| | (click on each photo to enlarge) |  |  |  | |  | |  |
Over 100 Latvian businesses leaders, government representatives, and students majoring in law or economics attended the conference on April 6. | |
Speakers (from left): Dana Ercina (Spilva), Zaneta Jaunzeme (Marsh), Helen Barker (PWC), Catherine Todd Bailey (U.S. ambassador to Latvia), Aldis Celms (commercial specialist, US Embassy) and Nils Melngailis (Lattelekom). | |
Discussing the value of Intellectual capital are (from left): Chris Stewart (The Gallup Organisation), John Anderson (EU Phare expert) and Romans Baumanis (The PBN Company). | |
Seated from left: Zaneta Jaunzeme (Marsh), Helen Barker (PWC), and Catherine Todd Bailey (U.S. ambassador to Latvia). | | A CONFERENCE FOR LEADING LATVIAN BUSINESS PEOPLE
Riga, Latvia
6 April 2005 ONE STEP AHEAD — DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CHANGE The goal of this CIPR-organized conference was to raise awareness among leading Latvian business owners and managers of the importance of intellectual property issues if their businesses are to be competitive and successful. The Latvian market has developed with amazing speed. Only 15 years ago people would stand in any line knowing that whatever was for sale at the head of the line would be something they dearly needed. Ten years ago, low-quality imported soups and coffees were sold on street corners. Today Latvia is a member state of the EU and a player in the international market. Latvian businesses must play by the EU rules, defending and developing their position in both domestic and global markets. The global economy is also changing rapidly. The proportion of services and information technologies on the market grows at the expense of manufacturing and heavy industries. Consumer demands for adequate value for their money is increasing. The companies who were first to understand the new rules of the game and managed to transform them into concrete action have now become market leaders. "Intellectual property is of critical importance to any economy that wishes to attract high-tech companies and investment," said USA Ambassador to Latvia, Catherine Todd Bailey, when opening the conference. The Coalition for Intellectual Property Rights' Representative in the Baltic States, Romans Baumanis, said, "This conference is about a theme that has not been much investigated in Latvia - on the intellectual capital of companies. This theme is of utter importance at the present level of economic development of Latvia, as the competitiveness of the best companies is directly dependent on how well they have surveyed, developed and protected their intellectual capital." The conference was organized by CIPR and was supported by the USA Embassy in Riga and the EU Phare project, "Protection of Intellectual and Industrial Property Right for Investments in Latvia." It was attended by over 100 high-profile Latvian managers, government representatives, students and the mass media. | | "I would like to thank you for your great job and express my appreciation for such a professionally organized event with interesting speakers. I believe that we all gained something from it.Thank you for your efforts to create a more intelligent and future oriented business environment in Latvia." Andris Jansons, CEO, SIA Carlat
"I listened to the Gallup presentation with great interest. Good conferences normally either teach you something new or make you realise something new about familiar things. This time I learned how important it is to continue doing the good things we have done in the past, but stopped doing for some reason – in particular in relation to our personnel. The conference gave me a valuable possibility to step back and look at our problems from another perspective."
Elmars Gengers, Chairman of the Board, IT Alise
"Thank you for organizing the 6 April 2005 conference "To be one step ahead – developing through change." It gave me new new ideas and much to think about. Thank you also for the handbook "Do you wish to be one step ahead of your competitors?". I particularly liked Arvids Kostomarovs presentation."
Ieva Korne, Marketing and sales director, SIA KOK&Co
"I liked Spilva’s presentation – since I work in a similar business it was interesting to hear how they solve their problems and learn from their mistakes. I also listened to Grindex’s presentation with great interest. Like them, we also employ many creative people, and if their achievements are not put down on paper one could say that they never happened. It was good that the conference did not try to provide ready solutions but made us think about what and how we do things in our company."
Janis Skalbe, Production manager, Rigas Raugs |
|
| Program and Presentations
|
| 11.00 – 11.45 | Registration, coffee | | | | | Module 1 WHAT | | | General issues, the role of IP to the individual business, understanding the benefits and gains, seeing the possibilities | | 11.45 – 11.50 | Opening words, H.E. Catherine TODD BAILEY, US Ambassador
Moderator — Mr. John ANDERSON, EU Phare Twinning Advisor | | 11.50 – 12.10 | Introduction — WHAT is our intellectual capital?
Romāns BAUMANIS, CIPR representative in the Baltic countries Read (PDF, 8 Mb) | | 12.10 – 12.30 | WHAT does intellectual property have in common with profits?
Christopher STEWART, Global brand manager, The Gallup Organization Read (PDF, 14.5 Mb) | | 12.30 – 12.50 | WHAT should CEOs know about taxes and intellectual property?
Helen BARKER, PriceWaterhouseCoopers Read (PDF, 13 Mb) | | 12.50 – 13.10 | WHAT is needed in changing markets?
Nils MELNGAILIS, Lattelekom Read (PDF, 520 KB) | | 13.10 – 14.00 | Lunch | | | | | Module 2 HOW | | | HOW can we define, develop and evaluate our intellectual capital? | | 14.00 – 14.20 | HOW do investors evaluate companies?
Arvīds KOSTOMĀROVS, PricewaterhouseCoopers Read (PDF, 200 KB) | | 14.20 – 14.40 | HOW to evaluate possible IP related risks and protect against it?
Žaneta JAUNZEME, MARSH Read (PDF, 3.7 Mb) | | 14.40 – 15.00 | HOW to define what is your company’s intellectual capital?
Vitālijs SKRĪVELIS, GRINDEX Read (PDF, 5.5 Mb) | | 15.00 – 15.20 | Interactive survey — what is the state of the art in Latvian business? | | 15.20 – 15.40 | Coffee break | | | | | Module 3 WHEN | | | WHEN is the time for action? What are the options — what do I do next? | | 15.40 – 16.00 | WHEN is the time to register your IP?
Dana ERCIŅA, SPILVA Read (PDF, 27.4 Mb) | | 16.00 – 16.45 | Results of the survey — where do we go from here?
Panel discussion (all speakers), Q & A | | 16.45 – 17.30 | Informal gathering and continuous discussions |
 |
