Opportunities Exist in Innovation Ecosystem

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

Visitors take pictures with their cell phone cameras during the first sunrise of 2020 in Penanjakan 1 Bromo Tengger Semeru region, Tosari district, Pasuruan regency, East Java, on Wednesday (1/1/2019). Even though many visitors did not capture the perfect sunrise moment, they were treated to the beautiful view of Mount Bromo with its sea of sand. Tourists began arriving at the location to see the sunrise at 3 a.m.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Indonesians daring to face risks in this changing world in order to grab opportunities in the Industry 4.0 transitional era have emerged in different scopes and scales. In order for Indonesia to be able to reap benefits from changes in the 4.0 era, an ecosystem that enables the growth of innovative, creative and adaptive figures must be nurtured.

In Austria, Yusak Susilo, 43, is deep in research on the digitalization and automation of transportation systems. In Bandung, Hokky Situngkir, 41, is building the Bandung Fei Institute (BFI), which produces batik physics, among other creations. Meanwhile, Wafa Taftazani, 28, pioneers the Modal Rakyat Indonesia peer-to-peer lending that reaches out to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across Indonesia.

Bali-based housewife Indria Trisni Puspita, 42, develops digital marketing and provides training for local women. Hong Kong-based Indonesian migrant worker Rofingatun Nissa, 27, develops a website from, which she learned how to do during coding training, to sell woven fabric. Now she has five workers.

These are just a handful of examples of people who are innovating in the transition era between Industry 3.0 and Industry 4.0. In the future, challenges will be bigger. Industry 4.0 is more than just about digitalization and the internet (Industry 3.0). The human workforce’s role will diminish in certain jobs in line with automation and the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI).

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO

Crafts are produced for the export market at CV Tashinda Putraprima in Kasihan district, Bantul, Yogyakarta, in November (22/11/2019). The micro, small and medium business sector (MSME) is one of three new economic sources, besides the sharia economy and economy digital, driven by its growth to strengthen national economic resilience.

Anticipatory innovation

Yusak Susilo, a researcher and professor at Austria’s University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, creates MEILI, a free and open source data collector application for smartphones. The software is in use in major world cities,

including Stockholm (Sweden), Geneva (Switzerland), Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Jakarta to help stakeholders determine transportation policies.

He believes that innovations must not only solve existing problems but also produce something new to anticipate things in the future.

Among the benefits of working in Europe, he said, was the awareness that everyone in the country should learn and collaborate and that no one person was more important than any other. The government, academics and industry work closely with one another.

“Without this triple helix integration, there will be no innovation,” said the man, who had also served as professor of transportation at Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology, in an e-mail in early January 2020.

In a separate field, Hokky Situngkir conducts inter-department research through the BFI, such as computational sociology, cognitive science and dynamic system modeling that produces hundreds of works. For Hokky, Industry 4.0 must be used to improve the dignity of Indonesians. This requires a society that improves itself through knowledge, skills and productive creativity.

Using digital technology, Wafa Taftazani and his colleagues distribute productive funding of up to Rp 120 million (US$8,613.08) to thousands of SMEs across Indonesia that have difficult access to conventional banking. They use artificial intelligence to analyze potential micro-lenders’ credit scores as part of risk management.

Wafa said that, whatever the impacts of Industry 4.0 might be, the ability to solve problems, think critically, manage stakeholders, be creative and listen and understand would become increasingly relevant. He encouraged everyone to hone these skills along with their technical ones.

Based on her personal experience, Rofingatun Nissa said that many were afraid to understand the digital world that serves as the foundation for Industry 4.0 as they believed it to be complicated. This, despite that anyone can reap benefits in the digital era. Indria Trisni Puspita, who builds a medium for women to learn digital marketing, said that the digital world improved women’s potential to boost their families’ economic situations.

KOMPAS/PRIYOMBODO

Online motorcycle taxi drivers queue to buy food for customers ordered through an application in Tebet, South Jakarta, in November (2/11/2019). According to the Communications and Information Technology Ministry, the number of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that have come online reached 9.62 million in 2017 and 2018.

“To understand the digital world, you can learn anywhere and many are willing to share their experience. The key is your willingness to learn,” she said.

To facilitate innovation, Rumah Perubahan (House of Change) founder Rhenald Kasali said that the government, industry and academics should collaboratively create an innovation-friendly ecosystem. Various needs must be addressed, such as educational institutions’ perspectives for developing an innovative mindset and boosting human resources with digital talents. Furthermore, the business climate and regulations must support startups and industries must give a lot of attention to research, development and innovation.

California-based Inadata Consulting president Elwin Tobing said the government should not believe that it would be the sole solution and change maker. The government must see itself as a facilitator for change. This is necessary so that the government will encourage private sector development.

Furthermore, the former economics lecturer at Azusa Pacific University in California also said that there should be a common mindset between the older generation in the government and business sector and the younger generation that brings about innovation.

“The older and younger generations must have the same principle, namely that change, which is fundamentally for efficiency, is inevitable and must be responded to positively,” Elwin said. (SAN/INK/REK/MZW)