INSPIRATION, INNOVATION, AND INTEGRITY
Congratulations on the 56th Anniversary of IPB today, September 1, 2019. We are grateful that our age has increased, of course, achievements must also increase. Every second of age is an opportunity to increase achievement. Our existence in the future is very dependent on the utilization of our second increase in time. Existence can grow linearly, it can also grow exponentially, but it can also “nyungsep”. It all depends on the quality of our time utilization. If we consider time as an opportunity to grow, then there is no other way than day to day thinking and act smart to capture opportunities. Meanwhile, if we add time we consider as a burden, then there is anxiety every time. This is exactly what he was anxious about during the 2 × 15 minute extension of the football match because he was more afraid of conceding goals than optimism to actually add goals.
The existence of IPB until now has benefited from the people in it who utilize the added time very well and proactive attitude. If we study the journey of IPB so far since its establishment in 1963, there are three factors causing the success of IPB, namely INSPIRATION, INNOVATION, and INTEGRITY.
First, INSPIRATION has been the hallmark of IPB because there are many ideas of IPB in the field of education and agriculture which stimulate various parties to adopt or develop further. The idea of IPB admission selection without testing is monumental, which was later adopted nationally by the name of PMDK and then now called SNMPTN. Similarly, the idea of mass guidance became a national program in the New Order era so that we achieved 1984 rice self-sufficiency. Sajogyo-style development thinking also colored rural development in Indonesia. Inspiration is a function of creative thinking. IPB can continue to inspire because of creative thinking that can grow and develop in a conducive campus academic environment. Interesting and unique ideas make other people interested in developing further. This is what IPB’s predecessors and seniors had, namely the ability to inspire.
Second, INNOVATION is the process of utilizing knowledge, skills and experience to create or improve new products or services, processes, or systems, which provide important added value. Very many IPB innovations. In product innovation between 2008-2018 there were more than 450 prospective innovations and contributed 39.6% of the most prospective innovations according to the Business Innovation Center (BIC) rating. There are also many institutional innovations, one of them is the School of Animal Husbandry (SPR). This is what makes IPB in these three years always get the Widyapadhi Award from the Menristekdikti. The IPB innovation becomes the capital of IPB to play a role in the community. IPB can be as large as it is today because of its useful innovations, both for government, industry and society.
Third, INTEGRITY which contains honesty, discipline, responsibility, and commitment becomes the identifier of alumni of IPB. Integrity becomes an important pillar in building IPB’s synergy with various parties. This integrity then gave birth to trust, which is an important pillar of social capital. That is, public trust in IPB is based on the integrity of the people in it, and in the internal IPB also finally created strong social capital. With such strong social capital, innovations have emerged more smoothly.
So the three factors are actually related to each other. The question now is how is the new context of inspiration, innovation and integrity of IPB as we enter a new era of VUCA (Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) due to the Industrial Revolution 4.0?
VUCA can indeed make us “fragile”, but it can make us “agile” if our VUCA is defined by Vision, Understanding, Clarity, and Agilility. We must have a vision and a future mindset, and then be able to bring the future into today’s thoughts and steps. People say, “tomorrow is today”, and “future is now”.
We must answer volatility with speed. Uncertainty we answer with risk literacy because uncertainty will be full of risk. We answer complexity with an understanding of multiple interrelated variables and this also requires complex problem solving skills. Mochtar Riady once told the House of Change Rhenald Kasali: we must not only know trees but must know the forest. That is, we must know the ecosystem and the relationship between the variables in it. We answer ambiguity with clarity, information must be complete and clear.
At present what is needed are new inspirations to deal with VUCA and the Industrial Revolution 4.0. IPB will increasingly exist if we are able to come up with new ideas that inspire. We already have the Long Term Plan of 2045. We have the Strategic Plan of IPB 4.0 which guides the strategy and program of IPB to face the era of 4.0. We already have the concept of Agro Maritime 4.0 which can be used as a reference for the development of the agriculture, livestock, forestry and marine sectors in the 4.0 era. We have a roadmap for Agro Maritime Research 4.0 which is the direction of IPB research and innovation. We already have a 2020 curriculum that is responsive to the 4.0 era. Are these ideas of IPB inspiring enough?
When I was invited by the FAO to explain IPB’s idea of digital agriculture, not a few people appreciated the readiness of the concept of IPB for the development of third world agriculture. Similarly, when dozens of opportunities to become international and national seminar speakers about 4.0 people also mentioned the inspirational exposure. However, whatever people said about the inspiration of IPB, it was actually still at the surface level. This is because what the public really awaits is concrete innovation in harmony with the useful 4.0 era, both product or service innovation, institutional innovation and system innovation. Concrete innovation is an innovation that has truly felt the results and has had an exponential growth effect.
Therefore we must make this a momentum to prove that IPB is always present and exists at every point of change. IPB’s past achievements can no longer help our reputation when we are unable to make concrete contributions now and in the future. We can no longer reminisce with the proud story of the past. People will no longer regard past achievements as our success. Instead people are waiting for new innovations and new achievements because we are in a new era. We are the owner of today and the future owner. People also await our achievements today and future achievements. Our predecessors gave added value to the era. Have we given added value in our new era?
Alhamdulillah, we just won 2nd place in the 2019 Pimnas. We got the Widyapadhi award and the WidyaKrida Award from the Menristekdikti. We got the Gold Winner for Public Information Services. We got 1st and 2nd place students with national achievements. We are ranked 3rd best universities in Indonesia in 2019. All that we get in this August 2019. We are still the top 100 world universities in the QS ranking by subject Agriculture & Forestry.
Of course we are grateful for the myriad of awards. But we must not be complacent and must not be too comfortable feeling in this comfort zone. These achievements are not the end, but this is only a motivating capital to produce more powerful and historical innovations. This is because we still have two big agendas.
First, how do we produce inspiring innovations to accelerate the transformation of rural communities towards inclusive smart societies. New innovations must come soon to solve existing complex problems. Therefore we must be close to reality so that we know the problems in the field. We also have to update with 4.0 technology so that solutions to solve problems are more precise and effective. Students also often have to go down to the village to inspire village children to have dreams and visions of the future. That is why KKN in IPB is mandatory because we want students to be able to inspire the village children, while at the same time be able to map real problems and solve them collaboratively in a smart village framework. This agenda is important so that we can immediately catch up with the developed countries, at least in agriculture.
Second, how do we produce innovations that inspire global society. IPB has determined the working theme of 2023 namely local-global connectivity. That is, the innovations produced by IPB must penetrate the global reputation. Indonesia is rich in biodiversity and culture diversity. This is the capital to produce tropical innovations that are not owned by foreign scientists. We are the ones who have more chance to uncover this tropical reality whose results can color the world. It’s time we become producers of theory and innovation, and not just consumers.
Our seriousness and sharpness in reading opportunities and the mental consistency of learners will determine whether or not we can play these two big agendas. Even this agenda also requires us to build synergy and collaboration. It turns out that collaboration success is also determined by the extent of our credibility and this credibility is largely determined by our professionalism and integrity. Therefore once again INSPIRATION, INNOVATION, and INTEGRITY become an inseparable unit.
If two big agendas are realized then IPB will belong to the world and this is proof that IPB is a part of world history. Hopefully with IPB’s new motto “inspiring innovations with integrity” motivates us to continue to make new history.
