Prof. Nur Aini Rakhmawati MScEng PhD from the ITS Information Systems Department delivering her scientific oration during the ITS Professorial Inauguration procession

ITS Campus, ITS News – Easy access to halal product information in Indonesia is crucial. This reason sparked the 187th Professor of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Prof. Nur Aini Rakhmawati MScEng PhD, to create a centralized database to integrate halal certification data from various institutions.

The ITS Department of Information Systems (DSI) professor said that Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world. However, sometimes Indonesian people find it hard to identify whether the food composition is halal or haram. Often, a product is called halal without clearly knowing its composition. “Because of that, I think Indonesia needs to take a role as the world halal data center,” she said.

The professor, who is familiarly called Iin, started her research in the big data technology field in 2015. Focusing on developing graph technology, especially for halal product databases, it collects product composition data from various halal certification bodies and websites. “From the data collected, we look for similarities. What is the halal composition like,” explained the mother of two children.

Prof. Nur Aini Rakhmawati MScEng PhD (fifth from top left) and students involved in developing graph technology from the Data Acquisition and Information Dissemination Laboratory, ITS Information Systems Department

Furthermore, explained Iin, the data that has been collected will be linked to Linked Open Data (LOD) technology with various algorithms. LOD is a way to connect data from diverse sources, so all data are accessible simultaneously. This existing data is processed using a knowledge graph, a data structure consisting of nodes and edges. “Nodes represent the objects, while edges are the relations of each object,” explained Iin.

The linked Halal LOD is also combined with data from the Halal Product Guarantee Organizing Agency (BPJH). Now, the database containing a list of halal products and their certification is accessible by the general community via the page http://halal.addi.is.its.ac.id/. “This research will continue and the halal product data on the website will also continue to be updated,” added the Deputy Head of the ITS Center for Halal Studies.

Halal product database website interface that collects product composition data from various halal certification bodies and websites

This woman, born in 1982, added that her research on big data science is not limited to the scope of halal product databases, but also extends to fields such as blockchain. For example, a data storage system that is centralized and has high security.

Together with her research colleagues at the DSI ITS Data Acquisition and Information Dissemination Laboratory, this Pasuruan-born woman hopes to continue developing graph technology. For her, the case of halal products is unique and potential research in Indonesia. “We should be proud. “Halal is Indonesia’s advantage, and with ongoing research, we can be relied on in this field,” she assured.

Prof Nur Aini Rakhmawati MScEng PhD (right) inaugurated as ITS’s 187th Professor

The professor inaugurated on November 2 also hopes that her database of halal product standards can be used by the worldwide community. So that when traveling anywhere, people can easily find out whether the food content in a country is halal or not. “At least we can identify it easily through existing composition relationships,” she concluded. (ITS Public Relations)

Reporter: Fathia Rahmanisa
Translator: Hanifah Inayah