IEEE Leadership Summit: Engineering in COVID-19: Second and Third Webinar: A Collaboration of the IEEE Indonesia Section, IEEE Region 10, and the IEEE Singapore Office

By Ewell Tan - Project Manager, IEEE Asia-Pacific Limited, Singapore

The IEEE Leadership Summit: Engineering in COVID-19 webinar was successfully concluded in three series with different highlights addressing the current global challenges and issues:

  • The first webinar on 2 May highlighted “When the most important technology is teamwork” (published in the R10 Newsletter, July issue, page 53).

  • The second webinar on 20 June focused on “Preparing and Shaping New Societies”.

  • Third webinar on 25 July focused on “Innovation and its challenges in the new world environment”.

This webinar series is a collaboration between the IEEE Indonesia Section, IEEE Region 10, and the IEEE Singapore office, which has successfully attracted over 600 participants in the Asia-Pacific region.

Under the leadership of the organizing committee chair, Agnes Irwanti, this webinar series was honored by the participation of prominent keynote speakers, including Prof. Bambang Brodjonegoro, Minister of Research and Technology, National Research and Innovation Agency Indonesia; Dr. Ir. Ismail MT from the Indonesia Ministry of Communications and Informatics; and Dr. Laksana Tri Handoko, the Head of the Indonesia Institute of Sciences, Indonesia Governmental Authority for Science and Research.

The organizing committee took pride to invite distinguished speakers, including IEEE MGA Vice-President, Prof. Kukjin Chun; IEEE Region 10 Director, Prof. Akinori Nishihara; Indonesia Former Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Dr. Yanuar Nugroho; CEO of AllThingsConnected, Mr. C. K. Vishwakarma; Past IEEE R10 Young Professionals Coordinator, Mr. Nivas Ravichandran; IEEE R10 Educational Activities Committee Chair, Prof. Lance Chun Che Fung; the Founder of World Toilet Organization and BOP HUB, Prof. Jack Sim; and the Director of Digital Business PT Telkom Indonesia, Mr. Muhamad Fajrin Rasyid. All of these speakers shared their insightful perspectives about the current world challenges and offered the participants some food for thought about the new world environment in the second and third webinar.

The webinar series also addressed the complexity of global and social structures, accompanied by innumerable uncertainties in terms of health, security, policies, communication and information. Thus, a strong social collaboration between government agencies, corporations, industries, academia, researchers and the people are the most in need to shape the new societies.

It is undeniable that with the powerful capability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in solving problems, creating and growing the economy, boosting productivity and improving our quality of life, AI is expected to be the key driver behind the fourth industrial revolution and at the forefront of the ever-changing world we live in. Nevertheless, we will have to consider ethics as part of the essential elements in the design and application process.

At the heart of this webinar, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced every one of us to reorganize, rethink and reshape our life and future. lLet us gear up to tackle the challenges and dedicate human assets as the most important factor to transform into a more sustainable mode. Through the spirit of collaboration and mutual respect, we shall combat the challenges and emerge stronger.

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