News
Conference on artificial intelligence
On Tuesday, October 7, 2025, the Institute of Economics, Zagreb, hosted a scientific conference "Artificial Intelligence in the Business Sector and Public Administration: Potentials and Challenges", which brought together domestic and international researchers and experts with the aim of presenting the latest scientific findings in the field of artificial intelligence application in economy and public administration.
The conference is being held as part of the project "Determinants of Strengthening Technological Capabilities of Different Sectors" (OTS) and is co-financed within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021 - 2026 - NextGenerationEU.
The invited lecture "Application of Artificial Intelligence in Public Administration in Slovenia" was given by associate professor Dejan Ravšelj, PhD from the Faculty of Public Administration, University of Ljubljana.
Lectures were also given by collaborators on the OTS project: Jelena Budak, PhD, Dorian Fildor, research assistant and Bruno Škrinjarić, PhD while the project leader Zoran Aralica, PhD moderated the discussion.
The aim of the conference was to stimulate a scientifically based discussion on the possibilities, limitations and implications of using artificial intelligence in the Croatian social and economic context.
The visit of colleagues from the Faculty of Public Administration, University of Ljubljana was realized within the framework of the bilateral Croatian-Slovenian scientific cooperation project " Adoption of Artificial Intelligence in Public Administration and Acceptance by Citizens: A Comparison of Croatia and Slovenia" funded by ARIS- Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (project code: BI-HR/25-27-033).
More about the conference read here.
OTS project leader participated in the conference in Athens
Zoran Aralica, PhD project leader of the project „Determinants of Strengthening Technological Capabilities of Different Sectors“ (OTS), participated from September 24 to 26, 2025 in the annual conference of EAEPE - European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy in Athens.
He presented the paper "How does sectoral technological transformation explain firm-level productivity?" which was created as part of the OTS project within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026. - NextGenerationEU and with the financial support of the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) and had the opportunity to participate in interesting discussions and panels with colleagues from various parts of the world.
Read more about the conference here.
Participation of Jelena Budak, PhD at the REDETE conference
Jelena Budak, PhD, collaborator on the project "Determinants of Strengthening Technological Capabilities of Different Sectors“ (OTS), funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026 - NextGenerationEU, participated from 11 to 12 September, 2025 at the REDETE conference held in Banja Luka.
Our researcher presented a paper at the conference entitled "Portraying the AI-developing firms in Croatia", created in collaboration with scientists from the Institute of Economics, Zagreb, Zoran Aralica, PhD and Bruno Škrinjarić, PhD. The paper was created as part of the OTS project, and deals with the analysis of the profiles of companies in Croatia that are independently or in collaboration developing solutions based on artificial intelligence. The results indicate the potential of Croatian companies, especially micro-enterprises, to not only adopt but also develop solutions and applications using artificial intelligence.
Read more about the conference here.
Presentation of paper written as part of the OTS project
On November 8, 2024, the conference "Smart Specialization Strategies in Croatia: Experiences and the Way Forward" was held at the Institute of Economics, Zagreb (EIZ), which brought together around 60 participants from the state and regional administration, the academic community and the business sector. The roundtable aimed to arouse interest among experts and the general public in innovation policy in Croatia, to introduce participants to the new S3 strategy until 2029, and to analyze individual segments of the implementation of the S3 strategy and their relevance for socio-economic development.
At the conference, Zoran Aralica, PhD, project leader of the OTS project, presented the paper Aralica, Z., Božić, Lj., Škrinjarić, B., Roud, V., (2024) "Bridging the Productivity Gap: Technological Growth in Croatia's ICT Sector," created as part of the OTS project.
Ljiljana Božić, PhD, OTS project associate, participated in the ICED conference
From December 2 to 3, 2024, Zagreb hosted the International Conference on the Economics of the Decoupling (ICED 2024) for the sixth year in a row, which brought together experts from the fields of economics, sustainable development, energy, and environmental protection. The conference was held at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Zagreb, both live and online, and provided an opportunity for international cooperation and knowledge exchange. During the two-day event, about 100 registered foreign and domestic participants had the opportunity to participate in 11 panels with many presentations and lectures. In total, almost 90 papers were submitted, of which 68 were selected for presentation, dealing with current topics in the context of separating economic growth from negative environmental impact. Discussions covered key challenges in the implementation of green policies, energy efficiency, sustainable tourism, green innovations, and the role of digitization and artificial intelligence in economy, as well as innovations in circular and digital economy.
Our researcher, Ljiljana Božić, PhD, presented the paper “Resource efficiency actions and production cost in Croatian firms”, written as part of the project „Determinants of Strengthening Technological Capabilities of Different Sectors“, funded within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026 - NextGenerationEU.
More on the conference here.
Ljiljana Božić, PhD, participated in the Odyssey conference
Ljiljana Božić, PhD, researcher on the OTS project - „Determinants of Strengthening Technological Capabilities of Different Sectors“ - funded within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026 - NextGenerationEU, participated in the 15th international Odyssey conference organized by the Faculty of Economics & Business, University of Zagreb. The conference was held from May 22 to 25, 2024 in Dubrovnik, Croatia and online, and our researcher presented a paper entitled "Determinants of Production Costs Change in Firms That Implement Resource Efficiency Strategies".
More on the conference: here.
On January 1, 2024 The Institute of Economics, Zagreb started with the implementation of the four-year project "Determinants of Strengthening Technological Capabilities of Different Sectors“ (OTS), financed with funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026 - NextGenerationEU. The project is part of the four-year Program Agreement that the Institute of Economics, Zagreb signed with the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia. The Program Agreement is a new instrument of public financing of scientific institutions that enables the institutions to independently manage scientific activity in accordance with national strategic goals and based on the results and quality of scientific work. The project lasts until December 31, 2027 and project activities, as well as events, will be published on the web pages of the Institute of Economics, Zagreb.
