The Creative Services Sector in Polish Cities

The creative services sector plays an important and constantly growing role in the modern economy. This publication presents the results of extensive research on the functioning of the creative sector in Polish cities, conducted on a representative sample of 287 cities located throughout Poland. The sample was good in such a way as to maintain the structure by province. The survey included questions rated on a 5-point Likert scale. The aim of the research was to study the functioning of the creative sector in Polish cities and to determine whether the active involvement of public administration in its development has a positive impact on this sector. The research was carried out on the example of a medium-sized European country, which is Poland. The original contribution of the authors of the publication is to demonstrate, on a large research sample, the existence of a positive impact of the municipal office’s activities on the creative sector for example using special funds to boost creativity sector in the city, and to ascertain the existence of a linear relationship between the city size and the level of the creative sector functioning in it.

«Revolutionary» Trends in the Labor Market

The labor market in our time is experiencing revolutionary changes. The era of a relatively stable labor market is over. There is no balance of vacancies between the needs of the modern economy and specialists trained by the education system. New technologies lead to the emergence of new professions, new vacancies. And hence the main and paradoxical trend of the modern labor market of new technologies - a lot of “non-specialists” (that is, people who have not received a special education) who create new types of labor activity, and then new professions appear, and as a result, new vacancies, and, again, new "non-specialists" creating new specialties. From the point of view of the structure of modern education, it is ready to solve these problems. But, unfortunately, these education functions are not yet activated. And the labor market needs them more and more. Those. education should teach students to self-seek.

Research on development of nanotechnology in the Republic of Kazakhstan

In the history of civilization, materials and technology that defined the face of the era have appeared more than once. It is enough to recall the “age” of bronze and iron, steam and electricity, the atomic “age” and the computer age. Nanomaterials (NM) are undoubtedly among such materials, and the 21st century opens the era of nanotechnology. Most experts in the field of science and technology policy, strategic planning and investment are confident that in the next decade nanorevolution is expected in all areas of science, production, defense, medicine, mode of life, recreation and entertainment. Its consequences will be more extensive than the consequences of the computer revolution in the last third of the 20th century, i.e., a large-scale and systematic invasion of nanostructured materials, products and methods of their production will literally come to all spheres of life. The paper analyzes the ways of nanotechnology development and the use of various nanomaterials and nanoproducts in various sectors of the world economy and environmental protection. Nanotechnology is a field of fundamental and applied science that provides theoretical justification for practical methods of research, production, and products application with an atomic structure by manipulating atoms and molecules. The aim of the work is to study the development of nanotechnology and its role in the modern economy. The article considers the ways of development of nanotechnology in Kazakhstan, as well as promising directions of their development and application in the field of mechanical engineering and industry in general.

How the Universities of technology cooperates with SMEs on the example of Polish universities

The fundamental aim of the study is to indicate how Polish universities of technology cooperate with enterprises belonging to the small and medium-sized enterprise sector. The study was conducted from the perspective of polytechnic schools. Given the goal indicated in this way, the key activities included obtaining an answer to the question regarding the scope, conditions, and quality of cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises and technical universities. In-depth literature studies in the indicated research problem, own observations as well as conducting empirical research contributed to the formulation of detailed questions, the solution of which determined the answer to the main problem, which is to indicate how Polish technical universities cooperate with small and medium-sized enterprises on the example of Polish technical universities. The conducted research allowed to obtain an answer to the question concerning the motivating and limiting factors, including the cooperation of technical universities with small and medium-sized enterprises. This publication, constituting an empirical cognitive foundation, can be a starting point for further considerations on the increase in the importance and role of cooperation, as well as a better understanding of new challenges in the development of the modern economy. The paper focuses on showing the phenomenon of cooperation, systematizing this phenomenon in the theory of management, and also on presenting the results of own research along with the methods of its implementation. This paper is important to better understand the importance of collaboration between science and business and create new opportunities to develop areas of collaboration.

Intercultural Dialogue as a Tool for Maintaining Sustainable Partnerships in Tourism

International partnerships have a reinforcing effect and lasting benefits for modern economy and social life. The principles of intercultural partnerships in tourism can be compared to other principles of sustainable development. This chapter recognises the ultimate role of sustainable development in the sphere of tourism, while applying the theory of intercultural dialogue as an approach to the SDG 17 and tracing back partnerships to the bridge where different cultures meet. Such meetings very often need a bridge to cross over cultural gaps. In view of the proposed research, one such bridge is presented by the International Tourism Fair Holiday and SPA EXPO 2020, and it is against the background of this event that the established partnerships mediated by intercultural dialogue are classified.

Editorial Notes: Issues in Islamic Economics, Banking and Financial Institutions during the Covid-19 Pandemic

In this second issue of the 2021 edition, we mostly received manuscripts discussing the challenges of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions (IBFIs) within the Covid-19 pandemic. Specifically, they discuss various topics within the field, such as institutional and employees' performances, financial stability, waqf institutions, the trend of Islamic economics research, and the relevance of Islamic economics and finance essential components to the modern economy. Approaching the publication deadline, only ten were accepted out of the dozen manuscripts that were reviewed. Nine were ready for publication, while the rest still needed quality improvements. As for the process, each manuscript will have to pass an initial review from our editor(s) before forwarding it to suitable reviewers. Some manuscripts would have to go through several rounds before being accepted. The reviewers' feedback was taken into consideration to provide the final decisions. Following that, the manuscripts would have to pass the editing stages, including proof-reading and layout, where our editor(s) will intensely communicate with the authors if needed. It is to ensure that each published manuscript has undergone a quality check. Interestingly, of the published articles, five of them discuss the performance issues in Islamic financial institutions, whilst the rest discuss Islamic economics and financial matters in other topics ranging from waqf institutions, the trend of Islamic economics research, to the relevance of Islamic economics and finance essential components to the modern economy. Please check the PDF file for detailed information.

Civil liability of taxi-aggregation companies: Between contract and tort law

Technical and information progress undoubtably have an influence on the trade market and the consumer service sector of the modern economy. The sphere of taxi companies is no exception. When a user downloads a taxi-aggregation company’s application and orders a taxi, using its information about a carrier, this causes uncertainty in the qualifcation of the legal relationship between aggregator, carrier, and consumer. This ambiguity becomes critical if non-performance of the contract causes injury or non-pecuniary loss to a passenger. In this case, a concurrence arises between contact and tort qualifcation of the claim against the carrier and/or aggregator. The essay examines approaches to the distribution of liability between the aggregator, the carrier, and other persons who could contribute to causing harm, from the point of view of contract and tort law.

Actual Problems of the Development of the Regulatory Framework for Digitalization

The article examines the Russian experience of the transformation of the modern economy. The widespread introduction of digitalization is ahead of the existing regulatory framework in this area. For the most part, all digital platforms through which payments take place or some kind of transactions and transactions take place belong to foreign companies or companies whose headquarters are located abroad, and, consequently, taxes are paid abroad. This indicates a lag in the formation of not only the tax base in accordance with today’s demands of the modern economy, but also the entire regulatory framework in the field of digitalization in our country. In 2019, the Digital Economy program and the signed decree of the Government of the Russian Federation “On state support for leading companies in the development of products, services and platform solutions based on end–to-end digital technologies” were approved. The author of the article assesses the possibility of implementing the features of the application of the provisions of the Federal Law “On experimental legal regimes in the field of digital innovations in the Russian Federation” in the direction of “provision of state and municipal services and implementation of state control (supervision) and municipal control, the exercise of other powers and functions by state and local self-government bodies” on the example of the Perm Region.

Concern, Conception, and Consequence: Re-thinking the Paradigm of Higher Education in Dangerous Times

Discussion of the role of universities in relation to broad issues of sustainability has been current for some decades, although predominantly at the margins of debate and policy. Yet a recent rapid rise of concern—catalyzed by mounting evidence of climate crisis, biodiversity loss, pandemic disease and further systemic issues -is focusing renewed attention on the adequacy of the response of higher education to unprecedented times of urgency, uncertainty and threat. Whilst it is now widely acknowledged that the fate of the planet and of humanity hangs in the balance, there still remains an astonishing disconnect between pressing signs of global change, and the relatively closed world of higher education. A trend toward greening universities' operations is positive, but fails to engage or galvanize the cultural and value shift toward a holistic and ecological zeitgeist that is now necessary to generate widespread institutional systemic change. This paper delves into deep causal factors that have historically impeded the ability of universities to respond fully and effectively to present and probable future realities, pointing to the foundations of Western thought such as reductionism, objectivism, dualism, individualism, anthropocentrism, rationalism, instrumentalism and technocentrism that shape mainstream education policy and practice, overlain and reinforced in more recent times by neo-liberal conceptions of the purpose of universities in a modern economy. It is argued that these elements of our culturally shared worldview constrain our ability to perceive and respond deeply, fully and wisely to the global predicament, but also maintain destructive patterns of development. Whilst there is increasing acceptance that education must “transform” in order to—in turn—be transformative in effect, there is less clarity about the guiding assumptions and ideas that inform mainstream policy and practice, and about the philosophic value bases that can facilitate transformative educational thinking, policy and practice. A framework of three broad and complementary components of paradigm—Concern, Conception, and Consequence—is employed to outline the shape of the systemic paradigmatic shift that universities need to urgently navigate in order to maximize their ability to respond fully to contemporary socio-economic and ecological conditions and trajectories.