Prof. Smuts is the Head of the Department of Informatics and Chair of the School of Information Technology at the University of Pretoria. She holds two doctoral degrees and is a C2-rated researcher according to the National Research Foundation (NRF). Her career spans more than two decades of experience in both academia and industry. Before fully joining academia, she held senior executive positions at the telecommunications company MTN South Africa, where she led the development of digital solutions and innovative products and played a key role in launching telecommunications insurance initiatives across Africa. This combination of academic and industry experience makes her work particularly relevant in the areas of digital transformation, knowledge management, artificial intelligence, and user experience design.
During her stay at FOI, Prof. Smuts delivered two lectures for students, faculty members, and researchers. Within the course Business Processes in Organizations, at the invitation of Assoc. Prof. Martina Tomičić Furjan, PhD, she delivered a lecture titled “Greener by Design: Digital Decarbonization Socio-Technical Strategies” in which she discussed the role of digital technologies in reducing carbon footprints and socio-technical approaches to sustainable digital transformation in organizations.
She also delivered a lecture titled “Crossing Boundaries and Crafting Futures – The Role of Industry Partnerships in Transdisciplinary Research” as part of the internal FOI project Time4Science. In her lecture, she emphasized the importance of transdisciplinary research in addressing complex societal challenges and highlighted the key role of partnerships between academia and industry. Such collaboration enables access to relevant data and expertise from real-world environments, accelerates innovation processes, and fosters the development of practical solutions with societal impact.
The visit programme also included several working meetings with FOI staff. Prof. Smuts met with representatives of the International Relations Centre and the Project Centre, as well as with faculty members interested in Erasmus mobility and cooperation with the University of Pretoria – Full Prof. Melita Draganić, PhD, Full Prof. Violeta Vidaček-Hainš, PhD, Asst. Prof. Nikolina Žajdela Hrustek, PhD and Assist. Prof. Bogdan Okreša Đurić, PhD.
She also held meetings with representatives of the Centre for Pre-incubation in Smart Industry and the Student Support and Career Development Centre, with Full Prof. Blaženka Divjak, PhD, Head of the Learning Analytics Lab at FOI, with Assoc. Prof. Igor Pihir, PhD, Head of the Laboratory for Business Process Management and Digital Transformation, and with the Dean of the Faculty, Full Prof. Marina Klačmer Čalopa, PhD.
In addition to the academic programme, Prof. Smuts visited Trakošćan Castle, where she had the opportunity to learn more about the cultural and historical heritage of Varaždin County.
Prof. Smuts’ visit further strengthened FOI’s international cooperation and opened opportunities for future joint projects, research collaborations, and the mobility of students and staff between the Faculty of Organization and Informatics and the University of Pretoria.
