This year's conference edition is held under the theme "Designing Innovation through Productive Disruptions", and over the course of three days, participants have the opportunity to exchange knowledge and ideas on key challenges of the digital age, from artificial intelligence and smart mobility, through digital transformation and corporate culture, all the way to the development of intelligent systems and new trends in software engineering. The President of the Conference Program Committee, Prof. Ph.D. Nina Begičević Ređep, emphasized how this year's edition has once again confirmed the importance of FOI and Varaždin as a center of scientific and professional exchange in the field of information and intelligent systems in this part of Europe: "The goal of this year's 36th CECIIS conference is to explore how new technologies like artificial intelligence can be leveraged to stimulate and design innovation in science, technology, and society, and to create a platform for advancing existing theories and methodologies. The conference features 12 scientific sections covering research areas from trends in software engineering, computer games, cybersecurity, smart industry, digital transformation, knowledge bases to learning analytics, artificial intelligence and digital technologies in education, and strategic planning and decision-making."

The Dean of FOI, Prof. Ph.D. Marina Klačmer Čalopa, highlighted the continuity and significance of the conference: "For 36 years, CECIIS has been contributing to connecting science and practice and creating the foundations for innovation and economic development through interdisciplinary collaboration."

Current Topics and Featured Lectures

This year's conference is held with lectures by two distinguished keynote speakers. Prof. Julius Georgiou from the University of Cyprus presented a talk titled "Pushing the Boundaries of Modern Key-Enabling Technologies from Research to Innovation", in which he presented his patents and his research path to them, for instance, miniaturized silicon technologies – from sensors measuring movement, rotation, or electromagnetic waves, to transistors that process these signals, and he emphasized the path from research laboratories to concrete innovations and the founding of start-ups and spin-offs in medical devices and generic technologies. Prof. Dr. Ing. Dennis Kolberg from the Technical University of Applied Sciences Lübeck will hold his lecture on the second day of the conference on the topic "Approaches in Software Startups to Foster Innovative Products", in which he will address the importance of specific product management methodologies in a startup environment, particularly in the context of applying artificial intelligence.

In addition to the main program, special events are also being held that further enrich the conference. The first day of the conference was rounded off by a panel discussion "Smart Industry Way Forward", which brings together academic and industry experts such as Prof. Georgiou, Ph.D., Prof. Kolberg, Ph.D., Siniša Husnjak, Ph.D. from the company SICK Mobilisis, and Darko Jureković from Oracle. Also on the schedule is a Cracker Barrel Session, an interactive discussion on the digital transformation of higher education and decision-making agility with an emphasis on artificial intelligence and new technologies; Oracle is organizing a workshop on the role of artificial intelligence and data analytics in business decision-making; and nine scientific-research projects conducted at FOI and other institutions will be presented (Project Pitch Section).Great interest has also been sparked by the 15th Student Section, which this year brings together young researchers from Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. The invited lectures by Prof. Jin Eun Yoo, Ph.D. from South Korea and Prof. Machdel Matthee, Ph.D. from South Africa are particularly noteworthy.

Collaboration and Support

The conference is organized by the Faculty of Organization and Informatics, a constituent of the University of Zagreb, with the partnership support of the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, University of Zagreb; the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb; the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek; the Faculty of Informatics and Digital Technologies, University of Rijeka; and ESIEA – Graduate School of Engineering from Paris.

CECIIS 2025 would not be possible without the support of sponsors and institutions that recognize the importance of connecting scientists, the economy, and students in the field of information and intelligent systems. The Gold sponsors are Oracle, InfoDom d.o.o., and the Financial Agency – Fina; the Silver sponsors are JANAF d.d., Aircash, and the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development; while the Bronze sponsors are Varaždin County, the City of Varaždin, and SICK MOBILISIS d.o.o. A special contribution was made by the dedicated sponsor Factory X, and support was also provided by Međimurje County, the City of Novi Marof, the City of Čakovec, the City of Prelog, and the City of Mursko Središće.