Year: 2013

Bali: APCC 2013

On 2013-09-03

Alhamdulillah, we have finished APCC 2013. Just like TALE 2013 was somehow related to CYBERNETICSCOM 2012; then APCC 2013 was like a continuation of COMNETSAT 2012, when Prof. Byeong Gi Lee suggested the IEEE Comsoc Indonesia Chapter to host the APCC. This suggestion brought us to attend APCC 2012 in Jeju Island, where we won the bid to host the 2013 APCC. It was followed by a series of activities, including event organising and paper management. The IEEE Comsoc Indonesia Chapter appointed Dr. Wiseto Agung, an avid scientist an researcher from Telkom Indonesia, as the General Chair of the conference. Another strategic step taken is to arrange a partnership with ITTelkom (now the University of Telkom) as a co-organiser on both the technical issue and event organising. Originally, the number of submitted papers raised very-very slowly. A bit stressed, indeed. But a few days before the deadline, hundreds of paper came through the EDAS. From all over the world, those most educated human beings still chose to wait until the final second before submitting their papers. We collected a total of 309 papers. The Technical Program Committee was chaired by Dr Arifin Nugroho, with some vice chairs. The most active TPC vice chair was Dr. Rina Puji Astuti. Meanwhile I held the position of Chair at IEEE Indonesia Section, so I must share my resources (time etc) with many other IEEE activities. The Comsoc Chapter Chair (Satriyo Dharmanto) and the Past Chairs (Muhammad Ary Murti, Arief Hamdani) continued the struggle to succeed APCC 2013. With strict selection process, APCC 2013 passed only 163 papers (53 % of total incoming paper).

APCC, Asia – Pacific Conference on Communications, is a very prestigious regional conference in Asia Pacific, which is the region with the highest growth in the world of ICT technology. APCC is supported by the IEEE Communications Society, the KICS in Korea, the IEICE Communications Society in Japan, and the CIC in China. The names of the APCC Steering Committee members are also thrilling: the great figures who pioneered the world of ICT. APCC was first held in 1993 in Taejon, Korea. This year, the 19th APCC was held at the Bali Dynasty Resort in Kuta Beach, 29 to 31 August 2013. I had been in Bali since August 26 to attend TALE 2013. The other APCC organisers, from the IEEE Comsoc Indonesia Chapter, University of Telkom, and University of Udayana, has started preparing the event on 28 August.

Thursday, 29 August, the APCC 2013 was opened. With a lot of technical sponsors, some representatives had to deliver short speeches at that opening ceremony. But each one took only about 5 minutes. Opening speeches were delivered by Dr. Wiseto Agung (GC APCC 2013), Satriyo Dharmanto (Chair , IEEE Indonesia Comsoc Chapter), Dr. Ali Muayyadi (Telkom University representative), Prof. Zhen Yang (Chair of APCC Steering Committee; Chair of the CIC), Dr. Yoshihiro Ishikawa (Chair, IEICE Communications Society), Prof. You- Ze Cho (Vice Chair , KICS), and yours truly (Chair, IEEE Indonesia Section). IEEE Indonesia Section itself represented the IEEE as the technical activity endorser.

My speech just simply mentioned that Asia Pacific has great significance in the development of ICT. Besides the fact that this area is the center of the most competitive ICT industry, the residents are also among the most adaptive in embracing digital lifestyle in the new culture. Our cultural richness has supported the development of communication technologies, with the ability to understand and support the highly contextual interaction and communications. But the social problems in the region is also alarming. We open access to information technology, but we encourage consumerism. We facilitate the preservation of nature, but we also increase pollution. We help creating new jobs, but we also accelerate urbanisation. The engineers need to design and develop technologies that will address the various issues of humanity and the life of human being. And it was in this social context, that we chose this theme for APCC 2013: Smart Communications to Enhance the Quality of Life .

Keynote speeches were delivered successively by Prof. Byeong Gi Lee (Past President, IEEE Communications Society; Past President, KICS), Prof. Adnan Al-Anbuky (Director of Sensor Network and Smart Environment (SENSE) Research Lab, School of Engineering Auckland University of Technology, Auckland New Zealand), Mr. Indra Utoyo (CISP, Telkom Indonesia; Chairman, MIKTI), and Mr. Ichiro Inoue (Network Systems Planning & Innovation Project, NTT).

The next activities were typical for any international technical conference. Special speech sessions, tutorial sessions, parallel presentation sessions, poster sessions, etc. In the tutorial session, I chose to avoid mainstream discussions of mobile network etc, and chose instead the sensor network as one of the elements for the Internet of Things (IoT). The tutors happened to be a pair of professors from Coventry University. This is a modern university (compared to classical universities) that gained a lot of appreciation and awards everywhere this year. Another regular event was the Gala Dinner, with its semi-formal atmosphere, but also with its permission for a laugh-out-loud sessions. Here the Paper Awards were also presented by the APCC Steering Committee .

The last day, I spent my time to visit the poster sessions. Out of curiosity, I seriously talked to all presenters about the posters presented. It was a way to learn new things while expanding networks. Conversations in the poster session could be deeper and more interesting than the presentation session where time is very limited.

I recognised that it was a hard work for the organisers. In the review session on Saturday afternoon, I said that even though the organisers in any events always feel that there are a lot of unforgivable shortcomings, but the APCC Steering Committee and the participants, had personally conveyed their appreciations and positive feedbacks. Good job! The IEEE, Unitel, Udayana University, and all. Great job! This year there will be many other events of the IEEE Indonesia Section. Hopefully all will provide supports as it was for the APCC 🙂 . Thanks, all.

Bali: TALE 2013

By Koen

On 2013-08-30

In IEEE

TALE, the IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment and Learning for Engineering, is one of three key conferences of the IEEE Education Society. This year, TALE was held at the Bali Dynasty Resort, a resort on the shores of Kuta Beach, Bali , 26-29 August 2013. Indonesia was recommended to host the TALE Conference by Prof. Michael Lightner (ex IEEE Education Society President), who had observed the way the IEEE Indonesia Section organised IEEE CYBERNETICSCOM 2012, where he was present as a keynote speaker. Despite the obtained recommendations, the Indonesian team should still needed to bid on TALE 2012 at Hong Kong.

The technical aspects of the conference were organised by the IEEE Education Society. The IEEE Indonesia Section needed only to organise the event. The operation was led by Dr. Ford Lumban Gaol as the General Chair. He is also the vice chair of the IEEE Indonesia Section. Some universities provided some supports, especially Bina Nusantara University in Jakarta. TALE was carried out in serial with the APCC.

(Koen with Prof. Castro and Prof. Ken Soetanto)

I arrived in Bali on Monday afternoon, August 26. Ngurah Rai Airport was still in the process of intensive renovation. From the airport, we needed only 10 minuted to reach the Dynasty Resort. The first day of TALE was occupied by tutorials and workshop activities. I attended some workshop sessions, then I spent the afternoon biking along Kuta Beach, until the sunset. At night , there was a Welcome Party, with some introductions to the VIP and committees. Presented at the event were Prof. Manuel Castro (IEEE Education Society, President), Dr Alain Chesnais (ACM, Past President), Prof. Sorel Reisman (ex IEEE Computer Society President), etc. I spent a lot of time discussing with colleagues from Bangalore .

(TALE photo session after the Opening Ceremony 2013 : All in Batik)

The opening ceremony was held on August 27 morning. Opening speeches are presented by Dr. Ford Lumban Gaol as General Chair; Prof. Gerardus Polla (ex Rector of Binus University) who represented Binus as co-organiser; then IEEE Indonesia Section representation — yours truly. I started with the paradox that although almost all technological advances has been initiated or supported by the education, but the ICT has not been widely revolutionised the education field (compared to — for example — the field of communications , transportation, industry , etc.). ICT infrastructure for this purpose could be considered quite ready. But just to convert the education content and interaction into digital forms would be far from sufficient to achieve the expectations of creating a new way to educate more people, anyone, of any age, anywhere, in ways that remain humane and not by separating people with their natural environment. A new paradigm is required for a lifetime process of human education, with the support of pervasive ICT infrastructure. It was actually just the opening for the discussion :). Then the conference was opened by Prof. Gerard Polla with Balinese gong. Booom – booom – booom .

The keynote speeches were delivered by Prof. Manuel Castro of the IEEE Education Society, Prof. Ken Kawan Soetanto, and Prof. Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro from Binus Advisory Board. The education field is indeed interesting, encouraging, with a broad impact. Discussions on the keynote sessions were pretty hot, resembling various visions. We easily observed many pros and cons on every aspect of e-learning digital education, and others. But those battles of the titans had made this kind of a conference so much more interesting than just reading the paper stacks 🙂 .

(Prof. Reisman discussed with Prof. Castro and M Chesnais)

The conference continued with parallel presentation sessions. The discussions about education were still as hot as the discussion at the keynote sessions. At night, we had a Gala Dinner session to display the culture of the region: from Balinese Dance to Asia Pacific songs and music.

The last day, August 29th (the same day as the opening of the APCC), Bali was still consistent with its fresh but hot weather. We closed the conference with the awarding session by Alain Chesnais. I presented the closing remarks, and then closed the conference. This time there was no gong. So I closed this extremely important international conference with a bread knife tapped on a white cup . Tinq – tinq – tinq, and TALE 2013 was closed .

(Special photo with Alain Chesnais and Alain Chesnais)

Das Rheingold

By Koen

On 2013-05-22

In Culture

Returning in the afternoon, I stretched myself, dead tired, on a hard couch, awaiting the long-desired hour of sleep.

It did not come; but I fell into a kind of somnolent state, in which I suddenly felt as though I were sinking in swiftly flowing water. The rushing sound formed itself in my brain into a musical sound, the chord of E flat major, which continually re-echoed in broken forms; these broken chords seemed to be melodic passages of increasing motion, yet the pure triad of E flat major never changed, but seemed by its continuance to impart infinite significance to the element in which I was sinking.

I awoke in sudden terror from my doze, feeling as though the waves were rushing high above my head. I at once recognised that the orchestral overture to the Rheingold, which must long have lain latent within me, though it had been unable to find definite form, had at last been revealed to me.

I then quickly realised my own nature: the stream of life was not to flow to me from without, but from within.

– Richard Wagner: 22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883

Chiang Mai: Region 10 Annual Meeting

By Koen

On 2013-03-09

In Event, IEEE

IEEE Region 10 Meeting this year was held in Chiang Mai. This is an annual event, and formerly held in the city of Lapu Lapu, Yogyakarta, and Kolkatta. Besides all the Section Chairs in Asia Pacific, and the Officers of IEEE Region 10, also attended some VP of IEEE HQ. I recognised some familiar faces was, especially from the previous meetings in Lapu Lapu and Yogya. But none of the IEEE Presidents was present. But it’s OK. I’ve already meet Prof Peter Staecker, the Prisident, the previous weekend in Tanjung Benoa.

This year, the IEEE Indonesia Section received a special invitation to obtain the 25 Years Banner. When the invitation was received, M Ary Murti, who was serving as the Section Chair decided to invite all the previous section chairs to present in Chiang Mai. And all the former chairs agreed to attend. Later, the leadership was handed over from Ary to me (via election, certainly). So this time, I was the primary delegation of Indonesia, and the former chairs be the secondary delegations.

The flights we used were Garuda Indonesia for Jakarta – Bangkok, and Thai Airways to Bangkok – Chiang Mai, on March 1. We landed in Chiang Mai at night, and went straightly to Le Méridien. The meeting would began on Saturday morning, March 2, 2013.

IEEE formal meetings use the protocol called “Robert’s Roles of Order” that is used in some parliaments. This is an interesting protocol, which facilitates shared decision-making more effectively. On the first day, Region 10 evaluated the Budget 2012, proposed the Strategic Planning, and displayed the work plans of the units, as well as support from HQ and Region 10 to Sections. We also learnt best practices from the various Section and other task units. The activities of Women in Engineering (WiE), students, and GOLD (Graduated on Last Decade) were highlighted. Some incentives were also offered to enable the specific activities in the Section.

Later that evening, a gala dinner was held. At this dinner, presented a variety of awards, to the most active section, most active small section, best volunteer, and others. The banner of “25 Years Anniversary” was also handed over to Indonesia Section at this event. Ralph M Ford (VP MGA) handed the banner to me as Indonesia Section Chair, and we handed it to all of the previous chairs of the Indonesia Section. I asked Dr Wahidin Wahab to give a brief remark. Mr. Wahab presented a bit about the history of Indonesia Section and some gratitudes to those who helped the development of Indonesia Section.

The second day was started with a petition to award Prof Marzuki, a leader in Region 10 who passed away last year due to a long illness. In the midst of the pain, he did not stop doing organisational dan professional tasks, including supporting many activities for the Indonesia Section. Indonesia Section specifically stated a grief at the previous night. Then reviewed the Budget Plan for 2013, the report of Tencon 2012, and plan of Tencon 2013, and R10 Congress 2013 (Hyderabad).

I talked briefly to the Region 10 Director, the always joyous Prof. Toshio Fukuda; invited him to be the Keynote Speaker of the IEEE Cyberneticscom in Yogyakarta later this year. He confirmed.

Then presented the information and policy on the administration of Section and units under it. There were some new things, and some important repetitions. The meetings were closed after midday. After that, a brief tour around Chiang Mai.

APCC 2013 CFP

By Koen

On 2013-02-07

In IEEE

The 19th Asia-Pacific Conference on Communications (APCC 2013) will be held at Bali Dynasty Resort in Bali island, Indonesia, during August 29-31, 2013. Since 1993, APCC has been a technical forum for researchers and engineers to interact and disseminate information on the latest developments in advanced communication and information technologies. Prospective authors are invited to submit original technical papers for presentation at the conference and publication in the conference proceedings.

APCC – http://apcc.pro
Smart Communications to Enhance the Quality of Life

August 29-31, 2013
BALI Island, INDONESIA

Organised by: IEEE Indonesia Communications Society Chapter

IMPORTANT DATES

Paper Submission Deadline: April 26, 2013
Notification of Acceptance: June 21, 2013
Camera Ready Submission: July 19, 2013
Tutorial Proposals: June 30, 2012

Potential topics are solicited in, but not limited to the following topics:

Ad hoc and sensor networks
Antennas and propagations
Broadband wireless access
Cognitive radio and networks
Communication protocol and architecture
Communication theory
Cooperative communication and relaying
Future Internet and networks
Green communication systems and network
Information theory and channel coding
Mobility management
Multimedia communications
Multiple antenna techniques
Network and information security
Network applications and services
Optical networks and systems
QoS and resource management
Satellite and space communications
Signal processing for communications
Switching and routing
Wireless and mobile networks
Wireless communications

Paper submission process will be managed by using EDAS: http://edas.info/N13613.

Paper length should be six pages at maximum including figures, tables, references, and appendices. Please use the standard IEEE conference proceedings templates for Microsoft Word or LaTeX format on A4 size pages founded at http://fk.vc/template. Accepted papers will be published in the APCC 2013 Conference Proceedings and in IEEE Xplore, for which at least one author is required to register for the conference at the full rate.

Q-Journal

By Koen

On 2013-02-05

In Telkom

Q-Journal is a codename for a suite of digital journal management services, that Telkom Group will prepare and launch this quarter. Q-Journal will support academic transaction in Indonesia by providing global coverage for national journals to international index and high quality international papers to national universities.

Global Publishing Service

Q-Journal opens the opportunity to academic institutions, universities, research centres, and conference organisers, to submit their journals (transactions, academic letters, etc) and proceedings to international index. For this service, Q-Journal has arranged a strategic partnership with Summon.

Global Discovery Service

Q-Journal opens the gates to access thousand international journals for universities in Indonesia. Through our aggregators, papers might be explored and downloaded. The total expense will be significantly lower than those offered by international paper providers. So far, we have arranged partnership with Emerald, Proquest, and still open other partnership opportunities.

Interested?

Talk to me 🙂

Digital Education

By Koen

On 2013-01-31

In Ecosystem, Technology

Digital education, in both meaning :).

We might be easily mention the name of the most important innovation in transportation over the last 200 years. We might mention something like the combustion engine, air travel, Ford’s T-model, and others. But we might not that easily mention the single biggest innovation in education. We can read that puzzling question at MIT Technology Review. The question is a gambit used by Anant Agarwal, the computer scientist named this year to head edX, which is the MIT-Harvard effort to stream a college education over the web, free, to anyone who wants one.

It is indeed rare to see major technological advances in how people learn. Internet, the web, and the power of data-crunching technologies should have changed dramatically the education methods. Remote classes have been arranged with video streaming with sophisticated interactive elements. Data and information on students could be processed individually or in group to make them learn more effectively. Online education is not new. In 2010, 31.3% of the US college students enrolled in at least one online course, while 700.000 students study in full-time distance learning.

Still, education is called inefficient and static with respect to technology. It is often cited as the next industry ripe for a major disruption. This belief has been promoted by Clayton Christensen, an HBS prrofessor who coined the term disruptive technology. Disruptive innovations, he said, find success initially in market where the alternative is nothing.

In Indonesia, where education in technology is still a limited priviledge, digital learning may find its way. Besides many limitation on the technology and the experiences, we may improve the efficiency of lecturing. As Agarwal said, the same 3 person team of a professor plus assistants that teaches analog circuit design to 400 MIT students now handles ten thousand students online, and could take 1 million. That is one of the result of the massive open online course, or MOOC. One of other expected results is how the top quality education, could change the world, or at least the nation. Why not? Currently about two thirds of the people signing up for the free online college course carried our in the US, comes from overseas. Means that for good universities, the methods, the curriculum, the materials are expected to spread easily, crossing the nation borders.

But, as implied, MOOC will also be profoundly threatening to weak institutions. Sebastian Thrun, a Google researcher, predicted that within 50 years, there might be only 10 universities still “delivering” higher education. The keyword he chose, somehow implicates another concern: the commodification of education. Or, as Jason Lane and Kevin Kinser warned in Chronicle of Higher Education, McDonaldisation of college classes: the exact same stuff served everywhere.

By working harder, we may change the direction, though. When Prof Gordon Day, then elected president of the IEEE, visited Yogyakarta in 2011, he mentioned the necessity for the engineering profession to expand the activities, by synergyzing engineers from academic world and industrial worlds, and supporting more roles from professionals in developing countries. That is the point that we will do these years. By synergyzing the academic and industrial world in the region, we will support Indonesian education institutions to grow and strengthen the education methods through digital technologies, to leverage the reputation of Indonesian education institutions globally, and to intensify the research and innovation to develop a breakthrough in education technology.