Biographical note

Prof. Richard Geibel heads the E-Commerce Institute in Cologne, Germany, which develops business management concepts for companies and associations based on scientific research. He also holds a professorship in Business Administration at IU International University, Germany. He formerly served as Dean of the Master’s Program in “Digital Management” and was Professor of Entrepreneurship at Fresenius University of Applied Sciences, Germany. His research focuses on digital transformation, e-commerce, and digital entrepreneurship. As Alumnus of MIT, USA, he regularly works with researchers from the Sloan School of Management.

Prof. Shalva Machavariani is Vice-Rector for Scientific Affairs at East European University, Tbilisi, Georgia. He is also Chairman of the Dissertation Council for the EEU’s Faculty of Business and Engineering. Over the past several years, he has held numerous governmental and academic positions, e.g., as Head of the Investment Department at the Scientific-Research Institute of Economics and Planning and the Reform Group of the Chancellery of the Government of Georgia; Senior Advisor to the Economic Commission of the Parliament of Georgia; Head of the “O” component of the World Bank’s “Higher Education Reform in Georgia” Program; Co-Chair of the American University and George Mason University Program on “Economic Crime and Money Laundering in Georgia”; and Vice-Rector for Scientific Affairs at Tbilisi State Institute of Foreign Economic Relations and at the Caucasus University. Further, he holds two patents.