International Scientific Conference on the Economy, Society and Transformation: COVID-19 Consequences, Their Understanding and Dynamics

The National and Regional Security Department held an International Scientific Conference on the Economy, Society and Transformation: COVID-19 Consequences, Their Understanding and Development. The International Forum is part of the project "Modelling, Analysis and Optimization of Socio-Economic Measures for Reducing the Negative Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic /КП-06-ДК2/2 of March, 30^th, 2021/ funded by the Scientific Research Fund and implemented by a team of UNWE headed by Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov, Rector and Head of the National and Regional Security Department.

Greetings to the participants in the Forum addressed Prof. Dr. Rosen Kirilov, Vice Rector for Digitalization and Cybersecurity, Prof. Dr. Hristina Nikolova, Head of the Economics of Transport and Energy Department, Prof. Dr. Ivaylo Beev, Head of the Economics Department, Prof. Dr. Mina Angelova from Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv.

In a video address the Rector Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov declared that the measures for handling with the consequences of the pandemic, proposed at the Conference, will be useful for the society. „In these moments of crisis the Government has a key role to play in modelling, analysing, optimising, managing and preventing the crises as well as in the preparation of people to behave appropriately in a pandemic situation.” Prof. Dimitrov assured that in such cases the continuity of economic activities, business, including critical infrastructure, are extremely important. He paid attention to the fact that the project team had proposed measures to mitigate the negative impact on the society in socio-economic aspect.

Prof. Dimitrov is confident that the use of the Geographic Information Systems for Tracking, Development and Prevention will help to elaborate an Action Plan for institutions as well as for up-to-date databases development. “The results of the project's research will be used to strengthen the relations between the science and education, business, state authorities and society and should become part of various UNWE programmes”, added the Rector.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rosen Kirilov, Vice Rector for Digitalization and Cyber Security, welcomed the participants and the organizers of the International Forum for their choice of actual and diverse topics. According to him “the Conference will be useful in various directions and the effects after the crisis should provide different solutions for each relevant field”. Assoc. Prof. Kirillov believes that the crisis is not over, the consequences will affect for a long time and will lead to various transformations in our lives. "My professional field is one of those where these transformations are felt and the expectations for it become greater and greater", pointed out Assoc. Prof. Kirilov.

Prof. Dr. Hristina Nikolova, Head of the Economics of Transport and Energy Department emphasized on the timeliness of the Forum brought together scholars to discuss "one of the most important current global challenges". She added that "the impacts of the pandemic are related to the current political agenda and the changing global perspective on the development of economies and societies. They are the engines of the economic life and science”. Prof. Nikolova is convinced that "globally, urgent coordinated actions in different sectors of the economy are required to be made the recovery from this pandemic sustainable for all".

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mina Angelova, Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv, expressed her thankfulness for the invitation to join the team she works with in the Scientific Forum and outlined that it is a pleasure to work in cooperation with the UNWE. According to her "the topic of COVID-19 and the challenges of the environment put us in conditions in which through cooperation and partnership with other teams we will be able to achieve significant scientific results. It is very important that our research and recommendations will be for the benefit of society and part of the development strategies at national and local level to better deal with such crises.

The Conference was organized in 3 sessions. It started with the topic "Socio-Economic Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic", the second session discussed "Methods and Models for Analyzing the Effects of the Pandemic. Spatial Dependencies and Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic”, the last session presented the specific sectoral features of effects of the pandemic and security.