Proceedings of the International Conference Theory and Applications in the Knowledge Economy TAKE 2019

Book excerpt: Foreword Ten years is a long time. In 2009 a bunch of friends gathered in Portugal for a conference that was to precede TAKE. In 2011 we repeated. Then, after a strange sequence of events, we finally organized TAKE for the first time in 2015 in Aveiro, followed by Zagreb, Poznan and now Vienna. Florian Kragulj was in the first TAKE in Aveiro and from the start showed the highest level of enthusiasm and professionalism in the event. These characteristics were kept alive during all the 15 or so months during which we organized TAKE 2019. That this edition of TAKE involves several entities linked with academia, i.e. WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, the Austrian Economic Chamber and the Institute for Applied Research on Skilled Crafts and Trades (IAGF). This in itself a big success and a sign of the Conference improvement. Also, we may see, by analysing the papers and in particular the streams, that TAKE has been following the economic times, and this year we have several papers on the Gig Economy. Only good conferences adjust, the others get stuck in time. And success in Conferences is about teams. And in TAKE that team, is indeed, a very large group of people including the co-chairs, the local organizing team, the material organizers (Book of Abstracts and Proceedings), the stream leaders, and the paper reviewers – without all these persons nothing could have been done. And finally we had to depend on the authors, and their willingness to work with us. Without the work of these large dozens of devoted and skilled people TAKE 2019 would not have existed. May I also mention that this time and with Florian’s impulse and skill the organization of TAKE was improved in technological terms – in short we became techno – we used a website to deliver the mail list, a website to receive the scientific material and another website to receive the fees. All these were investments that eventually paid of, and that will guarantee a more stable organization for TAKE in the future. And we owe it to Florian. However, as the Human Resource Development part of TAKE (and more than anyone Gary Mc Lean) would remind us – “We are humans, Eduardo”, and technology helps, but in the end, is attention to detail, capacity to deal with the bizarre and to accommodate the weirdness making sometimes the impossible possible that differentiates a good conference, made doing things right, from an excellent conference, based in doing the right things. And on this last matter, believe me, we in TAKE are among the best in the world, because apart from being outstanding scholars, and good colleagues, we are an amazing group of friends, and friendship is the best way to turn good conferences into outstanding ones. Many thanks, from the heart and enjoy the Conference. Eduardo Tomé Conference Chair, Universidad Europeia Lisbon, July 2019, Lisbon, Portugal