CALL FOR PAPERS AND PROPOSALS

I C E I R D 2 0 1 2

5th International Conference for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Regional Development
Regional Development for Unleashing Growth Throughout Southeastern Europe
June 1-2, 2012
Sofia, Bulgaria
http://iceird2012.fmi.uni-sofia.bg

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WELCOME TO ICEIRD 2012
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The world’s demand for Entrepreneurs has become so huge that building strategic and entrepreneurial thinking and environment can only satisfy it. Conversely, a sustainable world needs more innovators than ever. Providing a forum for sharing strategic and entrepreneurial thinking is a challenge and opportunity for the entrepreneurial research and practice. Let's rise to this challenge!

ICEIRD, the International Conference for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Regional Development, is the premier conference for entrepreneurship, innovation and regional development, providing a forum for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discus 
the most recent innovations, trends, experiences and issues in the field of entrepreneurship and innovations.

We welcome you to come to ICEIRD 2012 in Sofia, a venue in the southeast of Europe, which is both beautiful and easily reachable from everywhere in the world. Make ICEIRD 2012 a highlight of your year by experiencing an exciting conference and by exploring the thrill 
of landscape, culture, shopping, and life in Sofia.

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CALL FOR PAPERS AND PROPOSALS
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We invite high quality submissions of papers describing original and unpublished results of conceptual, constructive, empirical, experimental, or theoretical work in all topics of entrepreneurship, innovations and regional development. Research paper submissions may range from novel technical results to scientific evaluations of existing problems or research results. Submissions describing groundbreaking approaches to emerging problems will be considered based on timeliness and potential impact.

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ICEIRD 2012 TOPICS
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Authors are invited to submit abstracts on the following topics:

• Regional systems of innovation, competitiveness and development
• Regional innovation strategies, innovative cities and regions
• Knowledge transfer and infusion, technology transfer
• Green ICT and supply chains
• Collaborative and intelligent systems of innovation, virtual innovation environments
• Innovative supply chains, network collaboration and joint ventures
• Business intelligence management
• Patenting, research and development in SMEs
• E-technology adoption and semantic web services
• Knowledge economy/integration, innovative companies and clusters
• Biotechnology diffusion
• Uncertainty and risk in innovation
• Predictive analytics and risk assessment
• Entrepreneurship and SMEs’ competitiveness
• Outsourcing and off-shoring
• Social business and innovation
• Service innovation
• Institutionally and research driven innovation
• Current themes, challenges and research in social entrepreneurship
• Benchmarking of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Best Practices in the region
• ICT-enabled innovation and new business creation
• Women's Entrepreneurship - Trends and good practices

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ICEIRD 2012 accepts submissions in the following categories:
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* RESEARCH PAPERS: Research papers should describe original and significant work in the research and practice of entrepreneurship, innovations, and regional development. Theoretical results, case studies, empirical research and experiments are particularly welcome (6-8 proceeding pages).

* NEW IDEAS AND EMERGING RESULTS:
The new ideas track papers should present great ideas and promising work in early stages of research. The submissions do not require full evaluation. The topics of interest are the same as the main research track. Participants will have the opportunity to present a summary of their work in form of extended abstract (2 proceeding pages).

* INDUSTRIAL TRACK PRESENTATIONS:
The conference initiates a series of business, marketing, and positioning presentations on the conference topics. The industry track presentations should discuss industrial practice and experience reports describing problems (and their solutions) encountered in real applications. Speakers are expected to submit a 10-12 slide presentations with substantial notes accompanying the slides, in the .ppt format (.pdf-ed).

* POSTERS AND DEMONSTRATIONS TRACK PAPERS:
Posters and demonstration track papers should include information on the theory, models, and infrastructure of the demonstrated tool. Challenges related to the use and adoption of the demonstrated tool should also be included. Acceptance will be decided based on a 1-2 page abstract text and/or pdf - file with diagrams/images.

* DOCTORAL SYMPOSIUM PAPERS:
The doctoral symposium track is for those who are currently working on or have recently completed their PhD thesis. The papers should describe a summary of their research (4 proceeding pages). Contributors are expected to describe early research and novel skeleton ideas in the areas of the conference topics, and must follow the conference deadlines.

* WORKSHOP PROPOSALS:
Workshop proposals should include the names and affiliations of the organizers, a description of the topic, the intended audience, and the proposed format of the session. Once the proposal is accepted the organizers should submit a paper describing the nature of the workshop area, related work, and its anticipated impact (2 pages).

For details, please visit our web site at http://iceird2012.fmi.uni-sofia.bg

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SUBMISSIONS
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Submissions will be handled electronically in PDF format at the submission sites:
* Papers:
https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=iceird2012

* Workshop proposals and satellite events:
https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=iceird2012sat.

All submissions must conform to the submission instructions given on the conference web pages. Non-conforming submissions will be desk-rejected without review.

Submissions will be evaluated on the basis of originality, contribution, soundness, evaluation, quality of presentation and appropriate comparison to related work.

All papers should adhere to the ICEIRD 2012 Conference Proceedings

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PROCEEDINGS
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Accepted papers will be published in the ICEIRD 2012 electronic conference proceedings. Printed proceedings will be available on demand.

IJIRD SPECIAL ISSUE:

Selected papers will be published in a special issue of the International Journal for Innovation and Regional Development (IJIRD), Interscience Publisher Ltd.

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IMPORTANT DATES
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Research Papers & Workshop Proposals
• October 30, 2011 (Workshops)
• November 17, 2011 (Abstract)
• January 06, 2012 (Full Paper)
• January 06, 2012 (New Ideas)
• January 06, 2012 (Doctoral Symposium)
• March 15, 2012 (Industrial Track)

Notification of Acceptance
• November 10, 2011 (Workshop Proposals)
• November 30, 2011 (Abstract)
• February 5, 2012 (Research Papers)
• February 5, 2012 (New Ideas)
• February 5, 2012 (Doctoral Symposium)
• March 25, 2012 (Industrial Track)

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CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION
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ICEIRD 2012 is jointly organized by the:
• Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, the Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Sofia, Bulgaria
• Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, the Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Sofia, Bulgaria
• CITY College, International Faculty of the University of Sheffield
• South-East European Research Centre (SEERC)
• VUZF University, Sofia, Bulgaria

General Chair
• Dimitar Birov (Sofia University, Bulgaria)

Conference co-chairs
• Prof. George Chobanov, Sofia University, Bulgaria
• Prof. Panos Ketikidis, University of Sheffield

Program Co-Chairs
• Elisaveta Gurova, Sofia University, Bulgaria
• Yanka Todoroff, Sofia University, Bulgaria


Program Committee

Prof. Petros Kefalas, CITY College - International Faculty of the University of Sheffield, GREECE
Dr. Dimitris Nikolaidis, CITY College - International Faculty of the University of Sheffield, GREECE
Mr. Nikos Zaharis, South East European Research Centre (SEERC)
, 
GREECE
Prof. Lenny Koh, University of Sheffield, UK
Prof. Nicos Komninos, 
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
, GREECE
Prof. d-r Radmil Polenakovik, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University Business Start-up Centr, MACEDONIA
Dr Zoran Anišić, University of Novi Sad, SERBIA
Prof. Marusia Bojkova, Sofia University, FMI, BULGARIA
Prof. Dr.Sc. Eng. Ognian Nakov, Technical University of Sofia, BULGARIA
Prof. Dr.-Eng., Kostadin Kostadinov, VUZF University, BULGARIA
Prof. Boryana Bogdanova, Sofia University, FEBA, BULGARIA
Prof. Jelyu Vladimirov, Sofia University, FEBA, BULGARIA
Dr.-Ing. Samuel Kounev, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
Dr. Milen Baltov, Burgas Free University, BULGARIA
Dr. Margaritra Todorova, South West University Of Blagoevgrad, BULGARIA
Dr. Elisaveta Gurova, Sofia University, FMI, BULGARIA
Ms. Yanka Todoroff, 
Sofia University, FMI, BULGARIA
Mr. Stoyan Boev, ICB, BULGARIA

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CONTACT
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5th International Conference on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Regional Development
http://iceird2012.fmi.uni-sofia.bg/
http://www.iceird.org
iceird2012@fmi.uni-sofia.bg