Milica Pejanović-Đurišić is currently Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Montenegro to UN. Before, she served as Minister of Defence in the Government of Montenegro from March 2012 to November 2016, having a leading role in the process of Montenegro’s accession to NATO. Prof. Pejanović-Đurišić was the first Ambassador of independent Montenegro to France, Monaco and UNESCO in the period 2007-2010. From 2004 to 2006, she was Ambassador of the State Union Serbia&Montenegro to Belgium and Luxembourg. In the period 1992-2002, Prof. PejanovićĐurišić was Member of the Parliament and in one term Chairman of its Committee for Foreign affairs. She was elected Member of the State Presidency (1990-1992) at the first democratic elections in Montenegro.
Her current engagements also include participation in the Mediterranean Women Mediators network and steering committees of a number of (cyber)security related conferences and initiatives. She is a member of the Governance Board of the Atlantic Council of Montenegro and founder of its Digital Forensic Lab.
With the PhD in Telecommunication Engineering, Milica Pejanović-Đurišić continuously pursues her academic carrier as a full professor in Telecommunications and Wireless Communications at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Montenegro, founder and director of its Research Centre for ICT. After graduating from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Podgorica, she received first the MSc degree and then in 1987 PhD in Telecommunications at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Belgrade (Serbia). Since October 1982, she has been engaged at the University of Montenegro, where she got the title of Full Professor in the field of Telecommunications in December 1998. She also performed the duty of the Vice-Dean and the President of the Council at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering.
Prof. Dr. Pejanović-Đurišić has been cooperating with numerous universities, research centers, international and think tank organizations worldwide as a visiting researcher and lecturer. In her research work she is focused on various aspects of wireless communications, where she has achieved notable results that were published in several hundred scientific papers in international journals and international conferences, in scientific and professional papers in domestic journals and conferences, as well as in a number of books and other publications.
Her industry experience includes being President of the Board of “Telekom Montenegro” (1999-2002), as well as President of the Board of the first Montenegriin Internet provider (2001-2002). Prof. Pejanović-Đurišić has been working as a consultant in the field of ICTs and as an expert for European Commission and ITU, participating in a number of global professional associations (IEEE, IEICE) and projects in the field of info-communication technologies (Future Internet Forum, Next Generation Internet initiative, Fed4Fire…).
Prof. Pejanović-Đurišić’s role in fostering digital transformation of Montenegro and the region of South-East Europe has been widely recognized, through a number of initiatives focusing on development and deployment of info-communication infrastructures and applications. Experience in security and defence sectors, gained in a specific environment and time, and combined with her expertise in ICTs, resulted in active engagement of Prof. Pejanović-Đurišić in cybersecurity domain. Being currently at the UN, she is working on initiatives leading towards more safe and secure ICT eco-system, so that the conditions for the mitigation of ICTrelated security challenges would be created and benefits of global digital transformation on the international security and stability achieved.