Leaders across education, workforce, health, and impact sectors came together in Jakarta in the eighth event of our Global Impact Summits Series.
Hot on the heels of Singapore, HolonIQ’s Global Impact Summits continued through the Asia Pacific region and onto Jakarta. In an energetic day of discussions, presentations and fireside chats we heard from the leaders, founders, investors and experts making a difference to the impact sector.
HolonIQ’s signature data-driven deep dive into the global state of impact highlighted thematics from global shifts in population growth and education needs, to advanced technology, capital markets and the climate crisis. Each session of the Jakarta Summit picked up these themes, from impact investing and sustainable consumption, to digital skills and capacity building, digital health and the potential for ‘virtual first’ care. Above all, speakers and participants focussed on the immense potential not only for technology-driven innovation, but also to harness the creative energy of the region:
“I believe with all my heart that the superpower of the Indonesian person is creativity. I've never met an Indonesian who is not creative, right?”
An impressive line-up in the climate sessions included Moehammad Ichsan, CEO of Octopus Indonesia and Irma Chantily, Partner, Supernova Ecosystem. In an energizing and informative panel session, they raised challenging questions about short investment cycles compared with the ‘marathon’ Indonesia faces in its own development.
Along with many other speakers, they emphasized the Importance of connecting with local partners outside the biggest urban centers, acknowledging the huge diversity across the region:
“If you have incubators from big cities, it's not going to work 100%, because people from big cities, we have biases, we have different perspectives. Local incubators, they know the cultural landscape, the social nuances.”
Despite the immense population size of Indonesia, many speakers noted a need for quality rather than quantity in innovations, and a thoughtful, targeted approach rather than clumsy attempts at scale. For many, this included a focus on the right kinds of commodities for a sustainable future:
“If you invest on commodities in the right way, it allows you to increase your income not only people by people, but also as a district. At the same time, if you have poor decision making on commodities, it will backfire on you.”
Skills and talent gaps in education and workforce.
In a vibrant and varied education track, speakers reminded us that Indonesia has the fourth largest workforce in the world - but this workforce is not well skilled enough to take advantage of the opportunities on offer.
“The education system in Indonesia has been divorced from industry for quite some time and this is reflected in terms of the uptake of people who are participating in tertiary education system”
In a panel discussion, Dita Aisyah (Binar Academy) highlighted the digital talent gap, along with key related issues such as low employability, poor learning experiences in formal education and ability to pay. Potential learners are impacted by lack of access to educational resources such as laptops that prevent learners from picking up the skills they need (“How can you learn to code when you don’t even have the tools?”). In the same session, Marc Irawan (CoLearn) suggested that the biggest issue may not be knowledge, but rather the right motivation and understanding the potential impact of education: “How do I understand that learning coding, for example, gets me to a good life?”
Michael Susanto (Tanoto Foundation) shared insights in a fireside chat on capacity building for Indonesia’s future on the transformative power of quality education to enable individuals to reach their full potential and improve lives. Working across the Foundation’s countries and programs in Indonesia, Singapore, China, and Brazil, he was one of several speakers to note the importance of collaboration across industries and geographies to achieve better outcomes.
In the final session of the day, Nathanael Santoso (goKampus) and Yasser Syaiful (ELSA) pulled together some key themes from the day as part of the EdTech Growth panel. They noted the challenges in working across such a diverse region, and the opportunities in opening up access to education for a much broader population of learners.
“We have a huge country with 18-19,000 islands. We cannot only think about the solution just in Jakarta or Java and replicating what is successful. It could be different. Collaboration is key”
Michael Susanto, Head of Strategic Planning & Partnerships at Tanoto Foundation, spoke in a fireside chat about capacity building for Indonesia’s future
Stefanie Juergens (CareNow) and Jessy Abdurrahman (Zi.Care) join HolonIQ’s VP of Health, Vernon Baxter to discuss how digital technologies are transforming approaches to Indonesia’s health system
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The Jakarta Summit marked Day 43 of 100 Days of Impact and a global wave of ideas and inspiration for the future of impact. As each week unfolds, we’re sharing key themes and content from each summit, including speaker highlights, insights from leading organizations and the winners of our regional EdTech, HealthTech and ClimateTech 1000s.
Stay tuned here for a weekly wrap as we move from New York and Mexico City to Bengaluru, Melbourne, Singapore and Jakarta, with exclusive insights from our participation at COP27 before our final summits in London, Paris, Berlin, and Stockholm. Be part of the action by registering for any of the face to face or virtual summits around the world, and see for yourself how 100 Days of Impact unfolds with our 5,000-strong global community.
Whether you’re participating or spectating from afar, find out the latest with #HolonIQSummits and by following @HolonIQ wherever you get your socials.
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