The article is devoted to the presentation of selected aspects of methods for organizing scientific conferences that are relatively new in Poland, but widely used in global science, based on, among other things, the phenomenon of online communities and hybrid publications, i.e., those having a simultaneous, complementary virtual and real form.
The new economy is sometimes referred to as the “weightless economy”. This term refers, of course, directly to the issue of knowledge as the most frequently mentioned product of modern organizations and the most significant factor in creating added value. It can also be understood indirectly as a requirement for the virtualization of all forms of products and the logistical processes associated with them.
The development of the new economy, which makes extensive use of Internet functionality, is based on the synergistic interaction of factors determining the level of economic activity of entities in a given country and the level of advancement of its infrastructure (general and ICT-related, i.e., information and communication technologies). These include: human capital, innovation, economic factors, and infrastructure (Fig. 1). We are observing enormous changes in all these areas and, at the same time, very far-reaching business adjustments by enterprises and other institutions, including universities and training institutions. They aim to use the features of the new economy to operate: more efficiently, more flexibly, and with cost optimization.
The issue of organizing scientific conferences is becoming increasingly important due to the necessity – partly forced by the new economy and partly as a result of its development – to ensure a continuous, as wide as possible, flow of knowledge. Using traditional solutions in this regard does not bring the expected results. Local, national scientific conferences that are not characterized by, among other things, an international context, broad substantive topics, extensive use of multimedia, and the presentation of the latest scientific achievements are losing their reason for existence. Equally important is the choice of the conference venue. It should meet a number of very rigorous conditions that are closely related to a series of logistical processes occurring during the organization and implementation of the conference.
The article comes from the journal “Logistyka” 6/2006.