Handing over of souvenirs by ITS Rector Prof Dr. Ir Mochamad Ashari MEng (second from right) to Blora Regent H Arief Rohman SIP MSi (second from left) after signing the MoU

ITS Campus, ITS News – Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) continues to implement the Tri Dharma Perguruan Tinggi which includes education and teaching, research and development, and community service. Therefore, ITS signed a memorandum of understanding or Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Blora Regency Government (Pemkab) to increase the potential of resources in Blora Regency, Friday (21/1).

Blora Regency Bupati H Arief Rohman SIP MSi said that there is a lot of potential in Blora, including teak, oil and gas, rice plants, and so on. Not only that, Blora has a livestock population commodity, namely cows. “Our livestock population is the largest population in Central Java and the second largest at the national level,” he said proudly.

However, Arief revealed that Blora is still far from prosperous. This happens because there are still many processing industries that do not exist in Blora, such as the beef processing industry, rice processing, and so on. Poverty in Blora is also quite high. “Poverty in Blora has reached the 22nd (national) rank, which is 12.39 percent. Because of this, Blora is in the red zone,” he explained.

Responding to these problems, the Blora Regency Government proposed several programs that could be carried out with other institutions, such as One Village, Two Bachelors, Gender Responsive Blora, Dolan Blora, and several other programs.

(from right) ITS Vice Rector IV Bambang Pramujati ST MScEng PhD, ITS Rector Prof Dr Ir Mochamad Ashari MEng, Blora Regent H Arief Rohman SIP MSi, and Blora Regency Secretary Komang Gede Irawadi SE

Meanwhile, ITS Rector Prof. Dr. Ir Mochamad Ashari MEng responded that the entire ITS academic community was ready to assist in developing Blora regional resources. “ITS is not only involved in the development of robotics, but we also help in city rebranding, tourism development, and many more,” explained the rector who is called Ashari.

In the discussion session moderated by the Dean of the ITS Faculty of Marine Technology (FTK) Dr Eng Trika Pitana ST MSc, there were many proposed forms of collaboration given by various ITS educators. Among other things, the city rebranding effort proposed by ITS Director of Business Cooperation and Management (DKPU) Tri Joko Wahyu Adi ST MT PhD, digital system management proposed by ITS Vice Rector III Ir Mas Agus Mardyanto ME PhD, and several other proposals.

Not only in the field of development, the Head of the Sub-directorate (Kasubdit) of ITS Academic Cooperation, Nur Syahroni ST MT PhD, said that ITS will provide a partnership path for Blora students who want to pursue further education at ITS. Not only that, but ITS also provides another route, namely the engineer profession path for engineering graduates and engineers. “We also provide an Executive Distance Learning (PJJ) program for postgraduate colleagues who are busy at work,” he explained.

The photo of ITS Executive Board and the Blora Regency Government of Central Java at the ITS Rectorate Building

In the end, Arief hopes that the ITS academic community can support the programs proposed by the Blora Regency Government. “We hope that ITS can help Blora Regency to continue to develop with its innovations from students and lecturers,” said Arief hopefully. (ITS PR)

Reporter: Bima Surya Samudra