Tag: indonesia

[RECAP] UNLEASH Innovation Lab 2018

Posted on | by David Soukhasing | Leave a Comment on [RECAP] UNLEASH Innovation Lab 2018

UNLEASH Innovation lab is a global non-profit initiative that brings together 1000+ passionate young talents, experts and facilitators from all around the world to collaborate on ideas and solutions for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNLEASH was first held in August in Denmark in 2017. This year the UNLEASH Innovation Lab was held in Singapore from May 30, 2018 to June 6, 2018. It featured 1000 carefully selected talents from 100+ countries and diverse backgrounds, who participated in 8 days of intense ideation to unlock the power of collaboration and human innovation to provide solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. I was fortunate enough to be selected from a pool of more than 7,000 applicants to attend and participate in the UNLEASH Innovation Lab in Singapore this year.

Inspiring and thought-provoking speeches from experts and leaders such as President of Singapore Halimah Yacob, former President of Timor Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta, Academy Award winning actor Forest Whitaker and the social humanoid robot, Sophia, were some of the highlights of this year’s event.

This year, UNLEASH focused on 8 SDGs: Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well Being, Quality Education, Clean Water and Sanitation, Affordable and Clean Energy, Responsible Supply Chain and Production, Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Climate Action. The participants, called Unleash talents, were divided among these 8 categories. In a team consisting of amazing 6 individuals, I worked on SDG 12, Responsible Supply Chain and Production, and developed a solution to tackle the problem of food waste by supermarkets at the consumer level. My team created ‘Second Life Shelves’, an offline and online platform that enables supermarkets to connect with consumers to sell the food that is approaching the specified date (use by, sell by or best before) using a dynamic pricing algorithm.

During the eight-days program, the teams followed a structured innovation process facilitated by content and business experts to co-create innovative ideas and solutions for the designated SDGs. UNLEASH’s innovation process consists of five steps: problem framing, ideation, prototyping, testing and implementation. The teams were carefully formulated to ensure diversity in terms of experience and strengths. Many people might argue that innovation and ideation cannot be structured via pre-determined activities and steps, however, UNLEASH believes that with the help of a structured set of activities and design thinking, teams can co-create and innovate to develop viable solutions for a variety of problems.

Although my team did not win awards for the solution that we developed, I brought home invaluable experiences and gained immense knowledge about how innovation and collaboration can be used for creating an impact and changing the world. I am so glad to have participated in UNLEASH 2018, and to have met so many amazing, inspiring and like-minded individuals that I, now, can call my “UNLEASH Family”.

 

UNLEASH is a global non-profit initiative that is supported by various global actors, including UNDP, Deloitte, Carlsberg Foundation, and Dalberg. UNLEASH will be hosting the innovation lab every year until 2030 with an aim to tackle the SDGs. It’s exciting to see UNLEASH creating a wave of change around the world and inspiring thousands every year to create a better and more sustainable world.

Find out more at www.unleash.org

If you would like to know more about my experience at UNLEASH, shoot me an email at riaz@angin.id

SAO (accelerator/incubator…) in Indonesia: Performance, Challenges, Solutions

Posted on | by angin | Leave a Comment on SAO (accelerator/incubator…) in Indonesia: Performance, Challenges, Solutions

ANGIN, supported by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation from Japan, has launched the long-awaited second part of the Start-up Assistance Organizations (SAO) research reports titled, “Start-up Assistance Organizations in Indonesia: Performance, Challenges and Solutions.”

The report is divided into four main parts, with analysis conducted through exclusive interviews with experts and key ecosystem players. The first part delves into perspectives from both startups and investors on ecosystem expectations and the role that SAOs play in it. Next, it identifies key challenges and gaps faced by Indonesian SAOs in running their programs and achieving their objectives. Third is a focus on women entrepreneurs and their interactions and involvement in SAOs as well as challenges from the SAO side on recruiting more women entrepreneurs. Finally, the report ties up findings from first and second report to provide a solutions framework for designing an SAO program in Indonesia as well as recommendations on creating more gender-inclusive SAO environments.

The previous report maps the landscape of SAOs in Indonesia and SAOs as entities that offer a spectrum of support services to entrepreneurs and ventures at different growth stages to develop successful and viable businesses. It identifies 53 SAO programs in Indonesia and classifies the programs into four main categories: incubators, accelerators, ecosystem builders, and other support programs.

Coverage in TechInAsia: https://id.techinasia.com/laporan-angin-inkubator-akselerator-startup-indonesia

Coverage in e27: https://e27.co/women-led-ventures-22-per-cent-of-accelerator-participants-indonesia-20180621/

Please fill in your details to receive a downloadable link for a free copy of our report ‘Start-up Assistance Organizations in Indonesia: Performance, Challenges and Solutions’.

We will not send you any other communication other than this report. Rest assured that we will not spam.

The report provides insights about the performance of Indonesian SAOs from the perspective of three main ecosystem players: SAOs, capital providers, and start-ups. The report also identifies the key challenges faced by SAOs in Indonesia and provides a solutions framework and recommendations for creating and running an SAO in Indonesia. The report also provides key findings on how SAOs can support women entrepreneurs and the challenges SAOs face in promoting more women entrepreneurs.

Download Our Report

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SAO (accelerator/incubator…) in Indonesia: Taxonomy & Landscape

Posted on | by angin | Leave a Comment on SAO (accelerator/incubator…) in Indonesia: Taxonomy & Landscape

ANGIN, supported by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation from Japan, has launched a new research report titled, ‘Start-up Assistance Organizations in Indonesia: Taxonomy and Landscape’. 

First of its kind, the report dissects and maps the landscape of start-up assistance organizations (SAOs) – defined as entities that offer a spectrum of support services to entrepreneurs and ventures at different growth stages to develop successful and viable businesses – in Indonesia, and provides first insights into gender inclusion in SAO programs in Indonesia. The first of a two-part series, this project first maps out the SAO ecosystem and provides more clarity in distinguishing features of available support programs. It identifies 53 SAO programs in Indonesia and classifies the programs into four main categories: incubators, accelerators, ecosystem builders, and other support programs.

Coverage in TechInAsia: https://id.techinasia.com/laporan-angin-inkubator-akselerator-startup-indonesia

Coverage in e27: https://e27.co/women-led-ventures-22-per-cent-of-accelerator-participants-indonesia-20180621/

Please fill in your details to receive a downloadable link for a free copy of our report “Start-up Assistance Organizations in Indonesia: Taxonomy and Landscape”.

Download Our Report

Click here

The second part of this project, titled, ‘Start-up Assistance Organizations in Indonesia: Performance, Challenges and Solutions’, provides insights about the performance of Indonesian SAOs from the perspective of three main ecosystem players: SAOs, capital providers, and start-ups. The report also provides key findings on how SAOs can support women entrepreneurs.

 

The second report on ” Start-up Assistance Organizations in Indonesia: Performance, Challenges and Solutions – Special Focus on Gender Inclusion” can be accessed here.

 

Merlina Li: Founding Member of Indonesia Blockchain Network & Head of Partnerships at Triv

Posted on | by angin | Leave a Comment on Merlina Li: Founding Member of Indonesia Blockchain Network & Head of Partnerships at Triv

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m Merlina Li and I’m a founding member of the Indonesia Blockchain Network. The reason why we founded Indonesian Blockchain Network is because we want to educate Indonesia on what blockchain is, and to eliminate scam projects from this industry, making it as positive as possible. I am also the Head of Partnership at Triv, the second-biggest cryptocurrency exchange in Indonesia.

How did you get to where you are today?

Actually, that’s a bit of a wild ride. I’ve been interested in technology since college. I majored in computer science because I wanted to play games (laughs). That’s the only reason why I got to technology, but then like I fell in love with it. It isn’t just about playing games; it’s about believing in the system, running the system, making the system more efficient without having to depend on a single identity. From there, I worked as a business analyst for Asia Pulp & Paper for five years. It was quite a good journey because I learned a lot of things about the industry, especially how the manufacturing and supply chain industries works. It really enhanced my current experience in blockchain.

Afterwards I worked for GO-JEK as the IT project manager for the core background team. In GO-JEK, they wanted to develop more females in the engineering side, because when I joined them, there were no female developers or female project managers in the core background team. So GO-JEK wanted to give more chances for women to perform in the engineering side.

GO-JEK was a pretty nice experience, but after awhile I felt that I should go deeper into blockchain. Because if I only stayed on one side, then I wouldn’t be able to see the whole side of the blockchain industry. I saw how blockchain is able to make people’s lives better, making things much more positive. That’s how I got into this industry.

What was it like being one of the first female project managers on the core team at GO-JEK?

Some of the guys really appreciated me, but some didn’t give appreciative looks because they thought females did not belong in the engineering side and aren’t able to work as developers. People really underestimate females in the technology industry. For example, if they know that you’re female, they say it’s not your field and it’s not what you should do. According to them, a female’s role is to be a housewife – cooking, cleaning the laundry, going to the salon, and putting makeup on. While there are some male counterparts that really appreciate females in this industry, some only think of females as the sidekick. That’s the bias we want to eliminate.

What advantages do females have in engineering?

Females tend to have more empathy, so we think more about the user side. We have empathy and also conscience, so we think more about how people are using our applications, how they navigate, how they run it, and whether its smooth or not. And the cost — I think females are more cost-efficient than our male counterparts. Therefore, I think both genders have to work side by side instead of mocking or putting down each other.

How did you overcome the stereotypes and expectations you encountered as a female in the technology industry?

In the blockchain industry, which is quite new, sometimes we try to keep our identity hidden. We want to know what people’s true opinions are, without gender bias. 80% of people in Telegram groups still call me a bro; I tell them that I’m a female, I’m not a bro! I think that blockchain is female-dominated right now. But some of the identities are anonymous, so some of the guys who work in blockchain are giving females a chance to prove themselves – wittingly or unwittingly. Most of the “blockchain bros” are much more appreciative of females in the industry compared to other technology “bros” — that’s what I feel in this industry. They’re more willing to give females a chance to perform.

What I’m trying to do is prove that I’m able to perform. Actually some of the “bros” still perpetuate the stereotype that females are not worthy to be in technology, but we are able to prove otherwise. That’s how we gain respect in this industry.

How conducive is the Indonesian market for blockchain?

I think Indonesia is a good place for blockchain to thrive. We are a big island country where not everything is connected yet, so there are a lot of things that could be interconnected in the future compared to other mature countries. Actually, some Indonesian people are more open-minded to receive new technology, so I think blockchain could develop in a way that will help them more.

Do you have any role models that you look up to?

My role model, I would say, would be my mom. Every woman is like a wonder woman — they can have a job, they can be entrepreneurs, and also have a family and kids. I think every woman in every stage deserves respect, whether they are a housewife or a career woman. I think every woman deserves respect.

How can we make sure more women are being more pulled into the blockchain community? How do we encourage more women to take that risk, take that jump, and go forward?

They could start through cryptocurrency trading — that’s the easiest way right now. Through this, they can see how the technology works and see which part of blockchain they want to contribute to. In cryptocurrency, females can jump in right away, and then start to learn step-by-step about the technology, about how the fundamentals work. I think what they need to be in the blockchain industry is open-mindedness. Because if they’re not open-minded, then it’s going to be hard to start in any industry.

The best tip I can give is keep trying to be persistent in this industry, keep their determination strong, and just keep going forward. If this is what you really want, you need to believe in yourself, and find people in the right tune with you. If people criticize you, just leave them behind and move forward with the positive ones. If you really believe that blockchain will be able to change people’s lives in the long term and not only in the short term, then that’s how you’re going to survive. Because you’re becoming persistent in what you believe in.