UNPRI Holds Public Lecture “Deep Tech Achieves Indonesia Emas 2045”

Preparing the Golden Generation: UNPRI Invites Students to be Literate in Transformational Technology

Universitas Prima Indonesia (UNPRI) Medan held a public lecture entitled "Deep Tech Wins Indonesia Gold 2024", Friday (5/24/2025) at the UNPRI Campus, Jln.Sampul No. 3 Medan. The public lecture presented resource persons Prof. Ir. Nizam, M.Sc., Ph.D., IPU., ASEAN Eng, Professor of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Gadjah Mada University

UNPRI Chancellor Prof. Dr. Chrismis Novalinda Ginting M.Kes, warmly welcomed the presence of Prof. Ir. Nizam, M.Sc., Ph.D., IPU, Asean Eng who delivered a public lecture “Deep Tech to support Indonesia Emas 2045”

According to the Rector of UNPRI, Indonesia Emas 2045 is a national vision designed as a shared ideal for the Indonesian nation to become a high-income developed country right when we commemorate 100 years of independence.

Prof. Dr. Chrismis Novalinda Ginting M.Kes added, Prof. Nizam this time is not only a resource person, but also a symbol of the importance of synergy and national commitment to oversee Indonesia's technological transformation agenda.

"As one of the private universities with very rapid growth, UNPRI is committed to continuing to play an active role in realizing the vision towards Golden Indonesia 2045. Currently, UNPRI has 54 study programs from various levels of Diploma, Bachelor, Profession, Masters, Specialist, to Doctorate. We will continue to develop ourselves, improve the quality of human resources of lecturers and build facilities that support technology-based learning and research," he said.

According to him, in this era of digital transformation, technological literacy is no longer an option but a must. Even more than that, we are not enough to just be users of technology but must become creators of technology. "Therefore, take advantage of today's public lecture to gain insight, build inspiration, and prepare yourself to become a generation of lifelong learners," he hoped.

Prof. Nizam began his public lecture by providing an overview of the 2045 Economic Projection. According to him, Indonesia is targeted to enter the top 4-5 world economies with a GDP reaching USD 9.8 trillion according to projections in the 2024-2045 RPJPN. Per capita income is projected to reach USD 23,000-30,300 to escape the middle income trap. The poverty rate is targeted to drop drastically to 0.5-0.8% compared to the current 9.57%

Then Indonesia's population is projected to reach around 319 million in 2045 (BPS, 2023). The demographic bonus with 68.3% of the productive age population needs to be managed properly so that it does not become a disaster. To optimize the demographic bonus, it is necessary to improve the quality of human resources through education and training that is in accordance with the needs of the job market as the main key

Meanwhile, the Deep Tech Startup Ecosystem, Indonesia has 246 Deep Tech startups with 34 startups having received funding and 7 reaching Series A+ funding. An average of 18 new deep tech startups have been launched each year in the last decade with many founders coming from ITB and UGM.

The deep tech sector includes AI, biotechnology, cleantech, and other technologies based on science innovation, R&D investment, Indonesia's R&D spending ratio to GDP is only 0.28-0.3% based on World Bank data, far below Malaysia (1.6%), Singapore (2.2%) and South Korea (5%), Indonesia is ranked 27th out of 28 countries surveyed in the R&D spending ratio only higher than Myanmar (0.15%), 83.8% of the research budget still comes from the APBN so that funding diversification is needed including from the private sector

"To realize Indonesia Emas 2045, an economic transformation is needed from reformative to transformative through 3 areas of change: economic, social, and governance transformation. The current 5% economic growth needs to be increased to 6-7% to escape the middle income trap in 2038-2041. Reindustrialization: the manufacturing sector needs to be encouraged because it can create more jobs while current investment is dominated by the service sector," he said.

Meanwhile, in the field of Digital Technology, according to him, digital transformation is the key to optimizing potential and responding to global dynamics in realizing the ideals of Golden Indonesia 2045. In the field of collaboration, Indonesia has succeeded in increasing its ranking in the Global Innovation Index from 85 (2019) to 61 (2023), showing significant progress in innovation and collaboration.

"Therefore, universities play a very important role in efforts to achieve Indonesia Emas 2045. The important role of universities in terms of the engine of sustained growth, preparation of creative & competitive human capital, the backbone of innovation (innovation-driven economy)", he said.

The emphasis on the role of universities in terms of developing green science and technology (sustainable development), building blue science and technology (maritime resource base), accelerating digital transformation (industry 4.0), developing sustainable tourism, developing creative industries, reindustrialization

Prof. Nizam gave an example of how the development of UNS - Pertamina built a mini-plant Lithium battery factory, UGM - Pertamina produced a breakthrough in recycling and recovery of lithium from spent batteries, then ITB, UI, UGM, UPNV - Pertamina produced a breakthrough in the field of geothermal development, ITB - Pertamina innovated the red and white catalyst, biofuel, bio avtur,

ITB, UGM - BATAN PLT produced nuclear innovation (towards the cycle thorium greener), development of inverters and controllers for electric vehicles from bicycles, motorcycles, 4 wheels, mini buses, large buses, locomotives. Prof. Nizam also explained that various Red and White Works from universities that are ready to be downstream include Ventilators, Genose/e-nose, E-tongue, Rapid tests, Transplants and implants, Heart stents, Image processing, Internet of things, Telemedicine.

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