Oracle Academy, along other representatives of the academic and research community, the government, IT industry, and local SME community, participated in the 36th Central European Conference on Information and Intelligent Systems (CECIIS) in Varaždin, Croatia, September 17-19, 2025.
Every September for the last 36 years, the beautiful Croatian city of Varaždin, known as country’s “baroque capital” becomes the meeting hub for educators, scientists, researchers, students and professionals from across Europe and beyond. The conference, organized and hosted by the Faculty of Organization and Informatics, has been since its inception in 1989 (then under the name of “Information Systems in Office Operations”) one of the most important gatherings in Central Europe for exploring advances in information technologies, intelligent systems, and digital transformation. Its blend of scientific rigor and practical relevance, as well as cultural charm and traditional hospitality of its hosts makes it a distinct and valuable platform for the exchange of ideas and dialogue between theory and practice about innovations, technologies, and digital transformation.
The Faculty of Organization and Informatics (FOI) was founded in 1962 and is a constituent member of the University of Zagreb, the largest public university in Croatia. Over past decades, it has become recognized as a leading national and regional institution in the fields of information sciences, business systems, and informatics, distinct for combining technical expertise with organizational and managerial knowledge and positioning itself at the crossroads of computer science, social sciences, and economics.
Beyond its core mission of teaching and learning, FOI is also deeply immersed in international collaboration and research projects. It is not a surprise that it is among the first and most active Oracle Academy members in CEE, with a wide spectrum of Oracle technologies being taught and offered to students since the mid-1990s. FOI and Oracle Academy also collaborated on several EU-funded projects, like Better Employability for everyone with APEX (or BeeAPEX in short) and Developing Talents in Artificial Intelligence to Solve Disruptive Environmental Problems (or AI2SEP).
FOI’s reputation for fostering innovation and very successfully connecting protected historical heritage with smart technologies and digital future is well illustrated by its recent expansion into the beautifully restored Oršić Palace, one of Varaždin’s architectural jewels transformed into a new incubator for student projects, startups, research and extracurricular activities. By situating modern education and research facilities in such a historic landmark, FOI sent a powerful message of successfully blending tradition with forward-looking innovation.
The central theme of the 36th edition of the conference was “Designing Innovation through Productive Disruptions.” The concept reflects a timely recognition that disruptions — whether technological, organizational, or societal — can be leveraged productively to drive innovation, encourage resilience, and create new opportunities.
The panel discussion named “Smart Industry Way Forward,” moderated by Professor Neven Vrček, on September 17 was one of the conference highlights. It brought together representatives of academic and research institutions, including conference keynote speakers with representatives of the IT industry, including Oracle, to discuss different challenges and opportunities created by the rapid advance of AI in professional environments.
On September 18, Ljiljana Perica, Oracle Master Principal Account Cloud Engineer, Database Platform, from the Oracle Croatia team, delivered a workshop: “Artificial intelligence and data analytics as support for innovation and business decision-making.” She presented to CECIIS participants as well as interested lecturers and students at FOI the latest developments in Oracle’s data analysis platforms and showcased how AI shapes the future of decision making in all industries.
As technologies continue to accelerate and disruptions reshape the way we live and work, the 2025 edition of CECIIS demonstrated again its international relevance, attracting participants from across continents, providing a platform for discussing different approaches to universal challenges, and fostering collaboration between academia and industry for decades to come.