Press Release

Cibinong, 26 January 2024 — In line with Indonesia's commitment to enhance Human Resources capacity as outlined in the National Medium-Term Development Plan/Rencana Pembangunan Jangka Menengah Nasional (RPJMN) 2020-2024, Indonesia Emas 2045 and the Maritime Axis Pillar, an Official Development Assistance (ODA) Project titled "Establishment of the Integrated Ocean Fisheries Technology Training Center and Enhancing Capacity Building in Indonesia" has been implemented.

The project was initiated by the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment (CMMAI), is supported by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) of the Republic of Korea through the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) and supported by the Korea-Indonesia Marine Technology Cooperation Research Center (MTCRC) as the official implementing agency for both countries. KIOST, through MTCRC, initiated the initial phase of a capacity building project focused on training on the use of remote sensing equipment titled "Mapping Coastal Area using Vertical Take-off Landing (VTOL) Fixed Wing Drone," on January 22-26, 2024, at the Innovation Convention Center (ICC) Building, Soekarno Science Technology Area (KST), BRIN Cibinong.

Korea-Indonesia MTCRC, the Intergovernmental Joint Research Center in the field of Ocean Science and Technology between Korea and Indonesia based on the Memorandum of Understand (MoU) and the Implementing Arrangement (IA) between MOF and CMMAI, was established on 14 September 2018 at the Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB) Campus in Cirebon and operated by KIOST and ITB. Korea-Indonesia MTCRC has the main functions of a cooperation platform, joint research, and capacity building for strengthening and promoting practical cooperation between the two countries in marine science and technology.

The training commenced with remarks from Dr. PARK Hansan, the director of MTCRC and the ODA project manager. "Through this comprehensive training, we are committed to empowering the expertise of researchers and policymakers in Indonesia with the requisite skills, fostering their ability to contribute significantly to the success of broader rehabilitation programs and creating a sustainable impact on Indonesia's coastal ecosystems," stated Dr. PARK. Taking place at BRIN's research infrastructure, Dr. Ir. Tjahjo Pranoto, M. Eng., as the Implementing Coordinator of the Infrastructure Development and Service Governance Function in the Engineering Sector on behalf of Prof. Agus Haryono as Deputy Facilitation of Research and innovation and Zaenal Akbar, M.Kom., Ph.D., as the Director of Repositories, Multimedia and Scientific Publishing on behalf Dr. Yan Rianto M.Eng as Deputy Infrastructure of Research and Innovation, expressed their enthusiasm of this training. They conveyed their commitment to supporting and facilitating training while also introducing other facilities owned by BRIN at the Soekarno Science and Technology Area (KST) for optimal utilization. 

This 5-day intensive training aims to facilitate knowledge exchange between Korea and Indonesia by conducting advanced coastal area mapping using VTOL fixed-wing drones. Six experienced trainers from DaeYoung Drone M&S Korea were invited, and three researchers from MTCRC with expertise in remote sensing actively assisted in the training. Attended by 25 participants from CMMAI, BPSDMKP-KP, BRIN, ITB, IPB, UGM, UNDIP, and UNUD, the training covered theoretical classes to hands-on practice in operating VTOL fixed-wing drones. It encompassed fundamental aerodynamics theory, flight mission planning, and data processing.