Professor Predrag Pale has spent over three decades shaping the technological landscape of Croatia. As a faculty member at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, his contributions extend far beyond the lecture hall. From pioneering internet development in Croatia during the Homeland War to offering provocative insights on artificial intelligence and learning methodologies, Pale represents a unique voice in European technology education. This article examines his perspectives on curiosity-driven innovation, the challenges of building digital infrastructure under adversity, and what the future holds for engineering education.
The Role of Curiosity in Scientific Discovery
When asked how he maintains curiosity after years in academia, Pale offers a counterintuitive response: he does not try to keep it alive but rather keeps it under control. For him, curiosity is not a skill to be cultivated but an innate drive that requires channeling. This perspective challenges the conventional wisdom that curiosity must be actively nurtured.
In the context of technology education, this distinction matters significantly. Students entering programs at institutions like the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing often arrive with genuine interest but gradually shift their focus toward meeting assessment requirements. Pale observes that students study to pass exams rather than to achieve understanding—a pattern that stifles the very curiosity that brought them to the field.
His advice to young scientists and technologists is direct: if you are drawn to discovering and creating, do not let external opinions or internal doubts stop you. He notes that being told something is impossible serves as one of his greatest sources of motivation.
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Internet Development in Croatia: A Wartime Achievement
The story of how Croatia gained internet connectivity reads like a case study in persistence under impossible conditions. In the early 1990s, computing infrastructure was rudimentary by modern standards. The IBM PC had only recently appeared, lacking windows, mice, graphics, or color. Large computers operated on proprietary systems that were not interoperable, and networks as we understand them did not exist.
The Strategic Decision to Build Connectivity
Pale recognized that Croatia needed internet access precisely when the country was fighting for its independence. His reasoning was twofold: the enemy was destroying established communication channels, creating an urgent need for alternatives, and he understood that an independent Croatia would require a strong economy built on data, computers, and communications.
The project succeeded because three elements converged at the right moment. First, Pale had what he describes as a “rather crazy idea” that proved prescient. Second, he secured support from within the government, specifically from Professor Branko Jeren, then Assistant Minister of Science, who persuaded Minister Ante Čović to provide initial funding. Third, a critical mass of enthusiasts committed to making the vision a reality—without compensation.
The challenges were substantial. The war had begun, money was scarce, and the international community did not know how to engage with Croatia. Unlike Slovenia and former socialist countries in Central Europe, Croatia received no communication links or financial assistance. There was no existing infrastructure to build upon, no books explaining how to construct a national internet network, and the Internet barely existed in Europe at the time.
Support came from unexpected quarters. Marko Bonač, director of Slovenia’s ARNES network, provided assistance. Dr. Peter Rastl and Mr. Steinringer from Austria’s ACONet offered help. That constituted essentially all the external support available. The European Union further complicated matters by promoting the IXI project, which aimed to build a network based on the X.25 protocol rather than the Internet Protocol (IP) that Pale’s team needed.
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November 18, 1992: The Official Launch
While communication had begun earlier in the year, November 18, 1992, marks the official beginning of internet connectivity in Croatia. On that date, the connection to Austria became operational. The launch ceremony took place at the University Rectorate, where the team demonstrated the internet’s power by searching for President Tuđman’s book in the Library of Congress catalog in Washington, D.C.
At that time, remote library catalog searches were considered a “modern miracle.” There was no web technology—queries were sent by email to an automated system that responded with book information. Pale’s colleagues handled technical concerns while he explained to attendees what the internet was and why it mattered to Croatia. Adding personal significance to the occasion, Pale carried a radio transmitter, waiting for word that his wife needed to be driven to the maternity ward.
The .HR Domain: Securing Digital Identity for a New Nation
Pale understood that a country can only obtain its own domain after United Nations recognition. Rather than waiting to begin administrative and technical procedures, he communicated with Jon Postel, then responsible for global domain administration, to complete all preparations in advance. The goal was to have everything ready so that Postel would only need to “press a button” once Croatia gained international recognition.
Registering the “HR” abbreviation in the ISO 3166 standard—a prerequisite for obtaining a country-code domain—required coordination with Aleksandar Čaklović, then Director of the Standards Institute. This forward-thinking approach ensured Croatia secured its digital identity at the earliest possible moment.
Croatia remains unique in that companies are entitled to one free .hr domain. Pale made this decision based on his belief that digital identity represents a fundamental right of every individual and legal entity. Since domain names are limited resources where two entities cannot share the same domain, he argues that the state must manage this resource. Maintaining the registry represents negligible cost for the country, and he considers it unacceptable for anyone to profit from what he views as a fundamental right.
Artificial Intelligence and the Transformation of Education
Pale’s current research questions reveal his focus on the intersection of technology and human identity: How can we verify the identity of someone we communicate with through technology? How can computers assess competencies as effectively as human teachers? How can we extract a person’s personality and embed it into computational algorithms to create what he calls a “Homo Similis”?
Redefining the Teacher’s Role
When asked about AI’s impact on education, Pale is unequivocal: it will transform the role of professors and teachers fundamentally. He observes that even with current technology, which he considers relatively primitive, people can learn faster, more effectively, and more comfortably with AI assistance than with human teachers. Students can ask questions without embarrassment, repeat requests for explanation, and openly admit ignorance without fearing judgment.
However, effective learning with AI requires knowing how to ask good questions—a skill Pale believes should be taught from early childhood. In this emerging paradigm, teachers will become responsible for feeding AI systems with relevant knowledge, supervising their work, designing learning tasks, and advancing both their disciplines and teaching methodologies. Most critically, teachers will focus on inspiring, motivating, and mentoring students.
Pale envisions human teachers devoting their time to what only humans can provide. For everything else—recorded lectures, virtual laboratories, AI-powered tutors—students will rely on computers. The human teacher becomes a mentor, project leader, and master from whom students learn tacit, intangible knowledge that cannot easily be codified or automated.
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Practical Recommendations for Engineering Education in Croatia
Pale identifies several gaps in current engineering education. The primary deficiency is practical experience—projects, real-world application of knowledge, and learning outside the classroom where life and production actually occur. He states plainly that university lectures, as the primary form of teaching, no longer make sense.
Teaching Critical Thinking
For Pale, critical thinking education must begin in kindergarten. Children should be encouraged to ask questions, with questions rewarded rather than answers. They should learn to engage in discussion and debate, understanding that there are no universal truths—that everything is subjective, changeable, and dependent on context. The scientific method, which he identifies as the only approach providing repeatable answers independent of who asks or answers, should be central to this education.
The Role of Empathy
Empathy in education operates in two directions. From the institutional side, it means approaching every student individually and adapting teaching methods, deadlines, and expectations to their circumstances and available resources. From the student’s side, it means acquiring knowledge with the intention of using it to benefit others.
Rethinking Assessment
Pale criticizes a system that dictates exactly when an exam must be passed. He argues that the system should instead focus on measuring competence regardless of when or how that competence was acquired. Students should be able to assess both their absolute level of competence and their personal progress. The current approach, where even the best students report insufficient time to engage deeply with topics, fundamentally misaligns incentives.
Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Social Climate
Pale’s assessment of young people’s interest in entrepreneurship is blunt: “No, not even close.” He notes that starting a venture is easier today than at any point in history, yet only a handful of exceptional individuals pursue this path after graduation.
He attributes this partly to social climate and the values promoted by society. As long as political leaders pose for photographs with athletes and celebrities rather than young entrepreneurs, teachers, and scientists, young people will not perceive those careers as desirable. As long as society measures worth by wealth and fame rather than knowledge, effort, and contribution, entrepreneurial spirit will struggle to flourish.
Pale places responsibility on those working in public institutions and government bodies. He argues that it is not the young entrepreneur’s responsibility to persuade others of an idea’s value or navigate administrative obstacles. Instead, institutions should actively seek out people with ideas and make it easier for them to test and develop those ideas. If someone fails because they never received support, Pale considers that a collective failure rather than an individual one.
A Pragmatic View of Patents
Pale demystifies patents, arguing they should only be pursued when something can actually be manufactured, when production has begun, and specifically to prevent larger players from taking the idea, patenting it themselves, and blocking production. Everything else, in his view, is “little more than decoration on the wall.” He observes that ideas generating revenue are often surprisingly simple, and that financial success comes more often from fashionable ideas than from those genuinely addressing needs.
Explore our related articles for further reading on innovation ecosystems and technology transfer in academic environments.
Beyond Engineering: The Value of Diverse Pursuits
Pale’s engagement with ballet began as stretching exercises for a neglected back, progressed to jazz dance, and eventually included ballet as part of training. Once he recognized that ballet represents the grammar of movement—where every position and movement has a name and clear definition, and choreography resembles a computer program—the engineer in him connected with the art form. Ballet has provided him healthy posture, physical well-being, mobility, and flexibility.
His other interests include learning new knowledge and skills, working with his hands to repair and build things (including furniture), and experimenting with various dance styles. These pursuits reflect his core philosophy that curiosity should not be confined to a single domain.
Final Reflections for Future Technologists
Pale’s parting advice combines practical wisdom with a call to presence: enjoy every day, spend time doing something that brings joy and learning something that excites you, and do something that makes you feel yourself growing. He encourages young people to remove their headphones and observe their surroundings—the street, the room, the tram, the sky, buildings, and nature—recognizing that everything is filled with wonder.
Perhaps most characteristically, he advocates for conversations about atoms, the universe, love, sex, pyramids, Atlantis, intelligence, crochet, or anything else that sparks curiosity. This breadth of interest, combined with depth of expertise, exemplifies the kind of technologist that Croatia’s educational system might produce more of if it heeded Pale’s observations about practical experience, individualized learning, and the fundamental role of questions over answers.
The University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing continues to be shaped by voices like Pale’s—faculty members who have lived through the transformation of their field and who challenge both students and institutions to think differently about what technology education can become.
Share your experiences in the comments below—how do you see the relationship between curiosity and technical expertise evolving in your own field?
