The Bestari Lecture for the Nation, which is the 6th series of all the same activities takes the theme of “Downstreaming Local Wisdom and Natural Resources of North Sumatra,” and was opened by the Rector of USU, Dr. Muryanto Amin, S.Sos., M.Si. Previously the activity that has been taking place since February 2021 was initiated by the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) DGB (board of professor) as the host, followed by DGB IPB as the host in March, DGB UGM in April, DGB UI in May and DGB UPI in June 2021.

The three speakers who were presented at the forum were Prof. Dr. Roberth Sibarani, MS, with the topic entitled “Local Wisdom as a Source of Cultural Creativity for the Creation of Value-Added Products”, Prof. Dr. Syafruddin Ilyas, M.Biomed, with the topic of “Ihan Batak, One of the Hidden Pearls of North Sumatra, that is Important to Explore”, and Prof.Dr. Basuki Wiryosentono, MS, conveyed the theme of “USU’s Patent Commercialization and Innovation Based on Appropriate Technology and Natural Resources.” The Bestari Lecture for the Nation Series was attended by the Chair of the MDGB PTNBH Prof. Dr. Karim Suryadi, M.Si., the Chair of the DGB USU Prof Dr. dr. Gontar Alamsyah Siregar, Sp.PD KGEH, the leaders and secretaries of the Board of Professors and the Board of Professors from 12 PTNBH throughout Indonesia.

Head of PTNBH MDGB Prof. Dr. Karim Suryadi, M.Si in his remarks, among others, expressed his gratitude to USU’s DGB for organizing the event well. He said, in the midst of a climate full of pollutants, hopefully this nation’s Bestari lecture series is able to continue to breathe the pure air of a university, something that become the nucleus and forerunner of the birth of a university, namely the spirit to carry the truth, act in the right ways and think in accordance to authentic and testable facts.

“Align with the theme held in this activity; returning to local wisdom is actually the DNA of university progress. This is proven in the research published in the book The Innovative University says that the DNA of the university progress lies in the proximity of the university, the understanding of the university, the strength of itself and the context that surrounds it. University progress can be achieved through various ways, however the only thing that must be avoid is being the follower of other universities,” said Prof. Dr. Karim Suryadi.

Meanwhile, the Chair of the USU Board of Professors, Prof. Dr. dr. Gontar Alamsyah Siregar, Sp.PD KGEH stated that USU’s DGB was honored to be appointed as the committee of the 6th Bestari Lecture Series. The selection of the theme was based on 2 (two) important documents related to USU currently. The first is the mandate of the statute which demands academic excellence as a barometer of scientific progress. Second, there is a demand for the USU Strategic Plan for the period of 2020-2014 as an international standard university characterized by local excellence. In both documents it is very clear that academic excellence is demanded with local characteristics of North Sumatra.

“Over the last 5 years Indonesia has shown a very encouraging acceleration in the number of scientific works. In 2015 Indonesia was under Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia in term of the number of reputable international scientific publications. As the result of a good acceleration Indonesia managed to pass Thailand in 2017, passed Singapore in 2018 and finally passed Malaysia which was the largest in ASEAN since 2019. The increase in scientific work is also supported by the excellence performance of PTN BH,” he said.

Prof. Gontar added, based on the data displayed by SINTA, there were 50,608 reputable scientific works produced by Indonesia in 2020. From this number, 23,573 titles (46/6%) were contributed by PTN BH that participated in the Bestari Lecture Series. This is a very significant contribution for Indonesia.

“Although it has shown an increase in term of the numbers, Indonesia must continue improve the quality of its research outputs. Aside of the quality of scientific work that must be considered, the benefit of research results for the community or what is known as the downstreaming of research results must also be a concern,” he said.

The Rector of USU, Dr. Muryanto Amin, S.Sos., M.Si., in his remarks which also opening the event said that Indonesia is a multicultural country with a variety of cultures, customs and local contents which is a reliable force. Unfortunately, innovation carried out by the academics of this country to raise local content or local wisdom so that they have economic value are still not optimal and have yet not developed. From the few, the seriousness to process and manage natural resources and local wisdom has not run optimal pursuant to the desired hope or expectation due to encountering various obstacles in the field and the support provided for these interests have not been maximized.

“The academics require the industrial world support to carry out downstream products so that they have economic value and social benefits for the general public. The triple helix synergy (universities, government and industry) is a great force that is able to overcome the pandemic obstacles from so many local wisdoms that exist in the community and hone them into products that are able to become new sources of income and open new job opportunities for the wider community,” the Rector of USU said.

The power of local wisdom, he continued, can be managed by universities using the edu-tech platform. Apart from being the learning medium for students and the general public, downstream local wisdom products are able to penetrate the market place by using technology as the core of edu-tech and assisting government in increasing the acceleration of economic growth which during the pandemic tends to slow down

Apart from being the learning medium for students and the general public, downstream local wisdom products are able to penetrate the market place by using technology as the core of edu-tech and assisting government in increasing the acceleration of economic growth which during the pandemic tends to slow down

“Through strengthening our local wisdom, universities will provide benefits in accelerating the education ecosystem, namely socio, techno, entrepreneur. As a new way for the progress and the human civilization in a new world, higher education is one of the pillars that support the continued strength of local wisdom in the community, to thwart the brunt of the wave of modernization that offers practical, pragmatic and consumptive lifestyle. We all certainly do not want local wisdom that has grown and developed for a long time in the community to only be left as an heirloom that we inherit from our ancestors, we take care only for maintaining its existence, without making any efforts to harmonize it with the needs that exist in the present,” Dr. Muryanto said.

Local wisdom should actually be used as a new force that is raised in response to the modern world face. Local wisdom is an opportunity to build distinctiveness and characters in all fields, which are adjusted to the needs and acceleration of modernization through technology utilization.

“Professors have a critical role as a leading sector to stimulate or strengthen local wisdom that is economical to become a market place product. The utilization include, among others, as learning media for students and general public, as well as having economic value that generates new socio-entrepreneur potential for students and community. Nowadays, we can no longer shut ourselves exclusively in academics pursuits and turn a blind eye towards the waves of difficulties that exist in society. Higher education institution currently must work for humanity and the progress of the nation. Therefore, Covid-19 pandemic is the right momentum for the academics to get down to the community and implement all capabilities and strengths in finding new economic sources that can be developed,” he concluded. (RJ/©ULC)

Author: Renny Julia Harahap - PR

Interviewee: - - -

Photographer: Humas - PR