He was born on August 15, 1983, in Prnjavor, where he completed both primary and secondary school. He graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Banja Luka, specializing in Power and Industrial Systems, earning the title of Graduate Electrical Engineer.

He was employed at the Joint Stock Company “Elektrokrajina” Banja Luka, within the “Elektrodistribucija” Prnjavor unit, starting in December 2009. From December 2009 to September 2013, he worked as an engineer for technical preparation. From October 2013 to December 2014, he held the position of Head of the Work Unit.

At the end of December 2014, he was appointed Minister for Economic Relations and Regional Cooperation. From 2018 to 2022, he served as Minister for European Integration and International Cooperation.

With 30 years of work experience in foreign trade in the oil industry in domestic and international environments, he has built a solid foundation for further professional development and the possibility of improving business results, increasing sales, and profitability in the field of crude oil and petroleum products. He spent the main part of his career in executive managerial positions in the oil industry.

Jelica Z. Babić (b. 1995) has been a teaching assistant since 2022 for subjects in the narrower scientific field of Educational Technology. She has been working at the Faculty of Teacher Education since 2019.

She graduated in 2018 as the valedictorian with an average grade of 9.70 and completed her master’s studies in 2019. She is currently pursuing a PhD in the module Methodology of Computer Science Teaching. In 2020, she was involved as a technical associate in the establishment of the Center for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Education at the Faculty of Teacher Education.

With a team of doctoral students, she won first place at the 5th Global Competition on Design for Future Education held in China (Beijing Normal University, July 22–24, 2022). The following year, she mentored students who were awarded in the poster session of the same competition. She also participated in the Global Smart Education Conference 2022: Student Forum on Learning Crisis and Futures of Education in China, as well as at numerous international academic conferences in Serbia.

Additionally, she has been involved in projects by the Faculty of Teacher Education, the Ministry of Education of Serbia, and organizations such as UNICEF (2023), UNESCO (2024), and UNDP (2025).

She was a member of the organizing committee of the international scientific conference “Teaching (Today for) Tomorrow: Bridging the Gap between the Classroom and Reality”, hosted by the Faculty of Teacher Education at the University of Zagreb.

Jelica has also moderated several round tables and lectured at various national and international congresses, panels, and forums, including:

• “Artificial Intelligence: Challenges and Risks in Education” (UNESCO, Beijing Normal University, Smart Learning Institute, Center for Robotics and AI in Education, Belgrade, October 30, 2024)
• “Artificial Intelligence in Education – Revolution or Risk?” (University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Philosophy, March 14, 2024)
• “The Metaverse in Education: Perspectives and Challenges” (Belgrade, Sava Center, Vukobratović Robotics Days, December 13, 2024)
• “Data Science in March: Artificial Intelligence in Education” (Microsoft Serbia, AWDS, March 27, 2025)

Selected publications include:

• Trello Application as Support for the Project-Based Model in Science and Society Teaching (co-author), Methodical Theory and Practice (1/2018)
• An Integrative Approach to Understanding Proverbs and Idioms as Methodical Material, Methodical Theory and Practice (1/2019)
• Flipped Classroom Model in Online Teaching Environments – A Case Study in Higher Education (co-author), XXVIII Conference Trends in Development, University of Novi Sad (2022)
• An Integrative Approach to Digital World and The World Around Us (co-author), International Conference Science and Education – Challenges and Perspectives, Užice (2022)
• SWOT Analysis of Edmodo Platform for Monitoring Professional Practice of Future Teachers (co-author), New Horizons of Education Conference, Belgrade (2022)
• Pedagogical Framework for Designing Immersive Learning Environments, Methodical Theory and Practice (2/2022)
• The Empowered Teacher for the META Future (co-author), GCD4FE, Beijing Normal University, UNESCO IITE (2022)
• A Prospective Virtual Reality Model in Teaching (co-author), XXIX Conference Trends in Development, University of Novi Sad (2023)
• Virtual Reality – A Comparative Analysis of Hybrid Teaching Models, Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences and Lessons Learned, Belgrade (2023)
• Educational Robots in Teachers’ Education (co-author), Research in Pedagogy (2/2024)