Giving souvenirs from Sidoarjo Regent Ahmad Muhdlor Ali SIP (left) to ITS Chancellor Prof. Dr. Ir Mochamad Ashari MEng

ITS Campus, ITS News –As a form of implementation of the Tridarma of higher education, the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) always pays attention to development in every region in Indonesia. One of the fundamental forms is shown by ITS by holding an audience with the Regent of Sidoarjo at the Sidoarjo Regency Hall, Tuesday (23/3).

Sidoarjo Regent, Ahmad Muhdlor Ali SIP explained that the Sidoarjo Regency Government (Pemkab) currently wants him to apply the Penta helix development concept. This means that elements of government, society, academics, investors, and the mass media need to play an active role in regional development.

According to him, community development in Sidoarjo Regency has been excellent. However, it is different in terms of infrastructure development which is felt to be lacking. So, the regent, who is familiarly called Gus Muhdlor has a strong desire to join forces with ITS in building a better area.

Sidoarjo Regent Ahmad Muhdlor Ali SIP (left) during a dialogue about the regional development of Sidoarjo Regency with the ITS leadership

It is undeniable that many experts at ITS are deemed capable of working together in various development fields. Such as providing consultation, assistance, or multiple inputs related to the construction of roads, buildings, information technology, smart cities, and so on.

Moreover, according to Gus Mudhlor, eight officials in the Sidoarjo Regency will soon retire in the engineering department. This resulted in some sub-districts not having technical experts, even though one of the tasks was to build roads related to engineering. “So that ITS engineering is okay, we hope it can contribute and cooperate with the Sidoarjo Regency Government,” he said hopefully.

Besides, Gus Muhdlor also hopes that ITS can provide 10,000 scholarships to underprivileged students in Sidoarjo to get higher education. This could be a good investment in Human Resources (HR) for local governments in the next few years.

Audience atmosphere between Sidoarjo Regency Government officials and ITS leaders at the Sidoarjo Regency Hall

Finally, Gus Mudhlor expressed his deepest gratitude to ITS for paying more attention to regional development, especially in Sidoarjo Regency. “ITS is the first campus to pay more attention to the development of Sidoarjo Regency,” said the regent who just took office.

Meanwhile, ITS Chancellor Prof. Dr. Ir Mochamad Ashari MEng said that ITS is willing to prepare whatever is needed to develop Sidoarjo Regency. According to the chancellor, who is familiarly called Ashari, ITS has also collaborated with the Sidoarjo Regency Government.

This man, who also comes from Wonoayu, Sidoarjo explained that many ITS programs could be carried out together with the Sidoarjo Regency Government. Such as the Community Service program (Abmas), Merdeka Learning Campus Merdeka (MBKM), and so on.

Ashari asked if many lecturers and students are doing Community Service in several villages in Sidoarjo Regency. Previously, ITS had also distributed hand sanitizer and face shield assistance to various Puskesmas in Sidoarjo. “Currently, we also carry 300 liters of hand sanitizer which we donate to the Puskesmas in Sidoarjo,” he said.

Handover of 300 liters of hand sanitizer from ITS to the Puskesmas in Sidoarjo Regency

In terms of new student admissions scholarships, ITS currently has a partnership program followed by several agencies that have collaborated with ITS. “Several local governments in Indonesia also have this scholarship cooperation,” he said.

The ITS Professor of Electrical Engineering stated that this audience was a good step. “The hope is that what is needed by the Sidoarjo Regency Government, ITS will make full efforts to help,” he said convincingly. (ITS Public Relations)

Reporter: Sofyan Abidin

The ITS team with several ITS students from Sidoarjo also attended the audience between ITS and the Sidoarjo Regency Government.