Nadiem Makarim Opens The Secret Of Success In Synergy, Innovation, And Technology In Rekatalk 2023

Second edition of the RekaTalks (photo: ist)

Kedaireka is again holding a second edition of the RekaTalks as part of the Kedaireka Ecosystem that focuses on sharing inspiration and innovation ideas, on Monday 14 August 2023 at The Tribrata Darmawangsa, South Jakarta. The event was motivated by a mission to share innovative inspirations and ideas, adopting talk shows format that facilitates various interesting discussions about innovation collaboration opportunities between universities and industry.

Carrying the theme Creative Innovation Through Technology for Sustainable Development. RekaTalks 2023 has discussed a lot about the importance of continuing to promote innovation collaboration and take advantage of the potential for technological advances in creating innovative solutions for various challenges and encouraging sustainable social-economic growth in Indonesia.

"Forming synergies in utilizing technological developments for sustainable development are two very important phases in supporting sustainable economic growth and national strategic programs. Harmony between academic and industrial institutions must continue to be optimized," said the Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, Nadiem Anwar Makarim.

The collaboration must involve a continuous evaluation process and openness of various ideas and insights from multi-stakeholders from various fields. "This is why we created the Kedaireka platform and its ecosystem, where events like RekaTalks this time have a very important role in the process," he said.

With nearly 1,000 participants present, RekaTalks this time was divided into three very interesting discussion sessions: The first session discussed the Breaking the Barrier: Making Real Impact, Enhancing Future Collaboration, the second session raised the topic of Expert Insight: Key Recipe to Face Future Technology, while the last session talked about Synergy for Progress: Fostering Innovation through Industry-University Partnerships.

The RekaTalks program this time was specifically designed to provide a wider perspective to academics and industry players on how to maintain synergy and collaboration to achieve sustainable social impacts optimally.

At this RekaTalks event, Minister Nadiem then revealed that to achieve this optimal impact, the Ministry of Education and Culture, Research and Technology through Kedaireka, had presented various collaborative concepts so that synergy could occur, one of which was the Innovation Fund.

"To really achieve significant impacts for society, innovation and collaboration must be inseparable. Therefore, we have offered various concepts and collaboration schemes between universities and industry over the past few years through activities in the Kedaireka Ecosystem, from the Matching Fund to the latest concept of Innovation Fund, which shows the government's agility to be able to at the same time play a role as a catalyst and also a facilitator," explained Nadiem.

"For industries and academic institutions seeking flexibility, Innovation Fund offers collaboration options where funding and administrative mechanisms are determined through agreements between the two parties. However, if catalytic funding from the government is still needed, the Matching Fund program will remain available," continued Nadiem.

The leading speakers who attended the 2023 RekaTalks included not only Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim, but also featured a series of other inspirational figures such as the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno. There are also Chancellors of IPB University, Arif Satria and Chancellor of the Yogyakarta UNU, Widya Priyahita.

From the industry, Northstar Group Director Henky Prihatta and Managing Director Accenture were also present, Retno Kusumawati.

Plt. Director General of Higher Education, Research, and Technology of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, Prof. Nizam highlighted that RekaTalks, as part of the Kedaireka Ecosystem, aims to provide space for the academic world to interact with industrial practitioners, collaborate, and produce innovative solutions for industrial and community challenges.

"Through this event, we hope to encourage a greater innovative collaboration between the academic and industrial world, which will ultimately accelerate the commercialization of technology in the industry and contribute to the nation's progress," concluded Nizam.