ITS Campus, ITS News – Following the series of 61st Dies Natalis events, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) together with Nokia and Indosat Ooredoo launched the ITS 5G Experience Center at the Robotics Center Building located at the ITS Science Technopark (STP) Areas, Thursday (16/9). Besides being the first in Indonesia, ITS is also the first campus to have the 5G Experience Center.

Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, who attended the event, directly expressed his support for developing 5G technology. Sandiaga hopes that this innovation can open up new job opportunities. “We must balance the creation of technology with equity in all regions of Indonesia,” he said in his speech.

The establishment of the ITS 5G Experience Center also received support from the Indonesian Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Menristekdikti) Nadiem Anwar Makarim, who also gave a virtual speech via video. “With the presence of this technology, the development of education in Indonesia can be more advanced and support the process of independent learning,” said Nadiem.

The Governor of East Java, Khofifah Indar Parawansa, was also present, directly appreciating the development of this technology and believed that this innovation was able to improve the welfare of the community. The Finnish Ambassador to Indonesia, Jari Sinkari, and the Director-General of Postal and Information Technology Resources at the Ministry of Communication and Information (Kemenkominfo), Dr. Ir Ismail MT, also attended the launch.

On the same occasion, ITS Rector Prof. Dr. Ir Mochamad Ashari MEng, in his speech, hoped that with the emergence of innovations, we could fully utilize them for humanity. “The opening of this new 5G Experience Center is an extraordinary achievement for ITS and the City of Surabaya. Hopefully, ITS can become a center of humanity by ITS’ tagline this year, Advancing Humanity,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ITS Robotics Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Area Manager as well as the Person in Charge (PIC) of the 5G Experience Center development program at ITS Dr. Ir Endroyono DEA explained, this area is a place to develop prospective digital transformation actors and become a center for technological innovation, development, and application of ICT in the future 5G era.

The facility will focus on providing education, development, and testing capabilities in the 5G field to help strengthen local digital talent, accelerate local 5G content and use cases, and promote economic growth by leveraging the advantages of 5G technology.

This innovation center is equipped with a vehicle for the introduction of 5G technology (center of knowledge), a place for application development and use cases for students and startups fostered by ITS (center of creativity), as well as complimentary education, training, and certification processes (center of excellence).

In addition to the inauguration of the ITS 5G Experience Center, this collaboration between universities and the Business and Industrial World (DUDI) also gave birth to three signings of cooperation. These are the development of a virtual technopark, a Memorandum of Action (MoA) joint development of the Internet of Things (IoT) service, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the further development of the 5G Experience Center.

The sustainability of the 5G Experience Center innovation is marked by a project titled Next Generation ICT Innovation Center (NG-ICT-IT). This project is intended as an innovation center in the telecommunications sector, starting from 5G, 6G to various new technologies, including autonomous vehicles. Together with Oulu University, Nokia, and Indosat Ooredoo, ITS continues to develop the 5G network as a solution for implementing autonomous driving.

The 5G Experience Center will be a catalyst for developing the 5G ecosystem in Indonesia with the formation of the 5-IONE Forum (5G – Indonesia Institution of Innovation ITS Indosat Oulu Nokia Ecosystem). The 5-IONE Forum that was formed has succeeded in creating two pilot programs in East Java to create a 5G use case with a blueprint for conceptualizing and developing Smart City & Smart Corridor for the city of Surabaya & Jember Regency.

The creation of the 5-IONE program will make a positive contribution to the development of the younger generation and ITS students in providing access to global research and development facilities and communities, providing certification programs to become authorized professional 5G experts, as well as providing channels for career development and international entrepreneurship.

At the event that coincided with the launch of commercial 5G services in Surabaya by Indosat Ooredoo, several high-ranking officials from Indosat Ooredoo and Nokia were also present. Indosat Ooredoo Director and Chief Operating Officer Vikram Sinha, Nokia Indonesia President Director KP Goh, representatives from the Surabaya City Government and Jember Regency Government, and several other officials. (nadh/ITS Public Relations)

Reporter: Frecia Elrivia Mardianto