In an era of globalization full of challenges, innovation is the key to achieving sustainable development goals (SDG). In order to achieve the SDGs, the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) provides full support for the Sustainable Development Goals Innovation (SDGI) Acceleration program for Young Professionals initiated by the United Nations Global Compact (UN Global Compact). This program is aimed at company representatives from various sectors, including those within the Indonesia Global Compact Network (IGCN), to create new innovations that are beneficial for achieving the SDGs.
Deputy for Development Policy at BRIN, Mego Pinandito, said that BRIN really supports this program and encourages the young generation to continue to excel in producing extraordinary innovative ideas to achieve the SDGs in 2030.
“Indonesia has a lot of capital to innovate and make extraordinary products. First, our natural wealth is extraordinary, it just depends on how we can use it. We also have an extraordinary culture. Even innovative ideas can come from local wisdom that does not exist in other countries. BRIN in this case has various things that can be utilized. “There are facilities that can be used, programs, experts in their respective fields, competitive races, and so on,” said Mego at the Local Ideation of SDG’s Innovation Accelerator for Young Professionals event, Friday (08/03) in Jakarta.
Meanwhile, the aim of the SDGI program is how the business world can accelerate the achievement of the SDGs in the next 6 years. The mission of the UN Global Compact is to mobilize the business world to solve solutions to global problems affecting the world. SDGI encourages companies to develop sustainable innovation.
“The participants in the SDGI program are the young generation as agents of change who are encouraged to integrate various innovations in the business sector so that they can produce solutions to overcome various global problems and challenges,” explained IGCN Executive Director, Josephine Satyono.
On the same occasion, BRIN’s Director of Talent Management, Raden Arthur Lelono, explained that the results of research or studies can be downstreamed into a form of innovation. Innovation is the end of a research result based on problem solving. Therefore, an innovator must have great curiosity, be sensitive to the problems around him, be creative in finding solutions and be competent to prove it scientifically in the form of IPR/patents and be recognized by his community.
“We see that innovation is part of change, seeking discovery in finding solutions. Meanwhile, sustainability is a long-term process. This means that wherever we are, whether in the industrial world, R&D institutions, or community MSMEs, every day we face problems and challenges. Based on this problem, we carried out studies and various methods such as research, reverse engineering, and so on, to produce a discovery. “The cycle continues to roll, which then forms sustainability,” said Arthur.
According to Arthur, talent coming from industry is a very good driving force. BRIN itself has been encouraging grassroots innovators who come from communities that have problems in their environment.
“For example, regarding clean water management in the community, the scope is indeed small. However, when this talent comes from an industry where the economy is supported by research-based industrial results, this will become a very strong driving force. “Because the resulting innovation will increase industrial productivity, so it will have a much greater positioning and impact,” he added.
He then said that currently BRIN has various programs that can be used to support this. These include research-based start-up companies, mentoring or coaching research by researchers and experts in the fields of STEM and social sciences, mentoring programs for preparing IPRs, various funding schemes, equipment facilitation, and so on.
The young innovators who participated in this year’s SDGI program numbered 16 teams from 15 companies and were part of 18 global participating countries.
Source: https://www.brin.go.id/news/117809/brin-dukung-profesional-muda-akselerasikan-inovasi-sdg
