercialisation. Institutional support for the gaming industry
• E-sport and its importance to the development of the industry
• Will the industry continue to develop? Products and people. Distribution and co-operation

Drones - technology for the people and the economy

• Regulate and make available. The European Commission’s work on setting the conditions for the use of air space for commercial (and private) drone applications
• Drones as part of everyday life? The vision of the future, the implementation of... today
• The economic potential of “unmanned aerial vehicles”
• A specialisation in flying? European ambitions and the development of drone technologies and applications
• The Polish drone market. Outlooks, potential, plans

Science for industry – changes are coming

• Assumptions of the industrial science system reform (that is, the reform of the network of state-owned research and development units for industry)
• The time has come for integration. Benefits arising from establishing the interdisciplinary National Institute of Technology (NIT)
• Will operations be conducted as part of the NIT or on a commercial basis? The future of over one hundred state-owned research institutes
• Questions and controversies. Opinions expressed by scientific and industrial circles 
• The importance of changes to the further operation of Polish science and industry – particularly in the area of advanced technologies

Coal in Europe and Poland

• Commitments and regulations. The dilemmas of climate policy and energy security
• Coal in the backwaters? Carbon sovereignty? The energy mix as an issue for European debate. Areas and methods of compromise
• A time to phase out? Prospects for hard coal mining in the light of current development trends in the European energy sector
• The programme to restructure Polish mining: objectives, outcomes and future prospects
• Clean combustion technologies. Ambitions, opportunities, reality

The mysteries of banking crises: Who is to blame? The free market or the state?

• Financial crises, banking crises, economics, economic crises, economic policy, institutional economics and state intervention versus the free market

The steel industry: processing, the market and distribution

• The steel market in Europe. In search of a balance between protection and competition
• Steel processing Strategies for building added value
• Investments in the distribution sector – technologies, innovations and specialist services
• Prices, competition and consumers. How to keep free-market values balanced?
• The role of regulations – stimulating development and limiting pathology

Via Carpathia – a Project Beyond Borders*

• The new European route and its importance in terms of the economy, civilisation and culture
• Is it possible to speed up its implementation? The impetus and declarations on the part of countries involved in the project
• Investment priorities of the states located on the route
• Role of Via Carpathia in the Trans-European Transport Network
• Current and future possibilities of financing the project

The rolling stock and fleet market 

• Producers of rolling stock and fleets of motor vehicles for public transport in Poland
• The export potential and position of the industry in the European market
• Innovative solutions, technologies and technology transfer, and know-how
• Strategic plans of enterprises. Consortia, co-operation and competition
• The place of the industry in the plans of the government

Modern education – employment and innovation

• Narrow specialisation or versatile, creative professionals? Trends in vocational education
• Effective educational methods in industry-specific schools
• Professions in high demand today and tomorrow. Filling gaps and predicting needs
• Co-operation of schools and universities with employers – how to educate students for innovation?
• The new strategy for science and higher education as assessed by schools and entrepreneurs

International tenders: Why not?

• International projects and tenders – a large and attractive market. Who wins?
• The absence of Polish enterprises. Do we lack potential or competence?
• Access to public procurement in foreign markets
• How to compete for orders in the global market effectively?

Participation and public consultation in practice

• Democracy on your street. Participatory budgeting in Polish municipalities – practice and experience
• Mechanisms of co-operation between public institutions, local governments and citizens: public hearings, public consultation and civic panels
• Managing cities, institutions and businesses using participatory methods: How to do it effectively?

Water routes in Poland and Europe

• Phase and timetable of state plans for the development of inland waterways in Poland for 2016-2020, with a perspective leading up to 2030. Polish ambitions against the background of other European countries
• Key investments: modernising the Oder Waterway and the Vistula Waterway, building the Silesian Canal and the Koźle-Ostrava connection
• Opportunities for internationalising Polish inland routes – interests of neighbours in co-operation and co-ordination of investment plans
• Business and inland investments (participation, cascade hydropower plants, anti-flood protection)
• Potential of the land infrastructure for supporting inland transportation (development plans for river ports; their communication with road, rail and air transportation)
• Shipyards and fleet production. Carriers and forwarders on the market and their capabilities

The TMTM Transport Corridor and the development of economic contacts between Europe and Asia

• The multimodal trans-Caspian corridor as an answer to the transport needs of the Asia-Pacific region as well as those of Central Asia, the Caucasus and Europe
• The competitiveness of the new project. Participants in the project and the progress of its implementation
• Potential benefits for trade and economic co-operation between Asia and Europe
• The TMTM Corridor in the architecture of the New Silk Road. The example of co-operation between China and Azerbaijan for the development of transport possibilities
• Investments in the logistics infrastructure that increase the capacity of the Corridor and add to its value
• New participants in the TMTM Corridor. The ‘Poland–Ukraine–Georgia–Azerbaijan’ project

The leisure industry

• Travel and tourism; culture and entertainment; and sport and recreation – the importance of these areas of activity to the Polish economy and labour market
• The impact of the leisure industry on the attractiveness of regions, their development, and investment inflow
• The potential of the leisure industry and the degree of its utilisation. Related services, infrastructure and investment
• Actions at the national level, as well as at the local and regional levels, that support the development of the sector
• Can Poland become the Central European leisure industry centre?

Free areas. An idea and co-operation

• ‘Unwanted’ areas and pieces of land that are difficult to manage. The scale of the phenomenon
• Brownfield sites in the throes of restructuring and ownership transformation
• Local government policy with respect to unwanted areas
• How to add value to a plot of land? Subdivision, accessibility improvement, reclamation and promotion
• Sales or partnership? Co-operation between investors and owners 
• The most important thing is to have an idea – examples of development on plots with a difficult history
• How about warehouses? The land for logistics operations. What does an investor need?
• How to implement non-standard projects? Creativity, communication and responsibility