Prof Ford Lumban Gaol was the Vice Chair when I serves as the Chairman of the IEEE Indonesia Section 2013-2015. He & I also co-lead the IEEE Tensymp 2016 in Bali. Then he experienced a lot as a visiting lecture in Russia and Japan. But today, we celebrate his inauguration as a Professor of Computer Science at the Binus University.
Dr Agnes, Prof Ford, Yours Truly — a reunion of 2013’s cabinet of the IEEE Indonesia Section
The inauguration was led by the Rector of Binus University, Dr. Nelly; and also attended by the Chair of the Senate Prof Harjanto Prabowo. Prof Harjanto mentioned that Prof Ford is the one who established Doctorate Program in Computer Science at Binus University.
As usual, the IEEE gang, i.e. the members of the Advisory Board and Executive Committee plus some other IEEE volunteers attended this inauguration as a special participants. Attended today: Prof Endra, Prof Dadang, Dr Wahidin, Dr Agnes, Mr Satriyo, and surely yours truly.
Serendipitously, I also met Dr Indra Utoyo as one of the speech presented, representing a community in Big Data development.
Dr Indra presented the collaborative innovation in Big Data-focused digital development and its influence to the society.
The ceremony was carried out ½ day, and continued by informal meetings & photo sessions.
As a part of the IEEE Indonesia Excom & Adcom coordinative meeting in Bali, we also visit Udayana University, to see the Advanced Research Laboratories, and also to carry out some sharing session to the academician and students.
Surely, first we had to meet the famous Prof Linawati, Dean of the Faculty of Technology, Udayana University. With Prof Lina, we established the IEEE Udayana University Student Branch 10 years ago, in my serving time as the Chairman of the IEEE Indonesia Section at that time, after a discussion at Fortech in Bandung.
This is a weekend lecture, so I just briefly discussed about the development of digital platforms as the core in current technology and business ecosystems.
And surely I spent a couple minutes to — again — make an introduction to the Complexity Theory. It’s always fun to tell people about this attractive thing. You can read more about this at the other part of this blog: [URL]
Hingga kini, masih sangat jarang ada kunjungan dari Presiden IEEE yang tengah menjabat ke Indonesia. Dalam catatan, Presiden IEEE pertama yang mengunjungi Indonesia adalah Prof Peter Staecker pada tahun 2013, waktu aku baru beberapa hari menjabat Ketua Umum (Chairman) IEEE Indonesia Section. Tahun ini, Presiden IEEE Prof Saiful Rahman mengunjungi Indonesia beberapa hari; sekaligus dalam bagian dari kampanye IEEE atas perubahan iklim. Beliau didampingi Ketua IEEE Indonesia Section saat ini, Prof Gamantyo, dan Ketua Terpilih IEEE Malaysia, Bernard Lim.
Sebagai bagian dari program ini, IEEE berkolaborasi dengan TVRI mengadakan diskusi on-air yang bertajuk “IEEE ASEAN Roundtable Discussion on Climate Change.” Acara diselenggarakan 27 Oktober 2023 di TVRI, dengan Prof Saifur Rahman sebagai pembicara utama, didampingi pembicara lain dari industri, universitas, lembaga riset, dan pemerintah sebagai peserta; dalam bentuk diskusi meja bundar. Penyelenggara kegiatan adalah TVRI, dipimpin Dr. Agnes Irwanti, salah satu anggota Dewan Pengawas, dan Iman Brotoseno, Dirut TVRI. Aku jadi salah satu pembicara, mewakili IEEE Advisory Board.
Aku memaparkan peluang pemanfaatan teknologi yang tersedia atau tengah dikembangkan, untuk mengurangi dan mengatasi dampak perubahan iklim. Perubahan iklim selalu menjadi salah satu motivasi di balik banyak inovasi kolaboratif dalam pengembangan teknologi dan bisnis berbasis teknologi.
Karena pekerjaanku di industri telekomunikasi, aku mengawali dengan memberikan contoh dalam industri mobile. Penggunaan radio kognitif (CR) dan akses spektrum dinamis (DSA) dapat mengoptimalkan teknologi hijau dengan meningkatkan efisiensi dan penghematan spektrum melalui adaptasi dinamis terhadap perubahan kondisi jaringan dan faktor lingkungan. Di daerah perkotaan dengan beban jaringan tinggi, CR dapat beralih ke pita frekuensi yang kurang padat, mengurangi konsumsi daya dan meningkatkan kinerja jaringan; dan juga dapat dioptimalkan untuk memilih infrastruktur jaringan yang paling ramah lingkungan. Perangkat CR dapat mengurangi daya saat berkomunikasi dalam jarak pendek, sehingga dapat menghemat energi. CR juga memungkinkan berbagi spektrum dinamis antara berbagai teknologi. Hal ini mengoptimalkan penggunaan sumber daya dan mengurangi konsumsi energi dalam berbagai jenis jaringan yang dipadukan ini. Dengan blockchain, spektrum dapat dibagikan antara operator dengan pencatatan dan penghitungan biaya yang lebih mudah.
Dalam pendekatan yang lebih aplikatif dalam industri, paradigma pertumbuhan bisnis berbasis ekosistem telah mendorong perusahaan untuk berbagi kapabilitas, sumber daya, dan peluang; sehingga biaya dan risiko dapat ditekan, sekaligus mengurangi beban pada lingkungan melalui berbagai metode berbagi yang dipermudah oleh digitalisasi yang memungkinkan proses dan kemampuan dapat dimodulkan, digunakan kembali, diintegrasikan, diperbaiki, dan dikendalikan bersama antara bisnis yang bersifat kolaboratif atau bahkan kompetitif.
Penggunaan teknologi seperti kecerdasan buatan (AI) dan robotika memainkan peran penting dalam mengatasi perubahan iklim dalam berbagai cara. Beberapa contoh:
Teknologi ini dapat digunakan dalam robotika yang meliputi sensor otonom, drone, dan satelit untuk memantau dan mengumpulkan data atas parameter terkait iklim, seperti suhu, kelembaban, emisi karbon, deforestasi, dan lainnya. Teknologi ini membantu dalam mendapatkan data yang akurat dan real-time untuk analisis iklim.
AI memudahkan analisis data iklim yang besar, membantu para peneliti membangun model iklim yang lebih akurat. Model-model ini sangat penting untuk memahami perubahan iklim, penyebabnya, dan memprediksi iklim di masa depan.
AI digunakan untuk optimisasi konsumsi energi di berbagai sektor, termasuk transportasi, manufaktur, dan konstruksi. Smart grid dan sistem manajemen energi menggunakan AI untuk mengimbangi pasokan dan permintaan energi, mengurangi pemborosan, dan mengintegrasikan sumber energi terbarukan dengan efektif.
Manajemen logistik terintegrasi berbasis AI (4PL / 5PL) dapat mengatur layanan logistik untuk berbagi layanan logistik, dengan model rantai pasok yang lebih baik, didukung oleh prediksi permintaan dan produksi yang lebih baik. Ini akan mengurangi juga penggunaan bahan bakar dan beban lingkungan untuk memperluas fasilitas transportasi.
AI memperbaiki praktik pertanian, mengurangi emisi gas rumah kaca dan meningkatkan hasil panen. Selain itu, robotika dapat membantu dalam pertanian presisi, mengurangi penggunaan bahan kimia dan meningkatkan keberlanjutan.
Ada banyak aspek teknologi lainnya yang dapat digunakan untuk meningkatkan kondisi lingkungan, termasuk manajemen energi, manajemen lalu lintas, pendidikan yang dipersonalisasi, dan lainnya. Pembicara lain juga menjelajahi apa yang dapat kita lakukan dalam bidang pendidikan, kebijakan pemerintah, dan bidang lainnya.
It is not a regular occasion of any serving IEEE President to visit Indonesia. In our official note, the first serving IEEE President to visit Indonesia was Prof Peter Staecker in 2013 — he visited Bali for an IEEE Educational Program awareness while I was only days starting my service as the IEEE Indonesia Section Chair. This year, Prof Saiful Rahman, the current IEEE President, is visiting Indonesia for a couple days. The visit is related to the IEEE campaigns in climate change; so it is also the theme of his visit. He is visiting Indonesia accompanied by the current IEEE Indonesia Section Chair, Prof Gamantyo, and the IEEE Malaysia Chair-Elect, Bernard Lim.
As one of the programs within his visit, the IEEE Indonesia Section co-organise with TVRI, an on-air discussion titled the IEEE ASEAN Roundtable on Climate Change. The event was carried out today in TVRI, with the IEEE President Prof Saifur Rahman as the main speaker, and teens of other speakers from the industry, universities, research centres, and government agencies as participants in round table discussion form — including yours truly, representing the IEEE Indonesia Section Advisory Committee, and the IEEE TEMS Regional Leadership Subcommittee. The organiser is TVRI, led by Dr Agnes Irwanti, a member of its Supervisory Board; and Mr Iman Brotoseno, the CEO.
I explored the opportunity of using currently available or currently developed technology to reduce and overcome the impact of the climate change. Climate change is always one of the motivations behind many collaborative innovations in the development of technology and technology-based business.
Since I work in telecommunications industry, I started by giving an example in mobile industry. The use of cognitive radio and dynamic spectrum access (CR/DSA) may optimise green technology by improving the efficiency and utilisation the spectrum by dynamic adaptation to changing network conditions and environmental factors. In urban areas with high network congestion, CR can switch to less crowded frequency bands, reducing power consumption and improving network performance; and it could also optimised to choose the most green-powered network infrastructure available. CR device can lower its power when communicating over shorter distances, conserving energy. CR also enables dynamic spectrum sharing among different technologies. For example, a cognitive radio network can share spectrum with existing cellular networks during peak traffic hours and switch to alternative bands during off-peak times. This optimises resource usage and reduces energy consumption in both networks. With the use of blockchain, spectrum may be shared among operators with easier accounting and cost-sharing.
In more applicative approach in the industry, the paradigm of of ecosystem-based business growth has motivated enterprises to share capabilities, resources, opportunities, so they can reduce the cost and risk, while also reduce the cost for the environment by many sharing methods used in business ecosystems, facilitated by massive digitalisation that enables process and capabilities to be modularised, reused, integrated, improved, and orchestrated among collaborative or event competitive businesses.
The use of technology like the AI and robotics play important roles in addressing climate change in various ways. Some examples:
The technology might be used for autonomous sensor-equipped robots, drones, and satellites to monitor and collect data on climate-related parameters such as temperature, humidity, carbon emissions, deforestation, and more. These technologies help in obtaining real-time and accurate data for climate analysis.
AI facilitates the analysis of huge amounts of climate data, helping researchers build more accurate climate models. These models are crucial for understanding climate change, its causes, and predicting future climate trends.
AI can optimize energy consumption in various sectors, including transportation, manufacturing, and buildings. Smart grids and energy management systems use AI to balance energy supply and demand, reduce wastage, and integrate renewable energy sources effectively.
AI-based integrated logistics management (4PL / 5PL) may orchestrate logistics services to share the logistics resources they have, with better supply chain model, supported by better demand and production prediction. It will also reduce the use of fuel and environmental cost to expand the transportation facilities.
AI can support agricultural practices, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving crop yields. Additionally, robots can assist in precision agriculture, reducing chemical usage and improving sustainability.
There are many more aspect of technology to be used to improve the environmental conditions, including the power management, traffic management, personalised education, etc. Other speakers also explored what we can do in the aspects of education, government policy, and others.
Even after the formal discussion, we still continue the discussion during the lunch session, after Friday-prayer session. I think it is also my first experience to accompany an IEEE President to a mosque to attend a Friday prayer session.
We closed the day with a more relaxing discussion during dinner at Plaza Senayan.
Waktu aku masih jadi Chairman of the IEEE Indonesia Section, sempat ada usulan dari anggota Advisory Board (yang dalam konteks Indonesia berarti mantan ketua IEEE Indonesia Section) tentang Israel. Saat itu, IEEE Indonesia Section tengah sangat gencar melakukan eksplorasi untuk menjadi host atas IEEE international conferences, baik yang skala region (Region 10 Asia Pacific) maupun kemudian level dunia.
Hal yang sering jadi issue adalah soal imigrasi. Banyak peserta konferensi dari negara Asia mengalami kesulitan mengurus visa masuk Indonesia, seperti dari negara Iran dan Pakistan. Beberapa anggota komite sempat menyebut bahwa filtering untuk beberapa negara memang lebih ketat. Salah satu alasannya adalah kekhawatiran Indonesia dijadikan jembatan untuk mencari jalan untuk migrasi ke Australia. Namun warganegara Pakistan yang sudah di Australia pun masih lebih sulit masuk ke Indonesia. Kadang ketua konferensi, atau bahkan ketua IEEE Indonesia Section, harus menulis surat jaminan pribadi ke Kedutaan dan Kantor Imigrasi.
Soalan lain adalah warga dari entitas ilegal zionis yang menduduki Palestina (yang demi kesederhanaan teks akan kita sebut sebagai Israel tanpa tanda petik). Kebijakan yang bijak dari Pemerintah Indonesia untuk selalu menolak adanya hubungan diplomatik antara Indonesia dan Israel dianggap jadi penghambat. Kami Excom IEEE Indonesia Section diminta mencari cara untuk memungkinkan dipermudahnya pemegang paspor Israel untuk memasuki Indonesia.
Secara pragmatis, waktu itu aku sampaikan bahwa banyak pemegang paspor Israel sebenarnya memiliki kewarganegaraan ganda, merangkap jadi warga negara Eropa, AS, Kanada, bahkan Singapura. Andaipun mereka hanya punya paspor Israel saja, mereka sangat dipermudah membuat paspor di negara lain. Jadi tidak ada perlunya kita mendorong pemerintah Indonesia memperlunak sikap pada pemegang paspor Israel. Kita tetap menerima mereka dengan tangan dan hati terbuka.
Salah satu anggota senior di Advisory Board kemudian menyampaikan bahwa persoalannya bukan bisa lewat jalan samping, tetapi secara politis Indonesia dianggap tidak ramah pada Israel, dan posisi ini menyulitkan Indonesia mengajukan diri sebagai tuan rumah berbagai konferensi internasional.
Atas statement itu, aku saat itu memberikan jawaban bahwa jika persyaratan tertulis atau tak tertulis untuk jadi host adalah harus memberikan rekomendasi atau saran kepada pemerintah Indonesia untuk memperlunak sikap kepada Israel, aku memilih tidak akan mengajukan IEEE Indonesia Section sebagai host — setidaknya selama aku jadi ketua.
Aku rasa, sikap yang sudah diambil Bapak Bangsa kita, untuk melihat perspektif geopolitis global secara lebih cerdas dan mengedepankan perikemanusiaan dan perikeadilan, masih relevan hingga kini, masih jadi kebijakan Pemerintah Indonesia yang patut didukung, dan sudah menjadi bagian dari perspektif pribadi dalam negosiasi global.
Computer Science Doctorate Program of Binus University invited me to provide an Industrial Talk for their PhD-level students. I offer them a talk on the evolution of economy and technology towards the era of complexity.
The day for the lecture was December 2nd. But since I was in Bandung that day, the lecture was carried out as a zoominar. The moderator was Dr Agung Trisetyarso; and the sponsor was surely Dr Ford Lumban Gaol, the Vice Chair of Binus University Doctorate Program in Computer Science.
I started the talk by introducing the IEEE TEMS — Technology & Engineering Management Society, where I am currently a member of its Regional Leadership Subcommittee. TEMS aims to help IEEE members to maintain essential engineering management skills, support the leadership career path of IEEE members, and foster active knowledge transfer between the academic and practicing communities.
The lecture continued by exploring the digital transformation in the contexts of digital strategy, digital architecture, and its innovative business model, which inevitably drive global business into ecosystem-based collaborative business (Warner & Wäger 2019) with its platform-based value chain (Jacobides, Cennamo, Gawer 2018) and virtually-connected strategic collaborative network (Graça & Camarinha-Matos 2016). After discussing the methods in architecting business ecosystems, the lecture shifted to business ecosystem as paradigm shift (Cha 2020). I figured that it means that business ecosystems are considered as another inevitability in a more complex business environment — even for non-digital business.
Ecosystem players — i.e. business entities related to the ecosystems — may have different needs, goals, positions, and abilities. When interactions occur, members analyse, adapt, and form an evolutionary process. Adaptabilities within a business ecosystem shows that a business ecosystem is a system that has the characteristics of a complex adaptive system (CAS).
Adaptability in CAS occurs both to environmental changes and to changes in relation among players in the system (Arthur et al. 1997). Simultaneous and continuous adaptability among players in CAS will result in co-evolution (Gomes & Gubareva 2020). This co-evolution also allows changing roles in the business ecosystem. The result of this collective activity is adaptability that creates new things (emergence) with dynamic congruence.
But this is not a deep exploration on ecosystem business and CAS. Instead, this talk aims to provide some insights on the aspects of complexity, where CAS and ecosystem business are only some examples of its parts. I then restarted with a storytelling of the exploration of complexities, starting from Murray Gell-Mann, his book The Quark and The Jaguar, and the establishment of Santa Fe Institute.
The scientific method is the portmanteau of instruments, formalisms, and experimental practices that succeed in discovering basic mechanisms despite the limitations of individual intelligence. There are, however, on this planet, phenomena that are hidden in plain sight. These are the phenomena that we study as complex systems: the convoluted exhibitions of the adaptive world — from cells to societies. Examples of these complex systems include cities, economies, civilizations, the nervous system, the Internet, and ecosystems.
The nature of complexity would include the phenomena of non-linearity, dynamic interactions, adaptation, self-organisation, evolution, and emergence.
Its consequences in economy and business, is that economy is analysed not necessarily in equilibrium, its decision makers (or agents) are not superrational, the problems they face are not necessarily well-defined, and the economy is not as a perfectly humming machine but as an ever-changing ecology of beliefs, organising principles, and behaviours (Arthur 2021).
We continued from WB Arthur (2021): Complexity economics assumes that agents differ, that they have imperfect information about other agents and must, therefore, try to make sense of the situation they face. Agents explore, react and constantly change their actions and strategies in response to the outcome they mutually create. The resulting outcome may not be in equilibrium and may display patterns and emergent phenomena not visible to equilibrium analysis. The economy becomes something not given and existing but constantly forming from a developing set of actions, strategies and beliefs — something not mechanistic, static, timeless and perfect but organic, always creating itself, alive and full of messy vitality.
So my main message is that a competitive business should not avoid or overcome complexities. Instead, complexities are used or even created as a way to open new opportunities, design new capabilities, and conquering new markets.
For its implication in strategic management, I offer a view from the IEEE to use — in this era — a framework called strategic planning for exponential era (SPX). I explored this framework quite deeply. It is taken from an IEEE book authored by Espindola and Wright (2021), titled The Exponential Era: Strategies to Stay Ahead of the Curve in an Era of Chaotic Changes and Disruptive Forces.
My presentation was followed with a warm discussion with Binus’ lecturers and students on some technological and business aspects of complexity, complex adaptive system, and ecosystem-based business, including its current implementation in Telkom Indonesia. I also offered to continue the discussion using a collaborative framework of IEEE TEMS.
TEMS — or the IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society — is an IEEE society with a mission to advance, enhance, and improve essential management and leadership knowledge and skills of IEEE members.
The IEEE TEMS Regional Leaders Subcommittee carried out its 1st meeting this year today, with a new team. This meeting was led by Mohamed Aboud, the VP for Membership Development. The TEMS President, Ravikiran Annaswamy, addressed the meeting.
The meeting aims to leverage the program to leverage the TEMS activities in wider areas, and to improve collaborations among TEMS members in engineering management and leadership field. Our field of interest encompasses the management sciences and practices required for defining, implementing, and managing engineering and technology. Specific topics of interest include technology policy development, assessment, and transfer; research; product design and development; manufacturing operations; innovation and entrepreneurship; program and project management; strategy; education and training; organisational development and human behavior; transitioning to management; and the socioeconomic impact of engineering and technology management.
The IEEE Computer Society Indonesia Chapter has carried out a member gathering today. Apparently, during the COVID-19 crises, it is not very easy to organise such meeting, albeit an online one — so this gathering presented no less than six presenters; two of which are Prof Cecilia Meras, the Past President of the IEEE Computer Society, and yours truly.
My presentation was titled «Digital Platforms for Society Resilience in Time of Crises». We have understood that these crises have motivated businesses to plan, do, or speed up some kinds of digital transformation. But the transformation should not only stop at adapting the business to the new situations — whatever they are. Instead, it is actually a just-in-time context to design a strategic transformation by exploring the new opportunities and using potential collaborative innovations. In theory, we have all we need to start establishing it with synergistic efforts.
The IEEE Indonesia Section has successfully organised IEEE Leadership Summit: Engineering in Covid-19 Crises. This seminar was opened by the IEEE Region 10 Director, Prof Akinori Nishihara; with Minister of Research and Technology, Prof Bambang Permadi Soemantri Brodjonegoro as the keynote speaker; and yours truly and Dr Ford Lumban Gaol as the host.
The other prominent speakers on this seminar, are: Dr Chris Lee (IEEE R10 Industry Relation Coord), Patrick Liew, Dr Denny Setiawan (Ministry of Communications & Informatics), Arief Hamdani Gunawan (Telkom Indonesia), Deepak Mathur (IEEE R10 Director-Elect). The summit was fully supported by the IEEE R10 and the IEEE Singapore office.
Tahun ini IEEE Indonesia Section berkesempatan menjadi tuan rumah bagi IEEE Humanitarian Technology Conference (HTC), yaitu flag conference ketiga milik IEEE Region 10, setelah TENCON dan TENSYMP. HTC 2019 diselenggarakan di Universitas Indonesia, Depok. Aku hanya berperan sebagai advisor di konferensi ini, jadi tak banyak berperan selain di perencanaan awal. Di HTC 2017 di Bangladesh, sebenarnya aku diundang jadi salah satu invited speaker — namun saat itu gagal berangkat gara-gara kerumitan pengurusan visa Bangladesh.
Seperti juga TENCON dan TENSYMP, ada cukup aktivitas tambahan pada konferensi ini, mengambil kesempatan banyaknya international expert yang hadir di satu tempat — sayang kalau tidak dimanfaatkan secara maksimal. Salah satu aktivitas tambahan ini adalah mini conference (mico) tentang IEEE Professional Activity.
IEEE R10 Professional Activity Mico diselenggarakan di Hotel Margo, Depok. Kegiatan ini umumnya menampilkan speaker dari kalangan akademisi dan industri. Speaker dalam sesi tahun ini adalah Prof Akinori Nishihara (Director of IEEE R10), Prof Takako Hashimoto (Secretary of IEEE 10 Excom), Nirmal Nair (Professional Activity Coord of IEEE 10), Prof Kalamullah Ramli (Univ of Indonesia), dan si aku dari Telkom Indonesia. Hadir juga dalam aktivitas ini: Prof Wisnu Jatmiko (IEEE Indonesia Section Chair)Emi Yano (IEEE R10 WIE Coordinator), Prakash Lohana (IEEE R10 Humanitarian Technology Coordinator), dll.
Karena paparan diharapkan berkaitan dengan eksplorasi engineering secara profesi, aku menyiapkan presentasi bertema inovasi kolaboratif dalam kerangka ekosistem. Namun panitia mendadak memberi subjudul tentang smart city. Maka jadilah presentasi ini berjudul: Smart City — a context for digital ecosystem collaborative development.
Diawali dengan pengenalan kembali akan konsep ekosistem, yang mengambil metafora dari ekosistem hayati. Ekosistem disusun sebagai kerangka pertumbuhan bersama dengan memanfaatkan kapabilitas dan ruang hidup (opportunity) bersama. Di dalamnya terjadi proses ko-kreasi hingga kompetisi, seperti juga ekosistem hayati. Sebagai pengikat untuk memastikan pertumbuhan efisien dan tidak liar, dibentuklah platform-platform. Pertumbuhan platform, komunitas, aplikasi, dll di dalamnya tidak sepenuhnya alami — karena itu diperlukan perencanaan dalam bentuk arsitektur sistem yang disusun bersama oleh para stakeholder awal (untuk kemudian tetap dapat dikembangkan). Teori arsitektur sistem kemudian juga dieksplorasi. Contoh kasus, tentu saja, tentang pengembangan smart city, sesuai pesanan panitia.
Usai presentasi dan diskusi-diskusi, mico dilanjutkan dengan pameran mini perangkat-perangkat IoT untuk dukungan program kemanusiaan, oleh mahasiswa UI. Diskusi dilanjutkan lebih informal pada sesi makan siang yang asik dan akrab, yang sekaligus mengakhiri mico ini. Kalau lebih panjang, namanya bukan mico.
