Keynote Speakers

Full Prof. Igor Balaban, Ph.D.

Full Professor,
Laboratory for Advanced Technologies in Education - Head Department of Computing and Technology,
Faculty of Organization and Informatics,
University of Zagreb,
Croatia

Professor Igor Balaban is a Full Professor at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Organization and Informatics (FOI), where he has been actively involved in academic and research work since 2004. He currently teaches courses in business informatics, information systems, and e-learning systems. Professor Balaban also serves as the Head of the Laboratory for Advanced Technologies in E-learning and is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Information and Organizational Sciences (JIOS).

Over the years, Professor Balaban has held several leadership positions at FOI, including Vice Dean for Science, International Cooperation and Projects, Head of the Committee for E-learning, and Head of the Department of Computing and Technology. He has coordinated and participated in numerous national and international projects focused on educational technology and digital competencies. Notably, he has been coordinating two Erasmus+ capacity-building projects with Asian region: AMED (Advancing Higher Education in Maldives) and DIGITAsia, both aimed at enhancing digital and educational capacity in diverse learning environments.


Prof. Thushari Silva

Professor Thushari Silva,

Professor in Artificial Intelligence,

University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

Prof. Thushari Silva is a Professor in Artificial Intelligence and the former Head of the Department of Computational Mathematics at the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. With over 15 years of academic and research experience, she has led major academic and industry-oriented initiatives in Explainable and Responsible AI, intelligent systems, data science, and AI-driven innovation for national development.

She is the former President of the Sri Lanka Association for Artificial Intelligence (SLAAI), where she played a pivotal role in strengthening national AI capacity, advancing industry–academia partnerships, and enhancing Sri Lanka’s global research visibility. Prof. Silva has also contributed to national AI policy development through advisory and consultative roles, supporting government and institutional efforts to enable ethical, sustainable, and responsible AI adoption across sectors.

Her research has been widely published in high-impact journals, including Artificial Intelligence Review and Decision Support Systems, and her work has earned multiple national and international awards. Beyond research, she has a strong commitment to curriculum development, postgraduate supervision, and capacity building in artificial intelligence, helping shape the next generation of AI talent and the digital future of Sri Lanka.