UNAIR NEWS – The rapid pace of technological development also influences the changing patterns of socio-cultural society. Youth, especially students of the current era, are expected to be more active in responding to these changes.
Therefore, in collaboration with Universitas Airlangga’s Ambassador, Student Executive Board (BEM) KM 2017, Universitas Airlangga held an international seminar entitled ASEAN + 3 Youth Conference and Cultural Program 2017, Tuesday, November 21 in AMERTA Hall UNAIR Management Office Building Campus C. Activities attended by students from inside and outside the country and ASEAN region, was titled ” Sustainable Developments in Digital Era on ASEAN + 3 Region “.
“We chose this theme as an implementation of SDN (Sustainable Developments in Digital, ed) program of United Nations. Because, we know that Indonesia is incorporated there. And, one of its duties is to realize the program, “said Head of the Committee Dani Gadang Puja Bimantara, 2016 Political Science student.
As speakers, there were Senior Programme Officer ASEAN University Network (AUN) Naparat Phirawattanakul; Echelon 2 Official from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM). Ir. Dadan Kusdiana, M.Sc .; Technical Advisor for Development Financing Nations Program Dr. Mohamad Ikhsan Modjo; and Secretary of Surabaya City Ir. Hendro Gunawan. Citra Hennida S.IP., MA became the moderator of the event.
In the first presentation, Dadan explained about the current state of energy in Indonesia, the progress of government’s target and its comparison with global energy conditions.
“The focus is an even distribution of electrical energy availability for people. For example with the construction of Sidrap PLTB (Wind Power Plant, ed) in Sulawesi, ” he stated. Related to the public response on the expensive price of Indonesian fuel, according to him, the fact was got mixed.
“To be honest (Fuel Price, ed) is cheaper in Indonesia than Thailand, Singapore, or Malaysia,” added Dandan.
Meanwhile, Naparat as the second speaker explained the challenges of education and some issues in universities of the world, especially ASEAN. One of them is the lack of skilled and educated workforce.
“India has millions of graduates, but only a few are worthy of being hired,” he said as quoted by The Wall Street Journal, Asia Education. “One-fifth of the graduates, have no job after college,” added Naparat as quoted from The Telegraph .
On the other hand, Executive Director of Airlangga Global Engagement (AGE) Prof. Ni Nyoman Tri Puspaningsih representing UNAIR deeply appreciated the implementation of the international event . She expected the students, especially UNAIR’s, to be creative and innovative in the global world.
“That’s the future challenge we face together. Therefore, UNAIR as an educational institution will often hold a similar event as a place to hone soft skills of students. So, the graduates can be more ready to face the digital era, “he explained.
The seminar was attended by 300 participants. They were from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Universitas Brawijaya (UB), Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS), and Widya Mandala University (UMW), as well as from Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Nepal, South Korea, France, Pakistan, Germany, and Togo.
“This is a very important sharing event in the era of industrial revolution 4.0 and education 4.0 among students across countries,” said Nyoman. (*)
Author: Ivo Hajar
Editor: Feri Fenoria
