Telkom – Page 3 – Kuncoro Wastuwibowo

MSME Ecosystem

Since 2016 I have a new role in Telkom Indonesia as the AVP (now Project Leader) of the Industry Synergy. The role of Synergy Department is simply developing the capabilities (mainly digital capabilities) and expanding opportunities of Telkom Group by maximising the collaboration with the industry. As a government policy at that time, the collaborations are prioritised with the state-owned companies (BUMN) in Indonesia. More than three years have passed then. We have changed the Ministry of BUMN, Telkom’s CEO, Telkom’s BOD in charge of Synergy programs, SVP and VP of Synergy, etc. But we are still developing our paradigm of digital synergy, i.e. developing digitally supported economic ecosystems in different sectors.

Using a metaphor from the environment, an innovation ecosystems consists of interdependent parties with different or often competing objectives and concerns, living and growing together in a common digital space, unified using one platform or more to enable them to live better and grow faster. Co-creation, collaboration, and competition are some key activities of the innovation ecosystems.

Last year, the new Minister of BUMN has addressed Telkom Indonesia to develop five ecosystems: Tourism, Agriculture, Logistics, Education, and Healthcare. We even hired a prominent global consultant to help us design the ecosystem. But this February, I requested an approval from the uplinks to add another ecosystem: the MSME ecosystem, to support non-digital micro, small, and medium business enterprises in digital way.

Previously we have had a program called RKB to develop the capability of SMEs in Indonesia. RKBs (BUMN’s creative house) have been established in 245 of 514 cities and regencies in Indonesia. In RKB, BUMNs provide training, consulting, and other facilities to leverage the capabilities of the SMEs in three product categories: culinary, craft, and fashion. But RKBs have failed to attract the SMEs since they do not really improve the sales of the SME products. An MSME ecosystem, on the contrary, should start with MSME commercialisation in mind.

We started with a small design by utilising a multichannel marketing application called SAKOO as our first platform. In March, many cities and locations in Indonesia (and other part of the world) are locked down (until the time I’m writing this post, btw) due to COVID-19 pandemic. We found some contexts for the usecase of the platform. To generate market, we will use BUMNs (and public, using campaigns supported by BUMNs) to create demands for the MSME market. BUMNs may buy the products of the MSMEs for their need, or as an aid to support the communities or health facilities in. Surely we first tried it with Telkom. Telkom has started purchasing MSMEs products using this platform, and has also sent support to communities in Depok.

The Minister of BUMN has a new expert staff: Ms Loto S Ginting — a smart lady working previously as a Director in the Ministry of Finance, managing sovereign bond. Now she advises the Minister of BUMN in the issues of Finance and MSME development. Our BUMN Law (UU 19/2003) mentions indeed that the strategic roles of the BUMNs include providing services for public, counterweight for private business, and support to develop small business and co-operatives. We approached her to discuss this first stage of MSME Ecosystem development program. She enthusiastically accepted the program. In addition, she improve the plan to add B2B transaction facility to the first stage of the program. The transaction data from B2B and B2C are further combined with data taken from e-Procurement systems of the BUMNs to make a dashboard to ensure the increase absorption of MSMEs products and services by the BUMNs. She calls this program PADI UMKM, stands for Pasar Digital UMKM / MSME Digital Market.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought the nation into an economic crisis. To survive, MSMEs and their employees need the public involvement. The Minister addressed to rush the MSME platform development. We work with our startup partners: Anchanto, Tees, Payfast, etc to enrich PADI UMKM platform with wider multichannel, logistics management, B2B capability, financing facility, etc. We need to finish it next month (June), so we can start the transaction on July. Eight BUMNs have been selected for pilot project. A new PMO has been assigned to finish this project.

It still felt like a miracle that everything was only in ideation last February, and all activities are carried out during lockdown periods, with all meetings held using vicon, and coordination using whatsapp. Let’s hope we can finish it on June, to support more prosperous small business in Indonesia in long term, or at least, for now, just to have them survive these crises..

IEEE R10 Professional Activity Mico

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.

Imagine | Focus | Action

Di dinding sasaran, tertulis mantra besar ini: Imagine, Focus, Action. Ini adalah satu bagian dari kerangka corporate culture Telkom Indonesia, yaitu Key Behaviours as the Practices to be The Winner. Di setiap pelatihan kepemimpinan, practices ini ditanamkan dalam bentuk praktek (hrrrr), i.e. berlatih menembak.

Ini menarik, karena di negara Indonesia yang amat sangat sipil ini, kesempatan warga untuk belajar menembak sangat kecil. Belajar menembak di Kampus Gegerkalong (Le Campus Guerlain) jadi bonus yang dinantikan di pelatihan-pelatihan kepemimpinan. Kans untuk jadi the winner pun merata, karena tak banyak yang pernah berlatih sebelumnya.

Dalam waktu singkat, para peserta dilatih memegang senapan, mengokang, mengintai sasaran, dan sisanya …. “Coba praktekkan yang tertulis di dinding itu. Bayangkan saat peluru mencapai sasaran. Atur posisi senapan tepat pada fokus. Pastikan tepat. Pastikan akurat. Begitu fokus sudah tepat, action! Tembak. Kalau tidak segera action, fokus akan lepas. Silakan dicoba.” Kira-kira cuma seperti itu teorinya.

Hasilnya? The winner!

Itu praktek yang harus dijalankan di dunia bisnis. Di samping hal-hal yang lebih fundamental, hal-hal praktis memerlukan kedisiplinan pemikiran dan tindakan. Tentukan target, pastikan ketepatan, dan segera ambil tindakan setelah dipastikan. Indecisiveness dan kelambatan bertindak adalah kunci kegagalan.

Lesson learnt lain? Saat menembak, hanya ada kita dan sasaran. Tidak ada hal lain. Tidak ada musuh, tidak ada kompetitor. Menembak memerlukan fokus pikiran ke diri sendiri dan ke target, bukan ke hal-hal lain. Keinginan, harapan, kekhawatiran, kebergegasan, semua jadi musuh. Menang tidak dapat dilakukan dengan mengalahkan orang lain — karena orang lain tidak ada, tidak boleh dipikirkan. Untuk menang, kita hanya bisa mengalahkan diri sendiri.

Sekali lagi, untuk menang, kita harus mengalahkan diri sendiri.

ASEAN ICT Awards 2015

ASEAN ICT Awards (URL: http://aseanictaward.com) – atau disingkat AICTA – adalah prakarsa dari TELMIN, yaitu kelompok kerja Menteri-Menteri Telekomunikasi dan IT di lingkungan ASEAN. Tujuannya adalah mempromosikan kolaborasi antara pemerintah, industri, dan komunitas untuk pengembangan inovasi IT di kawasan Asia Tenggara. Salah satu bentuknya adalah dengan kompetisi inovasi dan kreasi IT.

Tahun ini Telkom Group mengirimkan proposal belasan produk ke AICTA, baik dari inovasi internal maupun dari kolaborasi komunitas. Namun yang lolos ke babak final hanya QJournal, di kategori Digital Content.

Finalis harus mempresentasikan inovasinya di Ninh Binh, 15-17 September 2015. Ninh Binh adalah kota kecil di daerah Vietnam Utara, sekitar 100 km dari Hanoi. Di sana, tengah dilaksanakan juga Workshop TELMIN. Jadi, sekalian para expert di bidang ICT jadi juri babak final AICTA. QJournal memberangkatkan Bang Anto, Aip, dan aku sendiri.

Kami berangkat terbang dari Jakarta ke Hanoi, dan menghabiskan setengah hari untuk mengeksplorasi ibukota Vietnam ini. Hanoi masih bersuasana tenang dan agak tradisional. Sekilas melihat beberapa situs budaya di Hanoi, kami langsung diantar dengan bus ke Ninh Binh.

Ninh Binh benar-benar kota kecil. Kota ini diharapkan jadi sentra wisata baru di Vietnam, dengan kontur alam yang sungguh indah. Bukit-bukitnya mirip Halong Bay atau kawasan Cina Selatan. Sayangnya, Ninh Binh sedang masuk musim hujan bulan September itu. Jadi tak banyak yang bisa dilihat dan dikunjungi.

Final AICTA berlangsung mirip ujian kuliah, haha. Tidak ada semacam acara pembukaan. Finalis langsung diarahkan ke ruang-ruang presentasi. Presentasi dan tanya jawab dilakukan dengan para juri dari seluruh negara ASEAN di ruang tertutup. Dilarang bikin foto, kecuali bandel. Selesai presentasi, langsung acara bebas. Malam, ada gala dinner, welcome speech, dan tari-tarian. Mirip acara IEEE, haha. Para nerds yang gagap entertainment. Gue bangets.

Pemenang AICTA baru diumumkan resmi 2 bulan kemudian. QJournal memperoleh Silver Awards. Alhamdulill?h.

Karena Bang Anto sedang sangat sibuk, aku dan Aip mewakili Telkom di awarding night. Awarding dilaksanakan bersamaan dengan TELMIN Summit di Danang, Vietnam Tengah, pada 26 November 2015. Penyerahan award dilakukan secara bergantian oleh para Menteri ICT negara-negara ASEAN. Untuk kategori Digital Content, kebetulan award diserahkan oleh Menkominfo Indonesia, Chief Rudiantara.

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Selesai acara, kami menyempatkan diri berbincang dengan Chief Rudiantara, tentang pengembangan inovasi digital di Indonesia, dengan pendekatan komunitas.

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Selesai. Social visit dulu ke Hoi An, sebuah kawasan yang terjaga keaslian ekonomi dan budayanya, masih di kawasan Vietnam Tengah. Trus kami terbang kembali ke Jakarta via Ho Chi Minh City. Kunjungan yang sangat singkat.

AICTA Silver Award ini diserahkan kepada Telkom Indonesia sebagai pemilik inovasi dan produk. Telkom sendiri kemudian memberikan award para inovatornya dengan Penghargaan Inovasi Khusus yang diserahkan CEO Alex Sinaga dan Direktur HCM Herdy Harman di acara puncak HUT Telkom.

OK, cerita selesai.

Bali: APCC 2013

Alhamdulillah, we have finished APCC 2013. Just like TALE 2013 was somehow related to CYBERNETICSCOM 2012; then APCC 2013 was like a continuation of COMNETSAT 2012, when Prof. Byeong Gi Lee suggested the IEEE Comsoc Indonesia Chapter to host the APCC. This suggestion brought us to attend APCC 2012 in Jeju Island, where we won the bid to host the 2013 APCC. It was followed by a series of activities, including event organising and paper management. The IEEE Comsoc Indonesia Chapter appointed Dr. Wiseto Agung, an avid scientist an researcher from Telkom Indonesia, as the General Chair of the conference. Another strategic step taken is to arrange a partnership with ITTelkom (now the University of Telkom) as a co-organiser on both the technical issue and event organising. Originally, the number of submitted papers raised very-very slowly. A bit stressed, indeed. But a few days before the deadline, hundreds of paper came through the EDAS. From all over the world, those most educated human beings still chose to wait until the final second before submitting their papers. We collected a total of 309 papers. The Technical Program Committee was chaired by Dr Arifin Nugroho, with some vice chairs. The most active TPC vice chair was Dr. Rina Puji Astuti. Meanwhile I held the position of Chair at IEEE Indonesia Section, so I must share my resources (time etc) with many other IEEE activities. The Comsoc Chapter Chair (Satriyo Dharmanto) and the Past Chairs (Muhammad Ary Murti, Arief Hamdani) continued the struggle to succeed APCC 2013. With strict selection process, APCC 2013 passed only 163 papers (53 % of total incoming paper).

APCC, Asia – Pacific Conference on Communications, is a very prestigious regional conference in Asia Pacific, which is the region with the highest growth in the world of ICT technology. APCC is supported by the IEEE Communications Society, the KICS in Korea, the IEICE Communications Society in Japan, and the CIC in China. The names of the APCC Steering Committee members are also thrilling: the great figures who pioneered the world of ICT. APCC was first held in 1993 in Taejon, Korea. This year, the 19th APCC was held at the Bali Dynasty Resort in Kuta Beach, 29 to 31 August 2013. I had been in Bali since August 26 to attend TALE 2013. The other APCC organisers, from the IEEE Comsoc Indonesia Chapter, University of Telkom, and University of Udayana, has started preparing the event on 28 August.

Thursday, 29 August, the APCC 2013 was opened. With a lot of technical sponsors, some representatives had to deliver short speeches at that opening ceremony. But each one took only about 5 minutes. Opening speeches were delivered by Dr. Wiseto Agung (GC APCC 2013), Satriyo Dharmanto (Chair , IEEE Indonesia Comsoc Chapter), Dr. Ali Muayyadi (Telkom University representative), Prof. Zhen Yang (Chair of APCC Steering Committee; Chair of the CIC), Dr. Yoshihiro Ishikawa (Chair, IEICE Communications Society), Prof. You- Ze Cho (Vice Chair , KICS), and yours truly (Chair, IEEE Indonesia Section). IEEE Indonesia Section itself represented the IEEE as the technical activity endorser.

My speech just simply mentioned that Asia Pacific has great significance in the development of ICT. Besides the fact that this area is the center of the most competitive ICT industry, the residents are also among the most adaptive in embracing digital lifestyle in the new culture. Our cultural richness has supported the development of communication technologies, with the ability to understand and support the highly contextual interaction and communications. But the social problems in the region is also alarming. We open access to information technology, but we encourage consumerism. We facilitate the preservation of nature, but we also increase pollution. We help creating new jobs, but we also accelerate urbanisation. The engineers need to design and develop technologies that will address the various issues of humanity and the life of human being. And it was in this social context, that we chose this theme for APCC 2013: Smart Communications to Enhance the Quality of Life .

Keynote speeches were delivered successively by Prof. Byeong Gi Lee (Past President, IEEE Communications Society; Past President, KICS), Prof. Adnan Al-Anbuky (Director of Sensor Network and Smart Environment (SENSE) Research Lab, School of Engineering Auckland University of Technology, Auckland New Zealand), Mr. Indra Utoyo (CISP, Telkom Indonesia; Chairman, MIKTI), and Mr. Ichiro Inoue (Network Systems Planning & Innovation Project, NTT).

The next activities were typical for any international technical conference. Special speech sessions, tutorial sessions, parallel presentation sessions, poster sessions, etc. In the tutorial session, I chose to avoid mainstream discussions of mobile network etc, and chose instead the sensor network as one of the elements for the Internet of Things (IoT). The tutors happened to be a pair of professors from Coventry University. This is a modern university (compared to classical universities) that gained a lot of appreciation and awards everywhere this year. Another regular event was the Gala Dinner, with its semi-formal atmosphere, but also with its permission for a laugh-out-loud sessions. Here the Paper Awards were also presented by the APCC Steering Committee .

The last day, I spent my time to visit the poster sessions. Out of curiosity, I seriously talked to all presenters about the posters presented. It was a way to learn new things while expanding networks. Conversations in the poster session could be deeper and more interesting than the presentation session where time is very limited.

I recognised that it was a hard work for the organisers. In the review session on Saturday afternoon, I said that even though the organisers in any events always feel that there are a lot of unforgivable shortcomings, but the APCC Steering Committee and the participants, had personally conveyed their appreciations and positive feedbacks. Good job! The IEEE, Unitel, Udayana University, and all. Great job! This year there will be many other events of the IEEE Indonesia Section. Hopefully all will provide supports as it was for the APCC . Thanks, all.