Keynote: Higher Education

Prof Alta van der Merwe is Deputy Dean: Teaching and Learning in UP’s Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment & IT (EBIT) and a full professor in Informatics. She designs socio-technical solutions at the intersection of artificial intelligence, enterprise systems, and Society 5.0, using design science to translate theory into practice.

Her portfolio advances student success by integrating AI into pedagogy and digital transformation. Internationally recognised, she co-authored a DESRIST 2022 Best Paper, holds an NRF B-rating, and serves on journal boards.

She has supervised 30+ PhD students, led communities including the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists (SAICSIT) and the Association for Information Systems (AIS) Enterprise Systems Special Interest Group (SIG), and helped establish the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Technical Committee (SMC TC) on Enterprise Engineering and Enterprise Architecture.

Honours include the Association for Information Systems Southern African Chapter (AISSAC) Lifelong Award (2021) and the UP Academic Excellence Award (2022).