"Bridging Academia and Industry: Preparing for the Digital Economy and AI Transformation"

DEAI Panel Discussion

  • Skill Development and Training: How academic institutions adapt curricula to meet the digital economy's demands.

  • Industry-Academia Collaboration: Partnerships between universities and companies for research, internships, and training programs.

  • Resource Allocation: Ensuring the availability of financial, technological, and human resources for digital transformation.

  • AI Integration: How AI is incorporated into business processes and what skills are needed.

  • Future Workforce: Preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist and fostering continuous learning.

  • Challenges and Opportunities: Identifying barriers to effective collaboration and exploring potential benefits.

Moderator

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Dr. Dražen Drašković

Dr. Dražen Drašković

Bio: An Associate Professor at the University of Belgrade, School of Electrical Engineering (ETF), Department for Computer Science and Information Technology.

He received a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Belgrade, ETF, Belgrade, Serbia. His current research interests include the application of AI algorithms in software systems, machine learning, and big data analysis. He currently manages 2 Horizon projects, 1 ERASMUS+ in AI field and national project “Software for Text Offences Prevention in Serbian: AI-driven Hate Speech Detection” (funded by Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia). He is a consultant to the world organizations UNOPS, UNDP, UNICEF, GIZ and WHO.

 

Panelists

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Dr. Dušan Barać

Dr. Dušan Barać

Bio: A Full Professor at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Organizational Sciences, Serbia, where he acquired an MSc and PhD degree. Currently, he holds the position of Vice-Dean of digital development at FON.

He has collaborated on numerous IT-related projects, both IT outsourcing and developing IT solutions, playing different roles from business consultant to software engineer. He has 17+ years of consultant experience in areas such as IT projects, building e-commerce and e-business solutions in general, digital transformation, CRM, web and mobile apps and services development, and establishing advanced e-learning systems.

 

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Juha-Pekka Tolvanen

Dr. Juha-Pekka Tolvanen

Bio: The CEO of MetaCase and co-founder of the DSM Forum. He has been involved in model-driven development and tools, notably metamodeling and code generators, since 1991. He has acted as a consultant world-wide for modeling language development, authored a book on Domain-Specific Modeling, and written over 100 articles for various software development magazines and conferences. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland.

 

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Zorana Branković

Zorana Branković

Bio: She started her professional career at Banca Intesa in 2003 in the ICT department and from the start she was working with digital banking solutions. She successfully led numerous projects in the field of improvement and development of digital banking. In 2015 she became Head of Digital banking and in 2022, Chief Operating Officer. Under her leadership, Banca Intesa was the first bank to introduce mobile banking application on the Serbian market in 2010, as well as the first digital wallet in 2016. Zorana Branković stood out in the financial industry on the local market as one of the very important participants in the field of digital transformation and innovation, and therefore one of the creators of the wave of innovative banking business principles.

 

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Milan Bukorović

Milan Bukorović

Bio: He is currently the Chief Technology Officer at Nelt Group, the largest private distribution and logistics company in Serbia. In this role, he oversees the Information Technology operations for all member companies within the group. Milan joined Nelt Group in 2017, bringing with him extensive experience from his previous role as IT Director at Generali, where he started his career as a Software Developer. He has a strong focus on results and brings extensive experience in leading technological innovations and projects. His leadership has been instrumental in driving technological innovation and efficiency within the company.

 

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Slobodan Marković

Slobodan Marković

Bio: He works as a technical advisor for digital governance at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Serbia. He has been actively participating in the representation and formulation of ICT policies in Serbia for almost 20 years. Before joining UNDP, he worked at the National Internet Domain Registry of Serbia (RNIDS) as an advisor for ICT policy and relations with the Internet community.

 

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Important dates

  • Thematic Track proposal submission: November 28, 2023
  • Paper submission (no extensions): May 28, 2024
  • Position paper submission: June 11, 2024
  • Author notification: July 1, 2024
  • Final paper submission, registration: July 23, 2024
  • Early registration discount: August 6, 2024
  • Conference date: September 8–⁠11, 2024