Rector’s Message

THE YEAR 2019 & IPB FUTURE
By:
Arif Satria

Now we are entering the year 2019. We ought to be grateful of being given the grace of knowledge, health and life to keep making foot print, create new history, keep building legacy together in this beloved IPB campus. Surely, we believe that the added value that we create everyday for our surrounding is the collective investment for IPB progress. IPB belongs to the nation and the nation entrusts us to manage it so that IPB provides added value for the nation’s progress. Prophet Muhammad Saw said, the best of humans are the ones who benefits others. It is not exaggerated if we also conclude that the best of universities is that which provide benefits for this nation.

Alhamdulillah, we had been through 2018 with several achievements. IPB has remained at the 3rd rank of PTN clustering in Indonesia, Top 100 QS World University Ranking by subject Agriculture & Forestry, Top 150 QS Asia University Ranking, Top 40 the most Sustainable university in the World of UI Green Metrics version, 1st rank of Anugerah Widyapadhi Kemristekdikti, the best foreign researchers’ partner university of the Kemristekdikti version, the best university in Public information openness (informative category) of Central Information Commission version, the best national Incubator award from Kemristekdikti, The 2nd rank of student affairs’ performance for national level, the awards for national outstanding lecturers, teaching staff and students, and many other achievements both for institution and individual that we have accomplished. All those awards and achievements are the work of all of us and the result of the long investment of our predecessors cumulatively. Like the snowball effect, which then we make as the asset to step forward and strengthen IPB as “Campus of Innovation”. Thank you for all the lecturers, teaching staff, students, board of IPB of previous period and foregone period, also the alumni who has made IPB continues to be successful since the past until now.

The year 2019 is the time to start stepping up to realize IPB future namely as Techno-socio Entrepreneurial university whose alumni are expected to become technopreneurs and sociopreneurs who has integrity and are transformative with the strength of millennium soft-skill. This IPB’s 2045 long-term vision has been translated into Renstra 2019-2023 with theme “IPB 4.0: Race in Excellence to Shape IPB Future”.

The term of IPB 4.0 is not only trend-following. But this is a new strategy of responding the disruptive changes triggered by Industrial Revolution 4.0. This change has been a certainty, like cellular phone provider that cannot repress the massive application of WhatsApp, WeChat, LINE. The world has changed so fast and it turns out the survivor is the one that quickly and precisely seizes opportunities and has the courage for shifting. We saw many big companies collapsing not because of capital crisis but because of the crisis of creativity and agility to capture new opportunities. Jack Ma used to be nobody 10 years ago. Nadiem Makarim the founder of Go Jek used to be nobody 7 years ago. Achmad Zaky the owner of Buka Lapak used to be nobody 5 years ago. But now, they have become the respectable players simply because of the courage to change their mindset to be more creative and to quickly respond the future change with disruptive way. They managed to get out of the past trap, and always day to day thinking to invent the future. As Rhenald Kasali said, stagnation will happen when there is “inability to escape from the past and inability to invent the future”. So, inventing the future is the keyword for the survival and the progression.

Therefore, IPB wants to prepare itself as good as possible so that it truly become the owner of the future, and it produces reliable graduates who can play a role and become the trend setter in the future. The strategy of IPB 4.0 now has been portrayed in IPB’s new Renstra which contains several programs: IPB Green, IPB Net, IPB Smart, IPB Excel, IPB Lead, and IPB Share. All those programs lead to the changes and the preparation of IPB future in 5 years.

Specific in 2019, the strategy we start by creating “Excellent innovation ecosystem” as the necessary condition for IPB 4.0. First, the infrastructure of education and research includes refinement of laboratory facility will be prioritized. This is to complement the effort of IPB’s education curriculum reformation 2019 which accommodates the new shifting in learning dimension (blended learning method, new literacy reinforcement, lecturers capacity improvement), new scholarship dimension, as well as the dimension of skill and new character enhancement. Second, the infrastructure and integration of information system become the key of digital transformation process in creating IPB as smart university. In 2018, IT had been directed to smart governance and in 2019 IT system will be directed to support online education and research 4.0. Third, to produce research and innovation 4.0, IPB also has formulated the concept of Agro Maritime 4.0 as the reference of future agro maritime development which is also followed by measurable Research Road Map 4.0. We hope IPB will be leading in term of the latest researches such as drone, robotics, artificial intelligent, block-chain, and internet of things. Fourth, we must also be able to keep perfecting the holistic welfare system so that this innovation ecosystem can be more conducive. This is roughly the picture of priority that we will carry out in 2019.

By Meristekdikti, we are targeted to be  in the world’s top 500 QS WUR 2019. Nobody like ranking, but everybody checks the ranking. That is the fact. We try with the principle of “One stroke at the paddle, two and three islands have passed”. It means that the strategy of improving the world’s ranking is embedded on IPB’s programs to achieve IPB future. Therefore, it is expected the lecturers can keep escalating their publications, networks and international mobility. Nevertheless, as I said previously that we are also demanded to provide added value for society and national industry through our innovations. We can synergize all of those, it does not need to be constantly contradicted between the ranking and the concrete innovation for society.

Last, 2019 is the year of politics where the election of president and legislative members will be held. Campus must be neutral from practical political interest and let us maintain a conducive campus atmosphere. Let’s keep social foundation that has been strongly bonded and become our important asset. Be careful in social media because it is now starting to take effect of you are what you write at social media. Our reputation will depend on what we express on social media. Likewise, our social asset now can be influenced by social media.

Insya Allah 2019 brings blessing for all of us. Keep spirit in doing the best for beloved IPB. Keep on racing in excellence as our effort of preparing the future. As the proverb says, luck will come when the opportunity meets with the preparation.

Happy new year.

Work enthusiastically, stay healthy, keep on praying

MECCA, JANUARY 1st, 2019