It is a great pleasure to share with you the Springer CCIS 112 proceedings of the Third World Summit on the Knowledge Society––WSKS 2010––that was organized by the International Scientific Council for the Knowledge Society, and supported by the Open Research Society, NGO, (http://www.open-knowledge-society.org) and the Int- national Journal of the Knowledge Society Research, (http://www.igi-global.com/ijksr), and took place in Aquis Corfu Holiday Palace Hotel, on Corfu island, Greece, September 22–24, 2010. The Third World Summit on the Knowledge Society (WSKS 2010) was an inter- tional scientific event devoted to promoting the dialogue on the main aspects of the knowledge society towards a better world for all. The multidimensional economic and social crisis of the last couple years brings to the fore the need to discuss in depth new policies and strategies for a human-centric developmental process in the global c- text. This annual summit brings together key stakeholders of knowledge society dev- opment worldwide, from academia, industry, government, policy makers, and active citizens to look at the impact and prospects of it information technology, and the knowledge-based era it is creating, on key facets of living, working, learning, innovating, and collaborating in today’s hyper-complex world.

It is a great pleasure to share with you the Springer LNCS proceedings of the First World Summit on the Knowledge Society - WSKS 2008 that was organized by the Open Research Society, NGO, http://www.open-knowledge-society.org, and took place in the American College of Greece, http://www.acg.gr, during September 24–27, 2008, in Athens, Greece. The World Summit on the Knowledge Society Series is an international attempt to promote a dialogue on the main aspects of a knowledge society toward a better world for all based on knowledge and learning. The WSKS Series brings together academics, people from industry, policy makers, politicians, government officers and active citizens to look at the impact of infor- tion technology, and the knowledge-based era it is creating, on key facets of today’s world: the state, business, society and culture. Six general pillars provide the constitutional elements of the WSKS series: • Social and Humanistic Computing for the Knowledge Society––Emerging Te- nologies and Systems for the Society and Humanity • Knowledge, Learning, Education, Learning Technologies and E-learning for the Knowledge Society • Information Technologies––Knowledge Management Systems––E-business and Enterprise Information Systems for the Knowledge Society • Culture and Cultural Heritage––Technology for Culture Management––Management of Tourism and Entertainment––Tourism Networks in the Knowledge Society • Government and Democracy for the Knowledge Society • Research and Sustainable Development in the Knowledge Society The summit provides a distinct, unique forum for cross-disciplinary fertilization of research, favoring the dissemination of research that is relevant to international re-

It is a great pleasure to share with you the Springer LNCS proceedings of the Second World Summit on the Knowledge Society, WSKS 2009, organized by the Open - search Society, Ngo, http://www.open-knowledge-society.org, and held in Samaria Hotel, in the beautiful city of Chania in Crete, Greece, September 16–18, 2009. The 2nd World Summit on the Knowledge Society (WSKS 2009) was an inter- tional scientific event devoted to promoting dialogue on the main aspects of the knowledge society towards a better world for all. The multidimensional economic and social crisis of the last couple of years has brought to the fore the need to discuss in depth new policies and strategies for a human centric developmental processes in the global context. This annual summit brings together key stakeholders involved in the worldwide development of the knowledge society, from academia, industry, and government, including policy makers and active citizens, to look at the impact and prospects of - formation technology, and the knowledge-based era it is creating, on key facets of l- ing, working, learning, innovating, and collaborating in today’s hyper-complex world. The summit provides a distinct, unique forum for cross-disciplinary fertilization of research, favoring the dissemination of research on new scientific ideas relevant to - ternational research agendas such as the EU (FP7), OECD, or UNESCO. We focus on the key aspects of a new sustainable deal for a bold response to the multidimensional crisis of our times.

Human resource departments have been a crucial part of business practices for decades and particularly in modern times as professionals deal with multigenerational workers, diversity initiatives, and global health and economic crises. There is a necessity for human resource departments to change as well to adapt to new societal perspectives, technology, and business practices. It is important for human resource managers to keep up to date with all emerging human resource practices in order to support successful and productive organizations. The Research Anthology on Human Resource Practices for the Modern Workforce presents a dynamic and diverse collection of global practices for human resource departments. This anthology discusses the emerging practices as well as modern technologies and initiatives that affect the way human resources must be conducted. Covering topics such as machine learning, organizational culture, and social entrepreneurship, this book is an excellent resource for human resource employees, managers, CEOs, employees, business students and professors, researchers, and academicians.

A firm’s productivity has mainly been based on human capital resources, with organizational value and performance dependent on the knowledge and skills of their managers and employees. Because human capital research captures the transformation and complexity of productive organizations in today’s globalized economy, it is crucial to grasp the scope and breadth of human capital-intensive firms (HCIF) and their impact in relation to value creation. Global Perspectives on Human Capital-Intensive Firms is an essential reference source that provides an advanced analysis of modern firms at an analytical and empirical level, as well as a transdisciplinary approach to how human capital will impact the economics and management of a firm. Featuring research on topics such as firm performance, knowledge creation, and organizational management, this book is ideally designed for accountants, researchers, professionals, business managers, human resource managers, graduate-level students, academicians, consultants, and practitioners seeking coverage on the evolution of HCIF in different sectors, their internal and external organizations, and their performance.

Society, globally, has entered into what might be called the “service economy.” Services now constitute the largest share of GDP in most countries and provide the major source of employment in both developed and developing countries. Services permeate all aspects of peoples’ lives and are becoming inseparable from most aspects of economic activity. “Quality management” has been a dominating managerial practice since World War II. With quality management initially associated with manufacturing industries, one might assume the relevance of quality management might decrease with the emergence of the service economy. To the contrary, the emergence of the service economy strengthened the importance of quality issues, which no longer are associated only with manufacturing industries but are increasingly applied in all service sectors, as well. Today, we talk not only about product or service quality but have even expanded the framework of quality to quality of life and quality of environment. Thus, quality and services have emerged in parallel as closely interrelated fields. The Encyclopedia of Quality and the Service Economy explores such relevant questions as: What are the characteristics, nature, and definitions of quality and services? How do we define quality of products, quality of services, or quality of life? How are services distinguished from goods? How do we measure various aspects of quality and services? How can products and service quality be managed most effectively and efficiently? What is the role of customers in creation of values? These questions and more are explored within the pages of this two-volume, A-to-Z reference work.

Given the strong migration trends in our society all over the years, this handbook addresses the upcoming topic of migrant entrepreneurship in all its colourful facets. Migration, ethnic minorities, and related phenomena are currently the subject of intensive scholarly discussion and a heated public debate. Migrant entrepreneurship is a powerful issue within this debate as it creates numerous chances for both migrants and societies - despite significant challenges. In 19 chapters scholars from different disciplines and countries shed light on the phenomenon of migrant entrepreneurship. Long traditions of studies have resulted in the diversity of topics and approaches applied by scholars, and the handbook offers a systematization of research efforts. It also aims to explore future research avenues by providing inspirations. Three types of readers can benefit from this handbook: researchers, professionals (including policymakers), and students from around the world.

These proceedings represent the work of contributors to the 24th European Conference on Knowledge Management (ECKM 2023), hosted by Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Portugal on 7-8 September 2023. The Conference Chair is Prof Florinda Matos, and the Programme Chair is Prof Álvaro Rosa, both from Iscte Business School, Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Portugal. ECKM is now a well-established event on the academic research calendar and now in its 24th year the key aim remains the opportunity for participants to share ideas and meet the people who hold them. The scope of papers will ensure an interesting two days. The subjects covered illustrate the wide range of topics that fall into this important and ever-growing area of research. The opening keynote presentation is given by Professor Leif Edvinsson, on the topic of Intellectual Capital as a Missed Value. The second day of the conference will open with an address by Professor Noboru Konno from Tama Graduate School and Keio University, Japan who will talk about Society 5.0, Knowledge and Conceptual Capability, and Professor Jay Liebowitz, who will talk about Digital Transformation for the University of the Future. With an initial submission of 350 abstracts, after the double blind, peer review process there are 184 Academic research papers, 11 PhD research papers, 1 Masters Research paper, 4 Non-Academic papers and 11 work-in-progress papers published in these Conference Proceedings. These papers represent research from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, México, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, UK, United Arab Emirates and the USA.

In his newest book, Stehr builds on his classic book Knowledge Societies (1994) to expand the concept toward one of knowledge capitalism for a now, much-changed era. It is not only because of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic that we are living in a new epoch; it is the idea that modern societies increasingly constitute comprehensive knowledge societies under intensive capitalism, whereby the legal encoding of knowledge through national and international law is the lever that enables the transformation of the knowledge society into knowledge capitalism. The Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement, negotiated between 1986 and 1994 as part of the World Trade Organization, is the backbone of the modern society and marks a clear historical demarcation, and although knowledge capitalism is primarily an economic development, the digital giants who are in the driver’s seat have significant effects on the social structure and culture of modern society.

In a world that is essentially digitizing, some have argued that the idea of the knowledge society holds the greatest promise for Africa’s rapid socio-economic transformation. Impacts of the Knowledge Society on Economic and Social Growth in Africa aims to catalyze thinking and provide relevant information on the complex ways in which the information age is shaping Africa and the implications that this will have for the continent and the world. This premier reference volume will provide policy analysts, policymakers, academics, and researchers with fresh insights into the key empirical and theoretical matters framing Africa's ongoing digitization.