On the October 14-15, 2010 took place the third Science Conference – “InfoGlobMar 2010” organised by the Institute of Maritime Transport and Seaborne Trade. During the conference, current issues of theories and practices concerning the directions of economic development, the environment and the companies operating within them were discussed.

His magnificent prof. dr hab. Bernard Lammek, Rector of the University of Gdańsk has assumed the honorary patronage over the conference. In debates took part employees of the University of Gdańsk, the representatives of the Polish Academy of Science, the SGH Warsaw School of Economics, the Gdynia Maritime University, the Gdańsk University of Technology, and many Polish academic and scientific centres, the representatives of the public administration, and the representatives of the business practice. The conference was attended also by media - „Namiary na Morze i Handel”. The chairman of the Conference Program Committee was prof. zw. dr hab. Janusz Żurek.

The result of the meeting are four publications presented during the conference:

• „Directions of development of Polish maritime transport - programs and reality” (red. Hanna Klimek, Janusz Dąbrowski;
• „A company in a global environment” (red. Aneta Oniszczuk-Jastrząbek, Tomasz Gutowski, Janusz Żurek);
• „A risk - theory and practice” (red. Olga Dębicka, Jacek Winiarski);
• „An application of IT systems in the modern economy” (red. Olga Dębicka, Jacek Winiarski).

There have been published 55 articles. The aim of the conference was to exchange the knowledge and experience between the science and the business practice to ensure proper conditions to manage a business in the global environment. The first part of the conference, chaired by prof. dr hab. Janusz Żurek, concerned the issues of the work of enterprises in the global economy. Dr hab. Hanna Adamkiewicz-Drwiłło, the professor of the Gdańsk University of Technology, presented the process of international competitiveness, taking into account the mechanism of a self-competition in the theoretical and practical aspects. In her speech, the professor presented the latest methodological concepts related to the development of the international competitiveness theory, stressing that the increase in the competitiveness of any economy should be the effect of mutual influence of the law and fair competition, what is called the self-competition. Dr hab. Anna Zorska, the professor of the Warsaw School of Economics, presented the foreign direct investment in the current economic crisis: empirical and theoretical aspects. The professor presented the OLI - model (The Ownership-Location-Internalization Framework) as a tool that could explain the causes and conditions of business decisions in the field of foreign direct investment (and other forms of foreign expansion). Dr Hanna Kruk from the Gdynia Maritime University presented the problem of the eco-innovation in enterprises in theoretical terms, and the essence of eco-innovation, its determinants and the relationship between eco-innovation and business competitiveness. In the second part of the meeting of the plenary session, dr. Honorata Balicka presented the modern IT methods as an efficient support for banking enterprises management. The goal of the presentation was achieved by presenting the possible way of using the expert systems in the form of bots. The introduction to the first thematic panel were the last two speeches of the plenary session. Dr. Dariusz Bernacki (the Maritime University of Szczecin) presented a paper on structural changes in the Polish maritime economy. Prof. dr hab. Andrzej Grzelakowski from the Maritime University of Gdynia presented a paper on the model of managing Polish seaports as an element of the port sector regulation system.

As part of the afternoon panel, three thematic sessions took place. The marine panel was the most popular. The role of moderator was held by prof. dr hab. Andrzej Grzelakowski. The role of moderator of the second panel, dedicated to the business risk management, was held by prof. dr hab. Krystyna Dziworska – the chairwoman (the University of Gdańsk), prof. UG, dr hab. Teresa Kamińska (the University of Gdańsk) and prof. UG, dr hab. Hanna Treder (the University of Gdańsk). The application of information systems in the modern economy was the subject of the third panel, chaired by prof. PG, hab. Jerzy Balicki from the Gdańsk University of Technology. The conclusions from individual thematic panels will be presented below.

The enterprise in the global environment was the main issue on the second day of the meeting, chaired by prof. PG, dr hab. Hanna Adamkiewicz-Drwiłło. During the discussion, the problem of the impact of the global financial and economic crisis on world trade were discussed, which was presented by prof. dr hab. Barbara Liberska (the Polish Academy of Sciences). The professor showed that the current high imbalance in the world trade is a serious threat to the stabilization of the global economy. The long-term structural adjustments are needed in some countries and will reduce this imbalance in the future. In addition, the speeches were also about the marketing information system in the company (dr Tomasz Dryl – the University of Gdańsk), forms of expansion of Chinese and Indian automotive concerns to foreign markets (mgr Marek Rutka – the University of Business and Administration in Gdynia), modeling of online applications distributed in economic and business applications (dr Piotr Brudno – the Gdańsk University of Technology), the education in the information society: e-learning in the European Union (mgr Anna Wanda Tomaszewska – the University of Lodz). The second day's meetings ended with the presentation of the conclusions of individual secretaries of the problem teams (dr. Ernest Czermiński, dr. Karol Krefta and dr. Jacek Winiarski).

This year's conference coincided with the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the University of Gdańsk and the anniversary of the Institute of Maritime Transport and Trade, which is why the range of the topics of the conference concerned on the main areas of scientific research conducted at this Institute.

Dr Aneta Oniszczuk-Jastrząbek