This proceedings book presents outcomes of the Innovative Economic Symposium – 2020 organized by the Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice (VŠTE) in Russia in collaboration with two universities: Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation (Moscow) and Samara State University of Economics (Samara). The symposium aims to bring together experts and young scientists in economy, management, international relations, finance, marketing, and professional education from Asian and European countries, to share knowledge and experience and discuss issues related to stable economic development, international business, entrepreneurship, Industry 4.0, cooperation between educational and business structures, strategic decision-making, and processes of economic globalization and fragmentation. The book consists of two parts corresponding to the thematic symposium areas. The book content covers two sections: stable development in unstable world and globalization and fragmentation forces of the current world economy. The main topics included in the book are as follows: - Where is the world moving to and where is the economy in it? - Institutionalization of innovations. - Network architecture of economic relations. - Competences for the future. - Smart change management. - Monetary and fiscal policy development as a factor of economic modernization. - Role of international trade in the economy globalization. - Impact of globalization and economic fragmentation on the enterprise’s internal environment. - Financial conditions for entrepreneurship under the economic modernization. - Impact of scientific and technological progress on globalization and fragmentation of the economy.

This book contains contributions from the international conference “Engineering Innovations and Sustainable Development,” organized by three Russian universities on June 17–18, 2021. By presenting international research on various sustainability issues, it includes topics such as current trends in industrial and agricultural development, innovations in the construction and transport sectors, problems concerning the financing of innovative activities and governmental support for innovations, and engineering competences and skills in the era of new technologies. It also covers the economic, environmental, and informational aspects of sustainable development in the context of innovations. Finally, the book addresses theoretical and practical aspects by studying the phenomenon of sustainability and engineering development in terms of comparing international experiences. It provides significant value for scientists, teachers, and students of higher educational institutions, and specialists, who are researching sustainable development issues in the era of engineering innovations.

This book contains contributions from the IX International Scientific Conference “Digital Transformation of the Economy: Challenges, Trends and New Opportunities,” which was organized by Samara State University of Economics (SSEU, Samara, Russia), 2021, and devoted to the 90th anniversary of this higher education institution. Digital technologies became even more in demand during the pandemic, when companies, state authorities, and educational organizations were forced to switch to a remote format of work. The “forced” digitization of the usual ways of activity required rapid and decisive changes. Understanding the ongoing digital transformation implies the relevance of further in-depth research of this issue in the context of various socioeconomic systems, interdisciplinary interactions, and cooperation between scientists and practitioners. The book is an attempt to analyze these changes and consider them from the point of view of various scientific areas (economics, management, education, law, sociology, and others). This book addresses theoretical and practical aspects by studying the digital technology application in terms of the new socioeconomic reality development: big data in the digital economy, data collection and exchange, artificial intelligence, intelligent communications, digital platforms and strategies for the sustainable development of socioeconomic systems, and new requirements of professional and business education. It provides significant value for scientists, teachers, and students of higher educational institutions.

This book is devoted to a systemic study of socio-economic development risks arising in the Decade of Action, as well as the prospects for risk management in support of sustainable development. It aims to overcome fragmentary consideration of risks in the existing literature through their comprehensive coverage and the establishment of their interconnections from the perspective of sustainable development. The novelty of this book is that it provides a comprehensive accounting of socio-economic development risks in the Decade of Action, as well as a rethinking of these risks from a sustainable development perspective. The book also opens up the possibility of the most comprehensive and effective risk management in support of sustainable development. The practical relevance of the book stems from the fact that it describes and discusses practical experience in detail and accompanies the theoretical material with numerous case studies, including cases and frameworks with extensive coverage of international best practices. The book is intended for scholars, for whom the book forms a systemic scientific view of the risks of socio-economic development arising in the Decade of Action, as well as the prospects for risk management in support of sustainable development. The book is also of interest to practitioners, for whom it offers practical advice on risk management at all levels of the economy for sustainable development. Many examples from different countries make the book attractive to a wide international audience. The book is of particular interest to readers from Russia.

This book reports on cutting-edge theories and methods for analyzing complex systems, such as transportation and communication networks and discusses multi-disciplinary approaches to dependability problems encountered when dealing with complex systems in practice. The book presents the most noteworthy methods and results discussed at the 21st International Multidisciplinary Conference on Reliability and Statistics in Transportation and Communication (RelStat), which took place remotely from Riga, Latvia, on October 14 – 15, 2021. It spans a broad spectrum of topics, from mathematical models and design methodologies, to software engineering, data security and financial issues, as well as practical problems in technical systems, such as transportation and telecommunications, and in engineering education.

This handbook aims to serve as a one-stop, reliable source of reference, with curations of survey and expository contributions on the state-of-the-art in Blockchain technology. It covers a comprehensive range of topics, providing the technical and non-technical reader with fundamentals, applications, and deep details on a variety of topics. The readership is expected to span broadly from technologically-minded business professionals and entrepreneurs, to students, instructors, novices and seasoned researchers, in computer science, engineering, software engineering, finance, and data science. Though Blockchain technology is relatively young, its evolution as a field and a practice is booming in growth and its importance to society had never been more important than it is today. Blockchain solutions enable a decentralization of a digital society where people can contribute, collaborate, and transact without having to second-guess the trust and transparency factors with many geographical, financial, and political barriers removed. It is the distributed ledger technology behind the success of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and many emerging applications. The resource is divided into 5 parts. Part 1 (Foundation) walks the reader through a comprehensive set of essential concepts, protocols, and algorithms that lay the foundation for Blockchain. Part 2 (Scalability) focuses on the most pressing challenges of today’s blockchain networks in how to keep pace with real-world expectations. Part 3 (Trust and Security) provides detailed coverage on the issues of trust, reputation, and security in Blockchain. Part 4 (Decentralized Finance) is devoted to a high-impact application of Blockchain to finance, the sector that has most benefitted from this technology. Part 5 (Application and Policy) includes several cases where Blockchain applies to the real world.

The Arctic is a harsh geography that has historically been misconceived as a large ice mass, ignoring the complex strategic salience of the region. Its cold waters and frozen lands have attracted the attention of people for many years and have been the centre of discoveries and adventures. Today, however, the strategic importance of the Arctic has gone beyond discoveries and adventures. Factors, such as environmental erosion, climate change, and national or regional security complicate geopolitical dynamics in the region. This book begins by delving into the issues that have led Arctic countries to reorient their foreign policies. The geopolitical structure of the Arctic, the expansion of NATO, the emergence of new energy reserves, and the impact of climate change on the Arctic are some of the factors directly affecting the region. Then, within the framework of these influences, the policies of the eight Arctic countries are re-assessed from the perspective of international relations. This volume not only emphasises the geopolitical and strategic importance of the Arctic region, but also discusses conflicts of interest, international cooperation efforts, and possible future scenarios. The Arctic is not just a geography, but also an important part of global politics and security. This book is a guide to understanding the complex and dynamic nature of the Arctic region. CONTENTS PREFACE SECTION I: IDENTIFYING SIGNIFICANT RISKS IN THE ARCTIC CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO ARCTIC GEOPOLITICS. - Ferdi Güçyetmez CHAPTER 2. WHAT THE ARCTIC MEANS TO NATO.. - Alina Bykova CHAPTER 3. ENERGY IN THE ARCTIC: COMPLEXITY AND THINKING IN A SOCIAL DYNAMICAL SYSTEM... - Anna Soer CHAPTER 4. IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE ARCTIC.. - Rabia Kalfaoğlu SECTION II: COUNTRY-LEVEL ANALYSES CHAPTER 1. UNITED STATES ARCTIC POLICY FROM WHITE HILLS TO BLUE WATERS. - Aslıhan Genç CHAPTER 2. THE CANADIAN PERSPECTIVE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS INSIDE THE CIRCUMPOLAR NORTH.. - Jackson Walling CHAPTER 3. THE POLICIES OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION TOWARDS THE ARCTIC REGION - Ebru Caymaz CHAPTER 4. POLICIES OF FINLAND TOWARDS THE ARCTIC REGION.. - Yeliz Albayrak CHAPTER 5. THINKING THE ARCTIC IN SWEDISH GEOPOLITICS: POLICIES AND PRACTICES - Emre Sipahioğlu CHAPTER 6. NORWAY’S ARCTIC POLICIES. - Allison G. Kondrat CHAPTER 7. ICELAND’S ARCTIC POLICIES. - Jared R. Dmello and Bianca Acosta CHAPTER 8. POLICIES OF DENMARK TOWARDS THE ARCTIC REGION.. - Veysel Babahanoğlu and Elif Miray Yazıcı CONCLUSION

This book includes the papers presented at the II International Applied Research Conference “Operations and Project Management: Strategies and Trends” and the International Research Conference “Management in Financial Economy” held in Rostov-on-Don on May 19–20, 2021 within the framework of the South Russia Business Education Forum. The articles included in the book present a comprehensive analysis of the problems of adaptation of traditional and new methods of operational and project management, development of technologies for business process and supply chain management, development trends in financial economy discussed both on a global scale and in the context of sustainable socio-economic development at the meso-level of regions and industries, which not only reveals the nature of the ongoing processes, but also demonstrates their specifics in industry, agriculture, service industry in Russia, CIS countries, Europe, and China. Particular attention is paid to business education in the new economic realities. The polemical focus of the above-mentioned issues in conjunction with the accuracy of the presented analytics makes it possible to come to unconventional, though practically realizable solutions.