National Palace of Culture, Sofia June 29 - July 1, 1998

Program

Day One - June 29 - Hall 7

12:00 - 19:00 Registration
19:00 Cocktail reception
Hosted by Mr. Alexander Bozhkov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry

Day Two - June 30 - Hall 7

07:00 - 12:00 Registration

Plenary Session. Chaired by Mr. Ilian Vassilev, President, FIA

09:00 - 09:10 Opening address
Mr. Alexander Bozhkov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry
09:10 - 09:30 Keynote address: Bulgaria '98: Stability through Growth - Agenda 2001
Mr. Ivan Kostov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria
09:30 - 09:55 Foreign guest addresses
WB, EBRD, EU, IFC
09:55 - 10:00 The Dawn of the High Tech in Bulgaria
Dr. Angel Angelov, First General Manager of IBM in Bulgaria - 1936
10:00 - 10:15 Coffee break

Session One: Doing High Tech in Bulgaria.

10:15 - 10:25 Keynote address: Government Programs; Directions for Development - Investment Policy
Mr. Vladimir Kissiov, Deputy Minister of Industry
10:25 - 10:35 Bulgaria Today - HT Frameworks and Policy
Mr. Nikola Nikolov, Chairman, Economic Commission, Parliament
10:35 - 10:45 High Tech Potentials in Bulgaria
Prof. Kiril Boyanov, Bulgarian Representative in IFIP
10:45 - 10:55 EU's 5th Frame Agreement for IT Development in Eastern Europe 1998 - 2002
TBD by EU - Brussels
10:55 - 11:15 IT trends in the world
10:55 - 11:05 Mr. Johann Weihen, General Manager IBM Emerging Markets EMEA
11:05 - 11:15 Mr. Sebastiano Tavarotto, Manager Europe Hewlett Packard
11:15 - 11:25 Mr. Douglas Floyd, Regional Business Manager, 3COM
11:25 - 11:35 Q & A
11:35 - 11:45 Coffee Break

Session two: Bulgaria High Tech Competitive Edge. Chaired by Mr. Antony Slavinski, Chairman, Committee of Posts and Telecommunications

11:45 - 12:00 Keynote address: Privatization of HT Sector
Mr. Zahari Zheliazkov, Executive Director Privatization Agency
12:00 - 12:15 Telecommunications and Infrastructure
Mr. Marian Dragostinov, Executive Director, BTC
Overview and Coming Privatization
Deutsche Morgan Grenfell representative
12:15 - 12:25 BTC - the Backbone of the Modern IT in Bulgaria: What has been done and the way forward ? Mr. Bozhidar Sokolov, IT Manager, BTC
12:25 - 12:35 Q & A
13:00 - 14:00 Lunch (by invitation)
Hosted by Bulgarian Association of Information Technology (BAIT)
14:00 - 15:00 Bulgarian Unique Leadership in High Tech Markets
Biotechnology
Prof. Roumen Tzanev, Member of Bulgarian Academy of Science
Foundry
Dr. Yanko Arsov, Member of Bulgarian Academy of Science
Renewables
Prof. Zdravko Stojnov, Member of Bulgarian Academy of Science
15:00 - 15:15 Q & A
15:15 - 15:45 Coffee Break
15:45 - 16:45 World-wide Business Solution Implemented Locally
Ms. Polina Yurukova, General Manager, SAP Bulgaria
TBD (Unisys Representative)
Intellectual Property Rights
Mr. Zheko Fetvadjiev, Vice President, Security and Stock Exchange Commission
Consultant Perspective
KPMG, Deloitte & Touche Representatives
16:45 - 17:00 Q & A
17:15 - 18:30 Hall 8
Round Table: Information Society, Is It Applicable to Bulgaria? Chaired by Mr. Evgeny Bakardjiev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Regional Development

Day Three - July 1 - Hall 7

Session One: Human resources. Chaired by Vesselin Metodiev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education

09:00 - 09:15 Human Capital in Bulgaria: current status, needs and trends
Mr. Roumen Nikolov, Associate professor, Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski"
Mr. Pavel Azulov, Associate professor, ACM World Software Programming Contest, Coach, Bulgarian Student Team Won Fourth Place
09:15 - 09:35 How to Cooperate with Big IT Companies
TBD (Stanford University)
Foreign Practice in IT Education
Dr. Dennis A. Watkins, Special Project Coordinator American University in Bulgaria
09:35 - 10:00 Bulgaria's Potential in Innovation and Development Focus on High Tech Parks
Mr. Duncan Wallace, President, Spurwell Ltd.
Prof. Rene Dabard, Director, Science Park, Rennes
Mr. Cristopher Hansen, Chairman, PC411 Inc.
Ms. Neli Ognyanova, Director of the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Development
10:00 - 10:15 Q & A
10:15 - 10:45 Cofee Break

Session Two: International and Bulgarian High Tech Companies. Chaired by William Drysdale, Managing Partner, KPMG

10:45 - 12:00 Company Presentations hosted by BAIT
12:00 - 13:00 Lunch
11:00 - 12:30
Closing Round Table: Financing and Foreign Investments
Chaired by Mr. Ilian Vassilev, President, FIA
Government's Role in Setting High Tech Friendly Environment
Other Countries' Experience
Proper Financing Schemes to Boost Bulgaria's Information
Technology and High Tech
Competitiveness
Keynote Speaker: Mr. Richard W. Petree, European Director, Institute for East West Studies
Government Officials
IMF representatives for Bulgaria Case studies Foreign Investors Mr. Douglas Floyd, Regional Business Manager, 3COM
15:00 - 16:00 Glass of champagne