Simon Smith

Simon Smith serves as an EU Fellow at the Centre for European Studies within the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University, while concurrently holding the position of Adviser for Youth and Sport at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Education and Culture (DG EAC).

Education:

• MA in Natural Sciences (specializing in Theoretical Physics and Computer Science) from Cambridge University, 1976
• Diploma in Business Studies from the Open University, 1980

Research Focus: Dr. Smith conducts comparative analysis of critical success and failure factors in large-scale public procurement projects, synthesizing data from government, academic, and industry entities across Australian and European contexts. His work develops practical toolsets for improving procurement quality and risk mitigation through interdisciplinary integration of public administration principles, information systems architecture, and EU policy frameworks.

Professional Leadership: At the European Commission, he served as head of IT and IT strategy adviser in DG EAC since 2000, managing Erasmus+ grant management systems (2014-2020) and developing technical specifications for the Central Library's cloud infrastructure. His earlier Commission roles spanned telecommunications, standardization, and industry directorates following 13 years in private sector business process consultancy.

Additional Engagement: Captain of the DG EAC squash team (Institutional Champions 1991, 2001, 2002), with personal pursuits including scuba diving, blacksmithing, and didgeridoo performance.