Prof. Renata Mekovec, PhD is a full professor at the Department of Information Systems Development at FOI, where she has built a distinguished academic and professional career over more than two decades in the fields of information systems, information services management, privacy protection, and digital service quality.
She was born in Varaždin, where she completed her primary and secondary education. She graduated from FOI in 2001 with a degree in information science. She completed her postgraduate studies in Information Sciences at FOI, earning a master’s degree in 2006, and obtained her PhD in 2011 in the field of social sciences, information and communication sciences.
She has been employed at FOI since 2003, starting as an assistant. Her academic progression continued through the positions of senior assistant, assistant professor, and associate professor, and since 2023 she has held the position of full professor. She has taught courses in information services management, office information systems, and privacy protection in business systems, and currently serves as head of the postgraduate specialist program Management of Security and Audit of Information Systems.
In addition to her extensive teaching and research experience, Prof. Mekovec has also been actively involved in faculty governance. She served as Vice Dean for Education from 2015 to 2019, was Head of the Department of Information Systems Development, and is currently Chair of the FOI Quality Assurance Committee, as well as a member of several university councils and working groups.
Her expertise is particularly focused on personal data protection, e-service quality, digital competencies, and information systems management, and she is actively engaged as an expert in privacy and information security issues.
Throughout her career, she has participated in numerous national and international projects funded through Erasmus+, Horizon 2020, the European Social Fund, and other European initiatives. She is the author and co-author of numerous scientific and professional papers in the fields of information systems, digital transformation, and e-service quality, and an active participant in international and domestic scientific conferences.
In her 2026–2029 mandate program, she emphasizes the development of FOI as a modern and internationally recognized higher education institution that actively contributes to society, the economy, and the scientific community. Her key priorities include the quality and modernization of study programs, development of innovative research, strengthening cooperation with industry and the economy, and promoting social responsibility and a culture of quality.
A special focus will be placed on aligning study programs with labor market needs and new generations of students, developing online and English-taught programs, internationalizing teaching and research, and strengthening interdisciplinarity and modern teaching methods. In research, she aims to further strengthen research laboratories, increase the number of international projects and scientific publications, and more actively involve students in research activities.
Among the strategic priorities, she also highlighted the development of the new FOI campus (FOI 2) and the Center for Pre-Incubation in Smart Industry, which will provide new infrastructure for teaching, research, and cooperation with the economy.
The Dean is elected by the Faculty Council for a term of three years, and the mandate may be renewed only once consecutively.
Congratulations to the new Dean!
